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Importance of group work in education
Importance of group work in education
Importance of group work in education
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I remember a time in high school, the teacher assigned everyone in class to a group to work out math problems for extra credit. The group with the correct answers will use the points to go towards any assignment, test, quiz etc. I cannot recall what grade I was in or how old I was I just remember that It was high school. Anyways, the teacher gave us the problems and we proceeded to solve them. Every person in my group including me wanted those bonus points desperately. After we were done finding the answers, we all shared the answers we had and when it was my turn to show my answer I was almost afraid to share. Everyone 's answer was negative two and my answer was a positive four. The looks I received from my group was just unbearable, I still …show more content…
As individuals, we always been considered living in groups. Knowing why having a group mind is important because it gives a better explanation of the definition of group minds. Lessing’s suggest that "We all live our lives in groups— the family, work groups, social, religious and political groups." (Behrens, Rosen 652). Wanting to belong in a group is precisely the reason why some individuals have group’s minds and the reason why groups are important. Having a group mind isn’t a bad thing since group minds consist of people who think the same and share similar ideas. Group minds can actually be a better skill than the group itself. This seems that the idea of being in a "group" contributes to the definition of group minds more than you think. What I mean is that the groups is the reason why an individual 's way of thinking may change. Various experiments have shown the effects of how groups can apply pressure to an individual way of thinking which exact description of what group minds are.
There was another time when I was in a group but this time it was my group of my friends. We all wanted to go and play outside but our parents said that we couldn’t play until our homework was done, this was an all-time rule so we each knew that our parents wanted our homework done before we went to play. Keep in mind that our parents are at work and these are rules that we already knew, so it wasn’t new to us. A few minutes passed while we’re
Are you a self-reliant individual, or do you generate more ideas while working in a group? Groupthink has always been the dysfunctional idea that results from within a group that seeks harmony and conformity. Groupthink has been seen in Salem, MA, specifically in The Crucible, where townsfolk would go around accusing women, often innocent, of witchcraft. It has also been seen during the Red Scare, where Senator McCarthy would create a list of celebrities and other well-known people that he would accuse of being communists in the United States. At the time, Americans were against the idea of the communists and communism due to the fact that the Soviet Union, which had a communist government, was threatening to bomb the US. Thus, anyone who was
From the Velasquez excerpt he explains Janis definition of Group think which refers to the susceptibility of groups of people to get increasingly out of touch with reality (Janis 84). Velasquez believes the main cause of groupthink is socials pressures within the group due to the group wanting to get along and keep harmony (Janis 84). When a group really wants to have a good standing relationship with each other they could possibly just agree on something to not upset the others, or to make them not like them for their beliefs and not agreeing resulting in them not evaluating the situation. This negatively affects ones decision making outcome. Groupthink as any other problem has symptoms and we will go over each of these.
In today’s society individuals/groups tend to behave, respond, adapt or become ineffectual depending on their surrounding environment. Individuals find it less tedious to conform to the majority vote than to stand out and speak their truth. Conformance has become a norm amongst individuals; we are pressured to conform to the majority vote just to feel socially appropriate. How can individuals grow and develop their own personality without voicing their opinions? Larger organizations tend to construe people into thinking they’re correct and what they are preaching is appropriate. When a group becomes institutionalized as an organization, it evolves shared beliefs, values, and assumptions (page 226). Formed by spontaneously developed relationships, formal groups are created by larger organizations. It is very important for formal groups to focus their attention on a set of beliefs, values, and composition. Introduced by Irving Janis, the phenomenon of “groupthink” was introduced to correlate group conformance on a higher level. Obtaining group dominance is crucial to many high-level decision makers in the government. This phenomenon has led to incompetent and disastrous decisions.
In 1972, Irving Janis presented a set of hypothesis that he extracted from observing small groups performing problem solving tasks; he collectively referred to these hypotheses as groupthink¹. He defined groupthink as “a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action²” A successful group brings varied ideas, collective knowledge, and focus on the task at hand. The importance of groups is to accomplish tasks that individuals can not do on their own. The Bay of Pigs, Watergate, and the Challenger disaster are all forms of failure within a group. Specifically, you can see the effect of groupthink of Americans before September 11, 2001. The thought of harm to the United States was unfathomable, but only after the attacks did they realize they were not invincible. When a solid, highly cohesive group is only concerned with maintaining agreement, they fail to see their alternatives and any other available options. When a group experiences groupthink, they may feel uninterested about a task, don't feel like they will be successful, and the group members do not challenge ideas. Stress is also a factor in the failure of groupthink. An effective group needs to have clear goals, trust, accountability, support, and training. Some indicators that groupthink may be happening are; making unethical decisions, they think they are never wrong, close-minded about situations, and ignore important information. Many things can be done to prevent groupthink from happening. One way is to make each person in the group a “critical evaluator”. The leader must ...
What is groupthink? There is a simple definition for it, but is it truly that simple? The term groupthink refers to the inclination of group members to have the same opinions and beliefs; it frequently leads to mistakes. It often occurs without an individual being aware of it. Conflict is considered to be a harmful element when related to groups, but conflict is good when considering groupthink because it helps to eliminate the existence of a groupthink. The explanation sounds simple enough, but it is more complex than the description given.
Everyday a war is being waged, not in foreign countries- but in small neighborhoods and capital cities all over the world. A timeless battle to retain individual thought and action in an increasingly conformist society. The concept of a unanimous group-thinking society can be witnessed throughout history in the form of political controversies to pop culture and trends, to subtle influences in everyday life. The short narrative “Shooting an Elephant” written by George Orwell is a perfect example of group-thinking that implicates that to be accepted into these societal groups, one must do what is right by them, and not by the individual. Throughout the narrative, the author is influenced by increasing pressures from the crowd to shoot the elephant although it goes against his own personal convictions. The author desires to be accepted into the native's lives; no longer a social outcast. However, with this desire comes the knowledge that the group may or may not be correct in their brutal quest for blood.
Groupthink is the psychological phenomenon in which groups working on a task think along the same lines which could have drastic results. It is the result of group polarization where discussions are enhance or exaggerate the initial leanings of the group. Therefore, if a group leans towards risky situation at the beginning of the discussion on average they will move toward an even riskier position. (Marks, 2015). The idea when everyone think the same no one is really thinking. The drastic outcomes result from people trying to avoid conflict with one another, being highly cohesive, and results is questionable decision making (Oliver, 2013). Houghton Mifflin publication of Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions
Even though we are all categorized in to groups from the day were conceived. We can still create our own group, and whether are not you create your own group or if it was chosen for you there will be effective and ineffective aspects of that group. Base the circumstances that each individual’s values and beliefs are different. Further more, participation and similarity of other group members and the goals of the group will also affect the group dynamic.
After completing the group task of preparing a presentation on, transferring individual facilitation skills into a group work setting I will critically reflect upon my own participation. I will evaluate my self-awareness while working in the group, as well as those around me. The way that I personally dealt with any issues that arose within the group and how that affected the group dynamics. I will also briefly discuss the roles in which each member of the group took and how role allocation affected, the group dynamics and the working relationships. Finally I will evaluate my work having discussed it with my fellow group members.
Realizing that a group can become a high performance team is important. Accomplishing this goal is invaluable, advantageous and profitable. Once able to operate from a group to the high performing team is a great step into preparation into the big business world. Leaders and members must also realize not only how to accomplish this but that some problems will and can arise from different demographic characteristics and cultural diversity. That is if one is in such a group, which the probability would be quite high.
A group can be define as ‘any number of people who (1) interact with one another; (2) are psychologically aware of one another and (3) perceive themselves to be a group’ (Mullins, L, 2007, p.299). Certain task can only be performed by combined effort of a group. Organisation can use groups to carry out projects, which will help to achieve its overall aim. However, for the group to be successful they must understand what is expected of them and have the right skill to complete the task. . (Mullins, L, 2006)
Working together with other people for an assignment can be a challenging task in some cases but luckily, I worked well with my group members. The decisions we made were anonymous although we paced ourselves individually when it came to completing our separate parts of the essay. As a group I believe that we connected well on an interpersonal level as all four of us were able to make alterations to any problem together . Furthermore, we did not give each other a chance to get angry at one another as we knew that this would only cause conflict that would disrupt our flow as a group. There was an equal divide in the amount of work that we all did; our contributions were fair and no one was lacking behind. In addition, my group members were great at keeping each other informed if one of us were not able to attend a group meeting; emails were sent out informing us what we missed and ideas that were formulated. Everyone in my group worked according to deadlines and in synchronization with each other; we did not have to nag anyone to complete work or wait on a member to complete their task.
Teamwork is defined as, “the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.” (Business Dictionary, n.d.) Ultimately, it provides us with a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of unity amongst each other. It allows us to create healthy relationships, and bond further with our peers, and generally, it’s a necessity for our lives. Teamwork aids us with developing imperative life lessons and skills. It also helps us gain a new perspective, and discover our strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I believe that I work well in a team, and I possess the skills of a good leader. Regardless, some individuals
When working on an assignment in a group it is best to set roles for each team member. That is a process called Group Dynamics. Each team member would have a different function in each group. One member would take the Devil’s Advocate role. That position is for a person in the group that can never agree with any of the members ideas’. It helps the group by allowing them to see what it is like having to deal and work with a difficult team member during the assignment. Another member would take the role of the Listener. Their position would be to sit back quietly, keeping their ideas to themselves and allow the other members to discuss their ideas among the group. Another role in the group is called the Idea Generator. This role is given to
Several experiments and researches have been conducted that have focused on how people behave in groups. The findings have revealed that groups affect peoples’ attitudes, behavior and perceptions. Groups are essential for personal life, as well as in work life.