Facilitation of Group Process
Teresa Castro (teresa@media.mit.edu) and Catherine Weber (cweber@tiac.net)
Critical & Creative Thinking Program, U. Mass., Boston
November 10, 1998

Contents
1. Groups defined and described
2. Macro: Facilitation described
3. Micro example: Facilitation of peer support, social change groups described
4. Bibliography

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1. Groups defined and described
Group definition: Two or more individuals in face-to-face interaction, each aware of his or her membership in the group, each aware of the others who belong in the group, and each aware of their positive interdependence as they strive to achieve mutual goals.

Stages of Group Development
1. Forming-members become oriented towards each other
2. Storming-members confront their various differences; management of conflict is the focus of attention
3. Norming-group develops consensus regarding a role structure and a set of group norms
4. Performing-group works as a unit to achieve group goals
5. Adjourning-the group disbands

Types of groups
Pseudo--group of members who have been assigned to work together who have not interest in doing so.
Traditional--a group whose members agree to work together, but see little benefit in doing so.
Effective--a group whose members commit themselves to the common purpose of maximizing their own and each other's success.
High Performance--meets all the criteria for being an effective group and outperforms expectations.

Qualities of an effective group
* Strong mutual goal
* Positive interdependence
* Promotive interaction
* Strong membership
* Strong Mutual identity
* Positive relationships

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2. Facilitation described

Flow of group facilitation
1. Entry--Clarify expectations; assess culture, values, issues; contract with group;
2. Setting the climate--establish roles and expectations; develop norms, create mission, vision and objectives
3. Doing the work--achieving the objectives of the group

Basic procedures for structuring discussion groups:
1. Specify objectives
2. Select appropriate group size
3. Assign participants to groups
4. Arrange room
5. Distribute materials
6. Assign roles
7. Explain the cooperative goal structure and the task
8. Observe and monitor behavior of group members
9. Intervene to teach needed group skills
10. Evaluate quality and quantity of group productivity

Skills of facilitation
* set learning goals and expectations
* conduct activities based on the group's stage
* bring out group members ideas, not your own.
* direct conversation with strategic questioning

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3. Micro example. Facilitation of peer support, social change groups described.

Social Change Groups tend to involve:
1) Deconstruction of the social context. Making the connections between our personal experiences and our political realities.
2) Taking action to shape our social context. Creating alternatives to those realities we find unacceptable.
3) Facilitation rooted in distributed authority and distributed responsibility. Helping people help themselves.
4) Using peer support and respectful collaboration to develop community.

Empowerment: (as defined by Julian Weissglass) the process of supporting people 1) to construct new meanings and 2) to exercise their freedom to choose new ways of responding to the world

For those of us who want to imagine beyond traditional or dominant, social frameworks it is important to be able to participate in communities where we can share support for our ideas. Integral to any social change group is the ability to deconstruct how social and discursive practices circumscribe what we can say, do and become within an historical moment. These groups try to develop alternative approaches for understanding and responding to the world, and in doing so perhaps change it.

Facilitating authority building
Distributed responsibility and distributed authority. In groups working from the distributed responsibility/authority model, facilitators act as advocates not experts. They focus on helping members help themselves. Facilitators provide support and, when asked, share their own experiences. In this context, group members are encouraged to define and initiate the changes that they want to make in their lives and their communities.

Many of us have been trained to understand authority as other-centered, as located in an institution, discipline, scholar, or teacher. Yet life requires that we not only possess the ability to articulate our desires, needs, and goals but also the ability to define the strategies needed to meet those goals.

Facilitating Assessment and evaluation
One way to facilitate authority building is to facilitate a process of self-assessment and evaluation. The process of assessing our own needs and goals is an opportunity to take possession of our development. When we are encouraged to decide what we want to learn and how we want to challenge ourselves, we have the opportunity to develop a directorial stance toward our own lives. And when we learn to how make our own choices, we become less dependent upon external authority figures.

Peer Support
The process of sharing experiences and working on solutions as a group can prove empowering in several ways. In our society, many people feel alienated from traditional forms of community. This can result in feelings of isolation. However, when people come together to share their experiences and thoughts, they begin to break the isolation upon which various forms of oppression depend. Furthermore, through peer support people can act as resources for each other. When we receive and also give support, we begin to learn what we have to give.

Facilitating Constructive Response
Group sharing tends to work best if a facilitator ensures that response remains grounded, specific, and sensitive. A grounded response doesn't pretend to speak from some universal or external criteria of judgment. When we make ownership of our responses explicit, it is easier for others to decide whether our responses are of use to them. Furthermore, general responses are not as useful as specific ones. 'You're idea is great!,' is fine but best when followed by a deeper analysis that helps a person understand why the idea is great, and why it elicited such a positive response.

Facilitating Collaboration
Working collaboratively can be an extremely generative means of building community and also confidence. Sometimes when we are learning something new, we feel more willing to take risks if we're not alone in the process. Below are some guidelines for facilitating respectful collaboration.

A. Be willing to try on other people's ideas, content or process.
B. It's okay to disagree. It's never acceptable to shame, blame or attack.
C. Self-focus. Try to remain present to your responses, emotions, etc.
D. Practice both/and thinking verses either/or thinking.
E. Take responsibility for your own learning process. You are both learner and teacher.
F. Confidentiality surrounding personal sharing is integral to safe group process.

Facilitating heterogeneous groups
Robust s change groups tend to be inclusive and heterogeneous. In a society based on competition and hierarchy, people of different social locations are often pitted against each other to fight for access to scarce resources. Yet solidarity between people of various social locations is important if any particular population wants to create lasting social change. To develop truly heterogeneous communities, facilitators need to be able to acknowledge (versus ignore) difference while also being able to acknowledge the connections between different members. Below are some guidelines for facilitating group process which value respectful reciprocity within difference.

A. Be willing to rethink 'universal' truths.
B. Acknowledging differences is as important as acknowledging connections. Try not to collapse or over-simplify boundaries in the interest of quick we's.
C. Understand the multiplicity of social locations-the complexity of oppressor and oppressed in each of us.
D. Beware of appropriating the good and ignoring the struggle within another person's social location-don't be a culture vulture.
E. Don't be too quick to fit others into your framework (cookie-cutter epistemology).
F. Don't ignore the complex world and tradition from which others speak.
G. Amnesty and Forgiveness: Ignorance is forgivable if we are willing to redress it.

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4. Bibliography

Facilitating Groups
Hunter, Dale, et al. The Art of Facilitation: How to Create Group Synergy. (Fisher Books, 1995)

Hunter, Dale, et al. The Zen of Groups: A Handbook for People Meeting with a Purpose. (Fisher Books, 1995)

Johnson, David W. and Frank P. Johnson. Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills. (Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon, 1997)

Masterson, John T. and Steven A. Beebe. Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices. (Addison-Welsey,1996)

Reddy, W. Brendan. Intervention Skills: Process Consultation for Small Groups and Teams. (Pfeiffer & Company, 1994)

Schnieder, Marianne Corey and Gerald Corey. Groups: Process and Practice. (Brooks-Col,1996)

Weissglass, Julian. "Constructivist Listening for Empowerment and Change." The Educational Forum, Vol 54, No. 4, Summer 1990.

http://www.facilitationfactory.com/


Writing Groups, Writing.
Aronie, Nancy Slonim. Writing from the Heart: Tapping the Power of Your Inner Voice (Hyperion, 1998)

Elbow, Peter. Writing without Teachers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973)

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones (Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1986)

Lamont, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (New York: Anchor Book, Doubleday, 1994)

Schmidt, Jan Zlotnik. Women/Writing/Teaching (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998)

Stott, William. Writing to the Point: And Feel Better About Your Writing (Columbia University Press, 1991)

Ueland, Brenda. If You Want to Write (Saint Paul: GreyWolf Press, 1987)

Endnotes

1. This list was taken from the Episcopal Divinity School's guidelines for groups-"on becoming more comfortable with difference" (E.D.S., Cambridge, MA). The list has been altered slightly for the purposes of our briefing.

2. This list was taken from Professor Kwok Pui Lan's lecture on Cross Cultural Hermeneutics, at the Episcopal Divinity School. Once again, the list has been altered slightly