Lesson 1


 

 

 

 

 

 

1.- THE GROUP

In order to carry out this course you need a GROUP. We are now going to see wath the group consists of, its life cycle - that is to say its birth, growth, consolidation, possible loss and many other generic aspects.- 

It is important to remember, the coordinator can bring something new and different to his GROUP, as he has greater knowledge.


The GROUP will form having carried out different task and games. Remember the basic principle: THE GROUP IS MADE UO OF REAL PEOPLE. Something, at first sight this may seem obvious but the coordinators sometimes forget this basic rule. The group is formed of people with their own virtudes and defects, that have their own lives, besides belonging to a determined GROUP, and which are influenced by a certain environment bet it age, life style, society....For these people, the most important quality of the GROUP IS THE PEOPLE. Following this are the objectives, rules, roles, conflicts, etc.


Forming a group takes time. Therefore, I ask the coordinators to be patient (see: monitors, teachers, etc). It requires work and time, almost in equal parts. Undoubtedly, it is fundamental that the people decide to form their own GROUP, as if you force people to be together it is impossible. Once the GROUP has been formed, in order for it to function, it will need a series of  characteristics:

  • Have common objectives

  • Unite all  members of the group, including obviously the coordinator

  • Establish a series of behavioural rules

  • The coordinator needs to be able appear as a member of the group. He needs to know his position/job at every moment. He needs to be close to the group.

  • There needs to be fluid communication within the group.

  • Make sure you are awaew that the group consists of real people. If necessary put yourself in your colleagues shoes.

Forming groups is something typical of humans, we will see this happening from the first day of class. The class will form groups according to age, for example.These groups will sometimes consolidate or not. A group member will look for someone with the same objectives. Groups will form and the objectives and values of the group will coincide with their behaviour.......there are sometimes people that try to integrate into a ready built group for the simple fact of liking the tasks that the group is carrying out or because they see the group as a way of achieving a greater objective.


To summarize, people like to belong to groups to satisfy a series of personal needs that they can not achieve on their own. Terefore, by sharing and learning from other people, they in turn become better people.