Group dynamic training

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Group dynamics training is a sub-discipline of group dynamics and a special form of group work . As a practice room for social group processes , they serve the goal of getting to know what happens in groups through self-awareness and group experience and to practice designing communication processes in groups .

aims

The focus of the group dynamic training is on experiencing the so-called "here and now". This means that the attention of those involved is not focused on facts (factual level ), but on the personal experience of relationships and feelings in the group ( relationship level ).

management

Such training is led by specially trained “trainers for group dynamics” (group dynamics). They mostly work as a team. They only create as much order and only provide as much structure as is absolutely necessary. They create as much space as possible for participants to act and try things out freely. The group has to find out for itself who can take on which task ( group roles ) and what is allowed and what is forbidden ( group rules ).

It is the responsibility of the participants to set goals and become able to act together. The participants should create their own order, which they need in order to feel comfortable and to be able to work. The group members are always able to work if they manage to independently clarify and improve the situation in the group.

They are advised and supported by the trainers, but not instructed.

The founder of group dynamics as a form of research and training, Kurt Lewin , described this working method with the instruction "Go with the flow of the group!" He wanted to say: The group itself should find its own way of development! So there should be no leader or no plan to guide the group on the way to develop. She should solve this task herself.

He also wanted to say: If all group members are well connected, "connected to each other" as the group dynamic says, then the group can develop as a unit, i.e. H. become able to work and function optimally.

Methods

Typical techniques and working methods that are used in group dynamic training are

Perceiving complexity in groups

The deliberate lack of clarity triggers insecurity and discomfort in everyone involved, especially at the beginning of group dynamic training. Everyone tries actively or passively to find out how the group "works". Everyone observes himself and the others and makes "his own thoughts" about the behavior of the individual or tries to communicate and find an orientation. This initially makes the situation confusing and complicated for everyone involved.

In normal life, these developments are unreflected and perceived as unproductive and chaotic. If the members of a group have not sufficiently agreed on rules and norms, this can be experienced as unpleasant by the members. The scuffles and conflicts that set in are then often referred to as “ group dynamics ”. That is why the word group dynamics has a rather negative connotation in everyday language.

The group dynamic training therefore deliberately allows a threat of confusion or complexity , which would put a great strain on everyday group life, and which actually often hinders progress at work, in leisure groups and also in politics. In the training, the participants can use the example of their own group to find out what hinders their ability to work and what can be done to change this.

The following applies: the more it is possible to describe the prevailing behavior and the mood in the group convincingly and vividly, that is to say "to bring it together", the better the participants can agree on possible and necessary changes in the group and these with one another realize.

Get involved personally

It goes without saying that such a common ground can only develop if all those involved can express their feelings and opinions clearly and are really listened to. Proven rules can be helpful here ("listening", "giving excuses" etc.). Ultimately, however, it is not a question of "proper behavior", but rather of "clarity".

Only if it is very clear and precise in the group

  • where the individual stands
  • what he feels
  • what he wants and what he doesn't want,
  • what and whom he supports and whom and what not,

"is not kept behind the mountain" only if with agreements and disagreements, the can group communicate and develop, so go their own way ( self-control ).

Help shape the group process

Since then, in group dynamic training, the participants have been learning about their own strengths and weaknesses as well as their so-called "blind spots" in dealing with others through a constant change between doing and pausing, acting and thinking . At the same time, they discover ways and possibilities to actively participate in groups and to positively influence groups in their development and to help shape group processes .

history

The group dynamic training was developed under the name "Group dynamic laboratory" or " T - group (training group) " in 1947 in the USA. As part of the training of employees of a state agency to combat racist and religious prejudice, the behavior of the participants in seminars should be scientifically investigated. The aim was to check the success of the training, in which the participants should learn how to deal with people and how to influence and change people's behavior in a meaningful way. The participants were asked to fill out questionnaires and a research group led by Kurt Lewin observed the participants and the speakers during the class.

Every evening after the seminar, the researchers met to share their observations. Some participants who could not go home asked to attend these sessions. There they heard what the observers had discovered and what they thought about the behavior of the participants. A lively discussion with the researchers and with each other immediately developed, because everyone had experienced the lesson differently and assessed the behavior of those involved differently.

Soon all participants and teachers took part in these sessions and they became the most important building block of the training, because everyone could experience and learn from their own example, from themselves, others and the seminar group how people behave and change when they join other people longer together. (Compare Marrow: Kurt Lewin - Leben und Werk. Stuttgart: Klett 1977, p. 228 ff.)

The feedback principle was thus discovered in its importance for social learning. From here, the so-called " T-Group " developed further as the core of group dynamic training. In the training group , consisting of approx. 7–14 people and 1–2 trainers, content-related specifications and learning material are largely dispensed with - in favor of what the participants can discover independently in the "here and now" of their togetherness.

literature

  • Leland P. Bradford, Jack R. Gibb, Kenneth D. Benne: Group training. T-group theory and laboratory method. Stuttgart 1972
  • Karl G. Kasenbacher: Groups and Systems. A guide to the system-theoretical understanding of the group dynamic training group. Opladen 2003 ISBN 3-8100-3815-6
  • Oliver König, Karl Schattenhofer: Introduction to group dynamics. Heidelberg 2006. ISBN 3896705180
  • Joe Luft: Introduction to Group Dynamics. Stuttgart 1986
  • Alfred J. Marrow: Kurt Lewin, Life and Work Stuttgart 1977
  • Peter Heintel (ed.): Concerns: TEAM: Dynamic processes in groups VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2006 ISBN 978-3-531-16260-7

Web links

German-speaking umbrella organizations: