GROUP FACILITATION
Group dynamics between facilitators:
Within my group, Dinah, Joseph and I would be carrying out additional work, such as the purchasing of materials. This led to frustration at the other group members for an uneven work distribution, because Sundaaree, Afiana and Yi Xue had their own personal issues or co-curricular activity commitments to fulfill while Dinah, Joseph and I were the most invested in the project. Yi Xue also ended up having to do Afiana’s work, and I had to cover Sundaaree’s parts.
For example, Dinah, Joseph and I were buying materials and had texted the group for feedback before purchase, but only Yi Xue replied. The three of us were feeling frustrated at the other members because we had been sourcing items for days without their help. As such, we got annoyed that even as we were doing the work, the other members did not give feedback on the items. In the end, we just bought the items and did not bother waiting for their response. The other members possibly were unresponsive because they were busy or felt too uninvolved to give feedback.
In Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development, we were in storming period where ‘The lack of unity is an outstanding feature of this phase. There are characteristic key issues that polarize the group’ (Tuckman, 1965). Eventually, the group did perform well, as we continued emphasising everyone’s participation in groupwork, which gave us bonding opportunities. When we made our workshop materials, we insisted that everyone come despite conflicting schedules. This enabled everyone to have a sense of ownership over the work and feel motivated to do a good job.
Through this, I have learnt I am capable of resolving social dilemmas and I am now more confident in myself. I will be more motivated to try to diffuse interpersonal problems as I believe I am able to, compared to before when I might be hesitant to do so as I worry I might make things worse.
Group dynamics with children:
The children were competing and desiring the facilitators’ attention. A few fit the narcissistic problematic member archetype. Once, when we played ‘Tempers in a Jar’, Student A wanted to be picked for several rounds. After missing his turn multiple times, he got upset and had an outburst, refusing to participate in the game even when he was picked. We tried to encourage him to participate while the other children observed silently or ignored him. We explained to A that we had to allow the other children to have their turns but Student A still remained angry so we gave him time-out to calm down and re-join the group. A was likely upset because he felt like he had been ignored by the facilitators.
Picture of one of the children having a tantrum.
Kare Anderson’s-Conflict Resolution model was used to resolve this. Going through the 4 steps: we identified our needs of the children’s participation and equal attention for all of them. We then identified Students A’s needs to be that of emotional validation from us by talking to them and finding out why he was upset, where we listened to him. We then decided to be attentive of Students Bs’ want for affection while being unbiased in our treatment of the other children. (Anderson, 1999) Afterwards, Student A did not change in behaviour and still had similar tantrums.
I learned that Primary School children can be fast in developing attachments, so care should be taken to ensure that they do not become overly-attached when working with them.
I discovered low-income Primary School children are much likelier to have school absenteeism (The big read, 2015), which is associated with poor academic performance (Elis, 2016). I would hence recommend volunteer mentor systems in Student Care Centres, as mentorships improve school attendance (Sheldon & Epstein, 2004; Guryan et al., 2016)
As a result of completing this reflection, I learned:
1. How to better use Kare Anderson’s Conflict Resolution to deal with interpersonal problems.
2. To be more confident in my ability to handle conflict. This confidence matters because it will enable me to try solving conflicts in the future.
In light of this learning, in the future I will be less conflict-adverse and more willing to work out interpersonal conflicts.
References
Anderson, K. (1999). Resolving conflict sooner. Toronto: Crossing Press.
Elis, J. C. (2016). Effects of absenteeism to the learning performance of fourth year students of one national high school in batangas city, philippines. Asia Pacific Journal of
Education, Arts and Sciences, 3(3). Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/32971807/Effects_of_Absenteeism_to_the_Learning_Perf
ormance_of_Fourth_Year_Students_of_one_National_High_School_in_Batangas_Cit
y_Philippines
Guryan, J., Christenson, S.L., Claessens, A., Engel, M., Lai, I., Ludwig, J., Turner, A.C., &
Turner, M.C. (2016). The effect of mentoring on school attendance and academic
outcomes: a randomized evaluation of the check & connect program. Working Paper
Series16-18. Retrieved from
https://www.povertyactionlab.org/sites/default/files/publications/4066_The-effect-of-
mentoring-onschool-attendance-and%20academic-outcomes_November%202016.pdf
Sheldon, S. B., & Epstein, J. L. (2004). Getting students to school: using family and
community involvement to reduce chronic absenteeism. School Community Journal,
14(2), 39-56. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ794822.pdf
The big read: educators flag absentee rate of children of low-income families as a concern.
(2015, August 1). Today. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-
read-educators-flag-absentee-rate-children-low-income-families-concern
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin,
63(6), 384-399. Retrieved from
https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Group_Dynamics/Tu
ckman_1965_Developmental_sequence_in_small_groups.pdf