Month: January 2020

Group and leadership

Was there a group leader?

In my group there was no clear group leader however I feel there were people who were more prominent in decision making than others.

 How was this chosen?

A leader wasn’t explicitly chosen

If informal, how did you know?  What were the actions that marked them as a leader?

People who were more prominent in the decision making made this clear as they were more confident when speaking out and shared their ideas with ease. They also were not afraid to suggest what other people within the group should do or ask for help with what they were doing.

How did this impact on the rest of the group e.g. was there some underlying resentment/ did anyone feel excluded?

I do not think anyone felt excluded or pushed out. I think we all worked together as everyone shared their opinions, even if some were more confident and forward than others. The people who were confident however did ask everyone if they were in agreement with what we did.

What was most challenging for you about working in this group? (personal reflection)

The most challenging thing for me within this group was working with people I wouldn’t normally work with. This meant trying to quickly get to know them and understand their way of working

 

Explaining

How clearly did you think the group explained to you?

I think the group explained how they built their den very clearly with the right amount of detail

What made this clear or unclear?

They had one clear leader for the talking part which meant only one person was speaking and not everyone speaking over each other. She explained the ethos they used very well and pointed out difficulties they faced when building their den. This allowed for her to share their failures and how they worked with that to re-strategise and find a solution to their problem. The spokesperson also gave opportunities for the rest of her team to jump in and put their opinion to the group which showed their great use of teamwork. They all spoke with clear voices which were easy to understand and they all spoke with confidence

What stage of the 5Ps might have been missed out?

They may have missed out the preparation stage as there wasn’t much time to prepare. They possibly had time to quickly plan who was speaking but that person won’t have had time to properly prepare.

Environment

What was the impact of the environment on your communication?

The environment can cause a lot of distraction and background noise which must be taken into consideration when communicating. It is important to keep your audience in one area where they can all see you and hear you clearly.

What changes did you make when explaining to others that you might not have considered in a typical classroom?

Volume of voice may need to be louder and clearer.

How challenging was it so speak above the sounds in the environment?  How can we make this communication easier on both speaker and listener?

It is important to keep your audience in one area where they can all see you and hear you clearly. It is important to project your voice out towards the audience. Also if there is wind it is important to consider this when positioning yourself as the noise of the wind may inhibit your audience from hearing you.

When listening, did the environment distract you? How can we overcome this?

If the audience is looking out at a busy road for example it will be easier to be distracted so the audience should face away from the distraction.

• Group and leadership
  • Was there a group leader? I would say that we all took equal roles and worked together to create our den.
  •  How was this chosen?  We all adapted and naturally ended up working together.
  • If informal, how did you know?  What were the actions that marked them as a leader?
  • How did this impact on the rest of the group e.g. was there some underlying resentment/ did anyone feel excluded? I don’t think so as we all had equal leadership roles.
  • What was most challenging for you about working in this group? (personal reflection)  I think working with new people I hadn’t worked with before was slightly difficult at first but I adapted quite easily and came out of my shell fast.
• Explaining
  • How clearly did you think the group explained to you? I think there was good explanations throughout, I didn’t struggle to understand anything.
  • What made this clear or unclear?
  • What stage of the 5Ps might have been missed out? I think our Presentation was missed out as we didn’t really discuss with other groups how our den was built and how we built it, even though we had planned accordingly.
• Environment
  • What was the impact of the environment on your communication? We mainly used our environment, we used minimal man made elements and used mainly trees and branches along with other natural materials.
  • What changes did you make when explaining to others that you might not have considered in a typical classroom? We were more informal.
  • How challenging was it so speak above the sounds in the environment?  How can we make this communication easier on both speaker and listener? We didn’t struggle as we built our den in an enclosed area, out the way of the other groups, so it was relatively quiet.
  • When listening, did the environment distract you? How can we overcome this? No, because it wasn’t very windy or loud outside.
• Negotiation
  • Were your negotiations successful?  Why/Why not? They weren’t successful as only 2 of us went to negotiate and got distracted by the other groups dens.
  • What was most challenging about these? Our negotiation skills could have definitely been improved.

The main aim of Chapter 5 :‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’ is to have a deeper insight into the types of questions we can ask, how we ask questions, e.g. with or without a pause, and how we respond to questions.

A few key themes within this chapter are:
– What a question is and why it is important
– Different types of questions
– The structuring of questions

A theory in this chapter that I found quite interesting in particular was the “Tunnel Sequence”, or sometimes known as a “string of beads” (Stewart and Cash, 2008). This is a type of questioning that would be very useful in an interview as the questions being asked are closed and makes it easier for the interview panel to compare several candidates’ answers as they are all responding to the same questions.

One claim I read in this chapter was from a US study: pupils will not answer questions in class because their are afraid that their fellow peers will not respond well to their responses. I agree with this claim as pupils do not want to be told that their answers are incorrect or they do not understand the context of the question in front of the class.

I did not know what the word “presuppositions” meant. A definition was provided in the chapter: “silent implications or taken for granted references” within questions. (Fiedler, 2007:15). In other words, it means to assume something beforehand.

Overall, this chapter has brought to my attention the importance of using different types of questions when communicating with pupils instead of asking only closed questions to receive one answer from them. Open questions will allow pupils to give an elaborate and detailed response.

Reference: Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge.

I liked how you highlighted the importance of questioning for example in abuse cases where leading questions expect a certain answer. Being aware of this as future teachers to allow children to justify answers rather than almost give a desired answer or an answer that was within the question.

Group and Leadership

There was no group leader chosen, instead we all had a different role within the team. We all got along well so there was no issues and no one was excluded. However, we had very limited material as the other groups had taken most of it, therefore, we had to problem solve and use the natural resources e.g. sticks/branches.

 

Explaining

I think all explanations given were clear as all members of the group had the same idea of what the den should look like. Therefore, we all had the same end goal which made us work more efficiently.

In my opinion we did not plan. We started to build the den and just sort of ‘winged it’ in the hopes that it would work out. This led to a few issues e.g. the roof of the den ended up collapsing as the branch was not strong enough to hold the materials.

 

Environment

The environment changes the formality of a situation e.g. the workshop felt very informal and more enjoyable.

In order to communicate effectively outdoors you have to make changes e.g. instructions have to be clear because there is a larger risk to health and safety, the volume may differ (could be louder because larger space, or quieter to prevent disruption to the environment and others who may be there).

Transitioning from communicating indoors to communicating outdoors was not an issue for my group. However, as a developing student teacher I am aware that this may not always be the case, I am now aware of strategies that I can use in order to communicate effectively with a class outdoors. E.g. standing against a wall with the children in front to shield my voice and also prevent any distractions.

As part of our Situated Communication module, we were given a den building challenge to test our communication skills in the outdoor environment, which was full of rich and engaging stimuli.  Although the end result was far from glorious, our team worked well together and came away with a better understanding of the challenges faced when communicating outside!

Group and Leadership

Was there a group leader?

I found that there was no established group leader at any point throughout the den building activity.  Everyone took turns to suggest ideas and give instructions/constructive criticism as well as show their initiative when working with others.

How was this chosen?

Seeing as there was no particular group leader, we decided simply to work alongside one another to achieve a common goal within a set time.  To have selected and agreed upon a team leader would not only have wasted time in this context but also could have created an opportunity for resentment or disagreements.  Furthermore, we all chose our own roles within the group without hesitation, and were ready to take on a similar workload, so there wasn’t really a need to have somebody as a leading figure.

If informal, how did you know? What were the actions that marked them as a leader?

Although we had no specific team leader, we all showed leadership qualities and skills within the completion of the activity.  We all made valid suggestions, as well as ensuring that we were managing with what we needed to do (carrying materials, taking turns to arrange the structures). We worked with honesty and integrity, and had the confidence to make further suggestions and raise questions where necessary.  As the task progressed, we found that good verbal communication was key to a collective understanding of the task and a greater chance of success.  Moreover, when time began to run out, we were required to hone our decision-making capabilities to decide which features of the den should take priority, and which features we could afford to miss out.  Despite the cold weather, we also kept each other going!

” As the task progressed, we found that good verbal communication was key to a collective understanding of the task and a greater chance of success.”

How did this impact on the rest of the group e.g. was there some underlying resentment/did anyone feel excluded?

As mentioned above, having no established leader was perhaps fundamental to the absence of any potential resentment in the group.  With regards to exclusion, I found that everyone had a job to do, and we worked together very well with no conflict or disagreement whatsoever.  In fact, the atmosphere was quite relaxed and informal – not to mention we also had a good laugh

What was the most challenging thing for you about working in this group?

Whilst I enjoy working in a group, there are a few factors which I consider a challenge.  Although I had spoken to everyone in my team prior to the task, I felt I wasn’t hugely acquainted with all of our members.  Therefore, I felt the need to establish a relaxed outlook on the task, and be open to different suggestions and strategies which might not have reflected my own.  Furthermore, I can sometimes find it difficult to project my voice and be heard as I consider myself a fairly soft-spoken individual outwith the university context.  If somebody talks over me, I tend to tail off and stay quiet.  I can also fall into the trap of body language and intonation being too subtle for others to notice.  Therefore, it was necessary to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and ensure whatever I said could be heard.  It was rather rewarding as a few of the ideas I had were used in the creation of the den. Now I know that by having my voice heard, I can contribute to the completion of tasks.

 

Explaining

How clearly did you think the group explained to you?  What made this clear or unclear?

I felt that the group’s explanations were particularly clear – we all made sure to speak clearly and that everybody knew what was expected of them.  This was evident throughout the task as nobody was left confused or without anything to do at any point.  All members understood what had been asked of them, and requests that were made.  There were also no arguments or conflict during the whole activity.

 

 

Environment

What was the impact of the environment on your communication? What changes did you make when explaining to others that you might not have considered in a typical classroom?

I believe there was a significant impact on communication.  For example, we had to speak much louder than perhaps we would have in a classroom.  Also, we needed to use hand gestures and reliance on facial expressions more often, as background noise, distance and proximity influenced how well we could hear and interpret what was being said by other members of our group.  Given that it was not a particularly windy day, we did not have to raise our voices much, but the difference in volume was obvious compared to the classroom. Furthermore, in the outdoor environment, it often proved useful to use the concrete materials around us to physically demonstrate the ideas and suggestions we had.  This allowed us to visualize what another group member had in mind, which might not always be possible indoors.

“I believe there was a significant impact on communication.  For example, we had to speak much louder than perhaps we would have in a classroom.”

How challenging was it to speak above the sounds in the environment?  How can we make this communication easier on both speaker and listener?

There were a few occasions when the wind picked up, as well as dogs barking and the sound of traffic from the surrounding roads.  I felt that my hearing became a little more strained when this happened.  I also found that I had to speak louder, although not by much as we stayed close together.  I feel that being in smaller groups did make the communication simpler as we did not have to worry about projecting our voices too much, and if we could not hear each other, we simply moved closer together.

 

Negotiation

Were your negotiations successful? Why/why not?  What was most challenging about these?

Unfortunately, our negotiations were unsuccessful and few in number.  As we were one of the last groups to have access to the materials available, we did not have much to offer in exchange for additional group members or better materials.  I feel that our tone and language was particularly strong and persuasive, but due to the lack of physical materials, a lot of our negotiations and offers fell flat.

The main aim of chapter is to explore the definition, types and purposes of questions while also exploring different possible answers to questions

 

The three main themes of the chapter are:
– The importance of questioning

– Structuring of questions

– Types of Questions

 

Hargie claims that A question can be verbal or non verbal. For example, “hmm” is a request for the speaker, a nod is also a non-verbal gesture which suggests a question.

 

I disagree with Hargie when he states that  group conversations are most effective when there are many contributors. If this was in an instance of children in particular it may not be effective as they may be nervous or anxious to speak out in front of others in fear of being wrong

 

A word I was unsure of was ‘Ascertain’ – verb –to find out definitely; learn with certainty or assurance; determine

 

One theory that was presented in the chapter was the “Funnel Sequence” or the “pyramid”. This theory starts with the questioner asking many open questions but gradually these questions are substituted for closed questions. This theory is effective because the structure gradually narrows on the vital information needed, without demanding the question. This makes it useful for purposes such as interviews.