How guided reflection can enhance group work
Cordelia Bryan & Debbie Green, Central School of Speech and Drama, email: c.bryan@cssd.ac.uk & d.green@cssd.ac.uk

A full version of this paper is published in Rust, C. (ed) 2003 Improving Student Learning 10:  Improving Student Learning Theory and Practice 10 years On. Proceedings of the 2002 10th International Symposium. Oxford:Oxford Centre for Staff Learning and Development, pp.316-325

I developed the notion that community could be a practice, rather than an entity. It is something about the responsibility of the individual to the whole group. By responsibility I don’t necessarily mean ‘taking care’ of the whole group – it is more like each person in the group having a commitment to the individual experience of every member of the group, including themselves.

   Jackie Adkins

It is widely acknowledged by employers and academics that group skills are highly desirable for employment as well as for multifarious life situations. These group skills are, however, rarely defined precisely and consequently, seldom awarded academic credit.

This paper explores collaborative work in the Performing Arts and how the skills and behaviour inherent in this work might be developed and assessed in different contexts, focusing particularly on reflection as the means for students to record and assess their contribution to the group process. Building on the literature, practical approaches, such as teacher-led modeling of structured reflection, are examined as are methods of 'reflection in the body' to establish a group identity and trust in group work. Reflection is thus seen as a process which challenges the student, rather than one which merely reflects back as one would view an image in a mirror.  It is argued that with a raised awareness and a structured approach to reflection in different contexts, students can gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which they have operated and functioned as a group. This in turn empowers the student not only to improve his/her own learning but also to take responsibility for self and the group in the way that Adkins advocates.

Select Reading List

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