Group Work Project

Teaching and Learning Strategies

Teaching and learning usually involve specific strategies that act and aids in the entire process. The approaches are designed to assist teachers and learners in carrying out the exercise of knowledge acquisition successfully. One of the most effective strategies is the heuristic approach, which involves the learners working in groups under the guidance of resource materials or their teachers. With that in mind, we decided to form a group that would help us synthesize various concepts required by our course (Baines, E, Blatchford, P & Kutnick, P 2016). The group was formed by four individuals, A, B, C, and D, an activity which followed the Tuckman’s stages of group development. The members came together following a class assignment that was given by the lecturer and required group participation.

Formation of the Group

Consequently, we decided to form the group to assist in the discussion of the task. However, the professor had already told each one of us who we were supposed to work with hence, we just commenced the working immediately. After meeting with the proposed group members, we knew our roles, and this helped us in carrying out the required activities in the group.

Objectives of the Group

When the group was formed, we had no problem as far as members’ participation was concerned since each member agreed to perform their roles without unnecessary follow-ups. After the formation stage, the group members sat and discussed the objectives of the group, which was done through questioning each member their views as far as the group operations were concerned. Here, we decided who was going to take on what role towards the achievement of the groups outlined objectives. Fortunately, Norming stage received a positive view since; no member disputed the elements agreed on in the storming stage (Brown, A 2017 p. 23). We surely reached the performing stage, where we came back as group members to share various individual ideas with the aim of using them to meet the goals of the group. However, the performing stage did not change any of our initial plans since we all were held up to the ideas we had already agreed. In other words, we stuck on our initial team roles, and we decided to carry on with work.

Roles of Group Members

I took on the role of the group leader and the finisher of all the projects undertaken by the team, as well as finalizing our key findings. B was the coordinator who was responsible for arranging all the meetings and organizing various group undertakings. C took the role of monitor and planter where he was responsible for supervising the activities of the group as well as assisting in the implementation of any new idea among the members (Malekoff, A 2015 p. 10). Lastly, D took on the role of a resource person, who could source for relevant learning stuff which required texts for the completion of the group activities. For example, for the topic about referencing styles which needed materials with the information on the APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago, C could search in the textbooks and online links with such details that eased the discussion process. Personally, my roles remained constant throughout the project, and it started at the end when I was trying to get everything done in the appropriate procedure. Fortunately, this was never a problem as the group members gave an easy time by doing things in the right way and at the right time.

Conflicts and Issues

However, the group experienced some conflicts and issues during the operations, which may have been caused by personal, social, and psychological factors. Some ideological differences among the members usually caused peculiar problems. For example, an idea by B would have failed to be embraced by C, and this could lead to arguments. On the other hand, psychological issues arose due to certain mental disturbances among some group members. As the group leader, I had to find possible ways of solving the problems, which were mainly through discussion (Cohen, EG & Lotan, R 2014 p. 12). The issues would be discussed to reach an amicable solution. Besides, the members agreed that any idea or opinion from a member would be taken into consideration by exploring and analyzing its implications on the group activities. Dealing with the problems reminded me of leadership roles and skills I had encountered before. In short, combating issues in a team set up requires serious leadership skills to communicate and reunite the members towards a common goal.

Leadership and Communication

The leadership techniques and communication played a significant role in our group work project. First, communicating the substantial concepts and activities of the assignment required advanced communication skills for easy understanding by the members. Through communication skills, each member was capable of sharing personal experiences, as well as their findings as far as the team project was concerned (Brandler, & Roman, C P2015). On the other hand, we were able to solve our differences in a harmonious way just because of excellent communication skills. Lastly, the leadership and communication skills enabled us to clearly explain the content of the referencing styles, which was done in a sequential and organized manner.

References

Baines, E., Blatchford, P & Kutnick, P 2016, Promoting effective group work in the primary classroom:  handbook for teachers and practitioners. Routledge.

Brandler, & Roman, C P2015, Group Work: Skills and strategies for effective interventions. Routledge.

Brown, a 2017, Group Work. Routledge.

Cohen, EG & Lotan, R 2014, Designing Group work: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom. Teachers College Press.

Malekoff, a 2015, Group Work Adolescents: Principles and Practice. Guiford Publications.