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Group Dynamics
- 1. Dave Twisleton Psychology & Adult Learning
- 2. Interaction Experiential Base GROUP Self Determination Olmsted & Hare 1978 Trust
- 3. Ethic of Spirit of Individualism Collectivism GROUP Conformity Communication structures Group Cohesion Decision making Lukes 1973 Leadership
- 4. Psychodynamic Functional Temporal Conflict-Power- Symbolic- Social Identity Status Interpretive Social- Social Network Feminist Evolutionary Group observation Interpretation Interventions in techniques methods group process Poole 2004
- 5. Perception Judgement GROUP Beliefs Actions Asch 1940
- 6. attraction behaviour Piper 1983
- 7. • Release of • Focus on immediate emotional tension experience • Break down • Belief that change defences against occurs more readily learning in groups • Enhance interaction • Belief in honest, between members open feedback, self- disclosure Malcolm 1973
- 8. • Individual surrenders to group will • Anti-intellectual • Knowledge & expertise = Defence against spontaneous expression of feelings • Not normal behaviour! • Non-compliance = Deviance Malcolm 1973
- 9. • Informed consent • Freedom to participate / leave • Critical reflection / analysis
- 10. • Desire, with no appraisal of value Want • Overt expression of a want Demand • Want or demand that is deemed worthy Need Delbecq 1975
- 11. Inclusion & Conflict Trust Dependency Task Termination Orientation Arrow 2004
- 12. Events Dynamics Maturity
- 13. • Flexible learning • Non-verbal cues methods • Rules of social • Linear / Non-linear interaction programs • Barriers to • Distance / temporal involvement displacement • Topic coherence • Understanding context
- 14. • Behaviour rules for structuring dialogues • New tools for organising group work • Shared knowledge resources • Cooperation scripts Hron & Friedrich 2003
- 15. Group facilitator as director of process, not content Group not a means to an end Purpose, Context What price “cohesion”?
- 16. • Asch, S. E. (1940). Studies in the principles of judgments and attitudes: II. Determination of judgments by group and ego standards. Journal of Social Psychology. 12, 433-465. • Lewin , Kurt (1943), "Forces Behind Food Habits and Methods of Change," in The Problem of Changing Food Habits: Bulletin of The National Research Council, 108 (October). Washington, DC: National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences, 35-65. • Lukes, S. (1973). Individualism. (Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell) • Malcolm, A. (1973). The tyranny of the group. Toronto: Clarke Irwin. • Olmstead, Michael S. and A. Paul Hare. (1978). The Small Group. New York: Random House. • Piper W, Marrache M, Lacroix R, Richardson A, Jones B. (1983). Cohesion as a basic bond in groups. Hum. Relat. 36:93–108 • Hron, A, H.F. Friedrich, (2003) “A review of web-based collaborative learning: factors beyond technology”, J.Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 19, 2003, pp. 70-79. • Arrow, H., M. S. Poole, K. B. Henry, S. Wheelan, R. L. Mooreland. (2004) Time, change, and development: The temporal perspective on groups. Small Group Res. 35(1) 73–105.
Editor's Notes
- I’m going to talkabout group dynamics and the role of the educator as group facilitator.I’m going to start by talking about why groups are of interest to Adult Educators, and why we need to be mindful of how they function.After that I’m going to touch on a couple of aspects of group dynamics that Tennant mentions in this chapter.
- We’re interested in the group as it sits in this space between the individual and society. Between the individual learner and the wider learning organisation.It’s in Groups, like ours, where the social environment in which adult learning takes place, is shaped.It’s the group that generates the experiential base and the other precepts that are fundamental to adult education.And ultimately, it’s the group that’s challenging the teacher and asking for input in planning.The box on the left hand side shows a paper that’s relevant to that particular point, I have the full references at the end if anyone’s interested in looking in those.
- So the group sits in this space here, somewhere between what he calls an ethic of individualism and a spirit of collectivism.On theindividualistside, the notion that the individual is of primary importance, human dignity, autonomy and self-direction are key factors. On the collectivist side, Education is something which contributes to wider social change, collective advancement. And the approaches understanding group dynamics come somewhere along this continuum.INDIVIDUALISMResearch from the Individualist side tends to come from Social Pyschology. Here the group is a means to an end, a tool for helping individuals achieve their learning goals.There’s a fundamental point that your thoughts are your own, that there are no agents outside your control.COLLECTIVISMResearch from the collectivist side tends to come from Political and Social theory, from education programs that were concerned with empowerment of minority groups such as the working class, Womenand ethnic minorities. The belief here is that people are committed and bound to a group by an shared ideology in democractic leadership, participation in decision making, cooperative activities. And that educational initiatives should not be solely for personal advantage. CLICK NOWTaking into account thistension that exists between these two opposing viewpoints, then, the adult educator needs to managethe group, to develop techniques for intervening in the group processes to ensure that the educational goals are met,and these are the kinds of issues they need to consider.
- Research in group dynamics tends to be weighted towards the individualist end of the spectrum. There are many perspectives to research on groups, and Poole identifies these 9 general approaches.I won’t go into details now, but if anyone wants more of an explanation, let me know and I’ll come back to that in the questions.Much of the research, and particularly the material for educators and group facilitators, covers 3 topics: observation of group activities and events, interpretation of that behaviour, making sense of the relationships and structuresand intervention in those group processes. And it’s on intervention that Tennant concentrates on intervention for the rest of the chapter.MORE DETAILSPsychodynamic: Interplay of deep psychological or sociopsychological dynamics, dependence, interdependence, leadership, engagement behaviours.Functional: Process that function to influence group effectivenessTemporal: development and changes of groups over timeConflict-Power-Status: Social relationships & group structures associated with CPS, inequalities of resources, status etc.Symb-Interp: Social constructions of groups, meaning they have for members, language, social interactionSocial-Identity: identification of members with groups that they belong to & social identity they constructSocial-Evoutionary: Group structures reflect evolutionary forces that have shaped human societySocial Network: groups as interlinked structures embedded in larger social networks, patterns of relationships among membersFeminist: Power & privelege enacted through group interactions that favour one gender over another, male & female motivations in social interactionsMcLeod & KettnerPolley 2004Gouran and Hirokawa 1983
- The group exerts a powerful influence on the individual. There are classic experiementsin Social Psychology going back to the 1930s showing how group norms arisehow the values of the group are internalised by members, How they influence behaviour,And even comply with instructions that are would be distressing.The most famous of these is the Millgram experiment, which Tennant describes in some detail.But there are other more subtle studies which are the foundation for a lot of subsequent research.It’s because of this influence, of the group on the members, that it’s important for the adult educator to understand how the group functions, to be able to intervene in the group, to ward off the oppressive aspects.
- So let’s have a look at one example of intervention.Group Cohesion is the extent to which members are attracted to the group, also the extent to which the group can influence the behaviour of individual members. Movement towards cohesion is a sign of a group’s maturity, that the tasks that the group needs to undertake will be productive.
- You’ll remember we discussed icebreakers early on in our sessions, they can be a good way to enhance cohesion, by releasing emotional tension, breaking down defences against learning and starting interaction between members.But they often have these assumptions, which are not always positive.
- Al Malcolm pointed out that some exercises weren’t that great, that rather than increase cohesion, what you actually had were individuals surrenderingto the group will. The focus on immediateexperience meant there was no time to reflect on the exercise. Self disclosure and openness is not always the norm in adult social interaction,but failure to take part or engage fully with the exercise could be seen as deviant.So we can see how badly run group exercises could actually be working against group cohesion.
- We can come up with 3 principles to reduce this risk:ensure that the participants understand what the aim of the exercise is, reduce group pressure by clarifying that participation is optionalgive time to reflect on the exercise and what the group members learned from it.TURNING OVERGroup cohesion is one thing we can consider.
- There’s also the Needs, Wants and Desires that the group generates.And these are not necessarily the same thing.Tenant describes the Nominal Group Technique and a couple of other methods for managing these, but he says they’re mechanical, that a mechanical process at outset of the group won’t register needsAs need only emerges when there is interdependence.This is something that might come out of observations.
- Hopefully you’re getting the idea that groups have a life of their own, that they don’t always fit easy into mechanistic models. They’re organic, they grow in characteristic and predictable ways towards maturity, sometime in an easily recognisable, step-by-step, linear process, or perhaps more as phases or cyclesResearch, as you might imagine is varied.Being able to identify the life stage of a group helps us to interpret and possibly intervene in the processes. The taskof the educator as group facilitator then,is to ensure a smooth transition from one stage to the next.
- Of course the group doesn’t exist in a vacuum and follow some nice preordained plan or timetable. The dynamics within the group reflect the level of maturation, but events still need to be taken into context.External constraints can have an impact on the group that overridesany ongoing development process.
- Lastly, I just want to touch briefly on e-learning, and where that fits in with group dynamics. Partly because it’s the area I’m looking to get into.E-learning of is the area of research that seeks to provide technical tools and methods for educators to allow new, dynamic forms of learning.CLICK NOWE-learning platforms typically face these kinds of problems, due to the nature of the tools being used, i.e. having to learn how to use a new platformand the temporal or physical displacement of members
- In terms of group dynamics e-learning researchers are investigating how onlinegroups develop differently from face-2-face, how do group events play out differently in each situationhow can tools like wiki’s assist in organising group work.And although he doesn’t mention it, a lot of the research in this area, at least from what I’ve seen,seems to come from the collectivist side of the spectrum, i.e. how labour is divided, how online tools are used.
- Tennant winds up by saying there’s too much emphasis in the literature on how the facilitators knowledge of group dynamics can empower the group. His view is that the Group facilitator really comes into play during critical reflection and analysis and as a director of process, not content. A well functioning group isn’t just a means to an end. You also need to consider the purpose and context, and if in fact there’s any price to that cohesion and consensus you’re trying to obtain.
- These are the interesting papers that go back to the 1940’s