How Groups Work - the dynamics
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Dont forget to refer to the resources in the right hand column which may help you.
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You are given permission to cut and paste anything out of Paddy McEvoy's book.
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Remember to see permision for any material that does not belong to you or Paddy. A permission request form can be found in the left hand column.
Pages: 20 sides of A4 (or less)
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Overall aim of this chapter: to give the reader an idea about the life cycle of a group and how people interact. But also discussing the way the facilitator interacts and they way their personality and behaviour also affects the group's dynamics. Why is small group learning the talk of the century?
- What defines a group?
- Why are we so keen on group work these days? (as opposed to lectures); provide evidence: benefits of small group work; type of learning it is good for (Ch 12 McEvoy, p 7 Groups: a guide for small group work by Elwyn)
ch11 in Groups: a guide to small group work by Elwyn has a great section on the evidence for small group work in higher education - Behaviour in Groups: Schein (p12 in Groups: a guide to small group work by Elwyn, Greenhalgh and Macfarlane)
- Hunt's Ideal Small Group (p15-18 in Groups: a guide to small group work by Elwyn); does size matter?
- Relationships in groups (see page 10 of Once Upon a Group by Kindred)
- The lifecycle of a group: Tuckman's forming storming, norming and performing (Ch 11 Group Dynamics, McEvoy)
- Being clear about the main purpose of the group (p11 Once Upon a Group, Kindred)
- The facilitator's infectious personality/ethos: we may project aspects of our own personality, ethics and core values onto other members of the group: discuss pros/cons (p57 Once Upon a Group)