Reflective Questions
Group and leadership
Was there a group leader?
- Yes, someone took on the role of a group leader.
How was this chosen?
- There was not a formal decision made.
If informal, how did you know? What were the actions that marked them as a leader?
- He suggested his ideas and took into consideration other opinions. He suggested which materials we may need, which allowed us to delegate roles for everyone such as collecting certain sticks.
How did this impact on the rest of the group e.g. was there some underlying resentment/ did anyone feel excluded?
- This had a positive impact on the group as everyone knew what their role was within the group, people were also able to give their own opinion as they knew it would be valued.
What was most challenging for you about working in this group? (personal reflection)
- For me working within this group, it was challenging to visualise other peoples’ ideas such as how the den would look and work as everyone had a different perception of the challenge. This made it difficult at the start of the construction as not everyone was sure on the outcome we were aiming for.
Explaining
How clearly did you think the group explained to you?
- Some aspects were described clearly by the other groups which we had the visual of the den to support however other areas of their explanations were unclear.
What made this clear or unclear?
- The visual of the den made the presentation part clear, some areas were unclear as it was a basic explanation such as the planning of the den.
What stage of the 5Ps might have been missed out?
The pre-assessment and planning stage of the explanation was missed out as it was unclear the process the group went through when deciding materials, where they would build their den or if they decided on the look of their den after collecting the materials.
Environment
What was the impact of the environment on your communication?
- It was more effective to speak in closer proximity than usual due to the noise level around us such as the natural environment and the other groups. It was also important to use body language and demonstration to make sure everyone in the group knew what they were doing.
What changes did you make when explaining to others that you might not have considered in a typical classroom?
- Explaining the idea behind our den and why we used the materials we did such as not having a blanket/sheet to use for a roof which meant we had to improvise and use more branches and leaves. We also explained some of the challenges we encountered and how we overcame them.
How challenging was it so speak above the sounds in the environment? How can we make this communication easier on both speaker and listener?
- At first, it was challenging as others were trying to shout to each other from a distance, which we soon realised that speaking closer to each other was an easier way to communicate and listen. Gathering in a circle can make communication outside easier for both the speaker and listener.
When listening, did the environment distract you? How can we overcome this?
- Being around the other groups was quite distracting as they were all talking about their own ideas, we overcame this by moving to a quieter area.
Negotiation
Were your negotiations successful? Why/Why not?
- Our negotiation was unsuccessful as the other group did not want to give away their blanket as it was the roof of their den and we did not have a suitable material to offer them to replace it.
What was most challenging about these?
- It was challenging to offer the other group something that they would find useful as our dens were so different.
