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Part B: Individual Reflection on Group Functioning Jessica Woods S00112916

As an early childhood educator it is very important to create the skills to work in groups. I will be working as a team and communicating with my colleges, families and the children in my class. Group work is a great technique to solve problems or a set task using the knowledge, experiences and skills of different individuals. I have worked in many different groups this semester and I will be reflecting on my Partnerships for Learning group experience.

Preston-Shoot (1987) believes the first meeting of a group is a vital first step to the process. He explained that it will influence the attitude, the feelings of the members and the groups objectives. I met my Partnerships for Learning group in my first tutorial. We got to know each others names (Alyssa, Clare, Alicia and Caitlin) and we identified each others strengths and weaknesses.

We immediately established Clare to be the leader of the group. She took charge and started working through different concerns, establishing a group agreement and a goal for the group. Clare agreed to organise and manage the group, so our presentation was completed in time. I enjoyed the fact that Clare took the leadership role, as in previous groups I was usually a leader, it was refreshing to have a different position in the group.

After each group meeting we agreed we would sit down and reflect on our progress for the meeting. We discussed any potential problems and how each member was feeling. Generally everyone in the group felt happy and confident with what we had achieved and personally, I felt like this was a very helpful technique to keep the group focussed and avoid any tension that may be building.

Once we had decided on our topic we started brainstorming important points that we would need to cover, linking back to the unit outline. We all had different ideas and explanations of our topic: Parent-Family partnerships. Walsh and Kahn highlight the fact that, several rather than only one, potential leads to maintain the momentum of your project and to refresh the

initiative with new ideas and energies. (p 5, 2010) I found that I needed to ensure I respected each persons ideas and negotiate on which ideas were more important then others.

We agreed that we wanted to incorporate role plays into our presentation in order to keep the class interacting with the content. Clare, Alicia and I volunteered to write the role plays. We also allocated different tasks for each of us to take home, research and bring back to reflect on in the next meeting. We all agreed on a time for us to meet each week, agreeing to be punctual and commit ourselves to the group work for one hour. Equitable and timely delegation of tasks is a vital part of working in groups. I felt at ease when I knew what my responsibility was and how much time I had to do it. I will make sure I incorporate this into any other group work I am a part of.

In one of our meetings we found that we had too many different role pays. This created a slight conflict in the group as we could not agree immediately which three role plays to choose. Preston-shoot (1987) advised that conflict in a group situation is a positive thing. It can show the group members commitment to the group and the willingness to contribute to the content. We managed to solve the conflict during our one hour meeting by deciding which three of the role plays best suited our topic. We took a vote, and had a discussion on the reasons why some of the role plays werent chosen. We were able to face the conflict without offence or threat which is a sign of honest communication according to Doel (2006, p 148). We all had different skills that helped the group. I offered to summarise everyones information and put it together on the handout. I felt confident that I could do this task to the best of my ability, however, before I started I asked each group member for some insight on how they would like the handout to look and what information to include.

After our presentation was over and we had our marks back we agreed to meet and talk about our progress as a group and how we could have improved. This helped us all gain closure so that we can move forward as better group members.

As an individual working in a group I feel that I have helped us to function effectively together. I stopped thinking about my own personal opinions and put the groups best interests first. I was able to contribute my own valuable insights to help solve problems and

complete the set task. I found I planned and completed the work I needed to do in a timely fashion and I encouraged the other members to do the same. A cohesive team is a key resource for the provision of quality care and education of young children (Rodd, 2006, p 146). As an early childhood teacher these skills that I have gained doing group work will become valuable to me in my practise.

References:

Doel, M. (2006). Using groupwork. New York: Routledge.

Preston-Shoot, M. (1987). Effective groupwork. London: Macmillan Press. Rodd, J. (2006). Leadership in early childhood (3rd Ed.). NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Walsh, L & Kahn, P. (2010). Collaborative working in higher education the social academy. New York: Routledge.

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