Satu Öystilä 2015

Group dynamics and group facilitating

Eduta Oy

Tel. +35850 564 4887

satu.oystila@eduta.fi www.eduta.fi

The intervention styles of a facilitator

Accepting intervention styleListeningSupportingLow directiveObservingAffirming the value of student interaction

Catalytic intervention styleOpen-ended questionsWhat, how, who, with whom, when…?Why is challenging, but sometimes usefulData collecting

Confrontative intervention styleConfrontation: differences and discrepancies between words and doingChallenging by direct questoningDevil’s advocateEvaluation

Prescriptive intervention styleHigh directiveTransmitting knowledge and informationGive the topic and lead the discussion

Peer learning

Lecturers often say they have learned things most effectively when teaching but rarely give

their students a chance to learn by teaching

(Light & Cox)

The expertise of the teacher

The teacher has to manage:•The learning process and modern learning theories•Group dynamics and group facilitation in practice•The substance expertise•Good intra- and interpersonal skills

Tasks of the teacher as a (peer) group facilitator

• To plan, how to commit the students to the dialogic process

• To construct collaborative learning communities, • To take care of that students can join together• To create such kind of atmosphere, where students

can feel safe and commit to construct new knowledge

• To build up the basic rules of the group: ground rules, practises, warming up methods…

Group facilitators´ double taskTo promotion:•The learning process (the basic task, the object)•The group process (cohesion, norms, roles, collaboration)

The aims of university teaching I1. The development of the individual understanding

Through interactive discussions both the concepts and the theories and the connections between them will be clarified

1. The development of the personal and professional expertise

Through the shared problem solving with analysing, evaluation, reasoning and synthesizing

The aims of university teaching II3. The development of interpersonal skills

Through the dialogue with argumenting, listening, questoning, supporting and giving constructive feedback

3. Personal growth as a human beingThrough participation in argumentations and discussions the students have possibility to test their own values and attitudes, and self-esteem and self-confidence develope

The aims of university teaching II5. The growth of the professional identity

The close interaction between the students and the teacher enables that students become aware of the professional values and ethics

5. The development of the self-directed learning When taking part in small group work the students accept their personal responsibility for their own and the group´s learning

Group dynamics• When group members interact with each other, they

form a social system: group dynamics• Group dynamics are the forces that emerge and take

shape as members interact with one another during the life of a group. These dynamic forces are the product of both here-and-now interactions of group members and what members bring to the group from their larger social environment.

Individuality emerges only in a group

To be banished from

the herd is the most

terrible punishment we

can suffer short of death,

because one of our most

fundamental needs is

to belong

The elements of the group dynamics

• The communication processes and the interactive models

• The attraction between the individuals• The cohesion• The social belonging: the norms, roles and the

status (scapegoating, free-riders… )• The power• The group culture

Group relations

N x (N-1 ): 2The members the relations

• 2 1• 3 3 • 5 10• 10 45• 20 190• 30 435• 50 1225

Stages of group development (Tuckman & Jensen)

1. Forming

2. Storming

3. Norming

4. Performing

5. Mourning/

Adjourning

1. The Forming stage

• Group members are most concerned about being accepted and learning more about the group and its circumstances.

• The forming phase is about the uncertainty group members feel at the beginning of the group´s life.

• There is anxiety and also a degree of unpleasant anticipation• There is a sense of looking to the leader to provide direction

and safety• A false consensus may develope• Group members will equally be checking out what is

approriate behaviour and adjusting accordingly• A strong dependence on any authority

The group facilitator at the forming stage

• The teacher keeps in mind that a group cannot come together until each member has established her or his own separate individuality

• The basic task and the cohesion of the group• The safe atmosphere• The ground rules of the group• Getting to know each other also in the personal

manner• The leadership of the group

Activities at the Forming stage

• Snow-ball (Define the aim alone, in pairs, in groups of 4…)

• Warming up exercises• Ice breakers

(to get to know each other, to belong, to feel safe)• Pyramid exercise (ground rules) • Fish-bowl (to implement ground rules, to give

feedback)• Visualization (pictures, small objects…)

2. The Storming stage• As the group matures and individual members come to feel

more secure, there is a period of conflict in which members confront their various differences and view for power.

• May includes a conflict or an expression of interpersonal hostility within the group

• The uncertainties and deeper emotions from the previous stage have become unfrozen and projected onto other people of the group

• The counter-dependence on authority• Differences are seen as all or nothing, for or against• Issues of personal freedom versus the group authority and

leaders of opposing arguments collect followers

The group facilitator at the storming stage

• The teacher takes care of the leadership• The teacher reminders about the basic task and the

aim of the group• The teacher may be challenged openly with requests

to clarify: what all this is about? or why we are here?• The tutor gives constructive and honest feedback• Container-function (no provoked)• The tutor doesn´t wait, that challenging situations

pass over but brings conflicts to the discussion

Activities at the Storming stage

• Debate (for and against, in the whole group or just some of the students)

• Fishing bowl (are we acting according to the ground rules, what should we change just now?)

• Changing sub groups and seating • Changing reflective triads• Evaluation of the goal, group atmosphere and

situation at the moment• Rounds (1 minute each)

3. The Norming stageThe Norming phase is about the emergence of tacit or openly stated rules about how the group is to be In the Norming stage the group develops some consensus about roles, status and procedures.Emphasis is now placed on the mutual concerns and interrelationships The freedom/authority conflict of Storming stage has been resolved and hostility will be lower and group cohesion will increaseThe group knows one another better and has begun to settle downBehaviours now turned to listening, asking opinions etc.The fragile cosensus of the Forming stage has disappeared and there is a lot less dependence on the teacherThe norms may or may not be helpful

The group facilitator at the norming stage

• The tutor helps to be in contact with other groups

• The tutor supports the individuals in the group• The tutor emphasizes the basic task and the

dialogic norms in the group• The tutor gives more responsibility to the

members of the group and emphasizes the importance of differencies

4. The Performing stage• The group becomes conscious of its deadlines and will agree roles• The group can begin to address more effectively its various group

goals• During this period there will be generally less conflict and emotion

associated with the internal working of the group and the group can resolve possible problems

• Positive interdependence with simultaneous autonomy and neutrality (W. Bion: work group function)

• Learning with and from peers• An awareness of the value of hearing different perspectives from

a group or individuals

The group facilitator at the performing stage

• The tutor gives more power to the members of the group and stays in the background

• Confrontation• Shared leadership• The tutor supports the mutual interaction of

the group members• Openness and transparency

Activities at the norming and perfornig stage

• Learning café• Gallery walk• Task cards and teaching sessions• Role play• Improvisation• Simulation• Games• PBL and Case studies• Project work

• How the group copes with the disbandment• The group starts to give voice to the outside

world• When something goes to the end, something

new may emerge • If something has been avoided in the group, it

may rise up in the last moments of the group• Self assessment of the group members

5. The Adjourning/Mourning stage

• The teacher helps to look back over, what has been achieved and learned

• The teacher helps people cope with this stage by having a closing ceremony

• Real ending of the group• The tutor helps the group share and experience the

emotions associated with separation• The teacher can give time to deal the issues which has

not been said (not in the last minutes)• The self assessment

The group facilitator at the adjourning stage

Activities at the adjourning stage

• Assessment of the learning and group process• Positive feedback to others• Repeating (inventory) what have learned• Farewell excercise

The roles of the PBL-tutor and the the group´s PBL-experience

Anstett, Glindsjö & Lindholm

1. Unexperienced PBL-groups2. The groups, which have some experience in PBL3. Experienced PBL-groups

The role of the tutor and unexperienced PBL-groupsSHEPHERD DOGUnderstanding group dynamics and using themto create a warm and supportive climateConcentrating on the phases of the PBL processPaying attention to the group structure and the group´s progress towardsthe goal

The role of the tutor and somehow experienced PBL-groups

PET DOG Asking the right kind(open) of questions Keeping members indemocratic dialoque Active listening Supporting differentopinions and new perspectives

The role of the tutor and somehow experienced PBL-groups

WATCHDOG Supporting critical reflectionand self assessment Feedback: the complexity andthe context The connection betweentheory and practice Supporting criticism, questoning and disagreement,but not personal attacks

The pitfalls of the teacher as a group facilitator

• The teacher wants too hard to be accepted (nice guy)

• The teacher does not live according to the ground rules of the group

• The teacher is trying to be responsible for the learning process (the students are responsible for their learning)

• The teacher forgets the importance of trust• The teacher becomes provoked• The teacher forgets that he/she is not the member

of the group, but the leader