Title: SOME GROUP PSYCHODYNAMIC ASPECTS IN INTERACTION RELATIONSHIPS AT SCHOOL ISPA 28'7'07 48
1SOME GROUP PSYCHODYNAMIC ASPECTS IN INTERACTION
RELATIONSHIPS AT SCHOOL
ISPA 28.7.07 48
- Pirjo Sjö
- School psychologist in the Education Department
of Helsinki
2THE INTRODUCTION
- The work of a school psychologist has
traditionally focused on the problem solving of
individual students by means of individual
psychological tests - The study of Galen Alessi, 1988
- Everyday observations suggest however that the
same student can behave differently in different
groups or in different situations - Why so ?
- In this presentation I shall observe some group
psychodynamic aspects in interaction
relationships at school - I shall also describe one process of changing
the focus in the work of student wellfare team at
school where I also work as school psychologist -
3ABOUT GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS
- A newborn child has enourmous need and ability to
be in contact with other people - Ways of being contact vary during ones lifespan
- The other as important developmental process is
to become more independent - One has to refind her/his identity in every group
and interaction - relationships
- How one is like others
- How one is different
- What is permanent and valuable
- In the beginning of a group there will always be
tension and anxiety - Individuals are testing each others
- Who are alike and possible alliances and who are
not - In groups there are always tension between the
need to be like the others and between the need
to be independent and unique
4SOME BASIC CONCEPTIONS OF GROUP
PSYCHODYNAMICW.R.BION (1897-1979)
- A GROUP HAS TWO TASKS
- THE PRIMARY TASK
- - the task, why a group has originally
been formed - THE TASK TO TAKE CARE OF THE WELL-BEING AND
SAFETY OF THE MEMBERS OF A GROUP - - this task is usually invisible, it is
mostly unconscious dynamic process in a group
- In groups there are always dynamics between the
primary task and invisible emotional needs - There is a tendency to decrease working and
falling to a state of basic assumptions,when the
primary task is not clear or not accepted and the
anxiety in a group increases - THE STATES OF BASIC ASSUMTIONS
- DEPENDENCY
- FIGHT AND FLIGHT
- PAIRING
5- THE DYNAMICS OF PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION
- Very important invisible psychodynamic process of
interaction in groups - THE VALENCE
- Individuals readiness to take a role in the
dynamic process of a group
6ABOUT THE TASKS OF THE SCHOOL
- THE PRIMARY TASK OF THE SCHOOL IS TEACHING AND
LEARNING - This primary task inevitably causes anxiety
- In order to be succesful with this primary task,
the anxiety must be kept within tolerant limits -
- THE TASK OF TAKING CARE OF THE WELLBEING AND
SAFETY AT SCHOOL - At school there are many diffrent groups which
are linking to each others - Some are formal with clear structure, some are
informal - During schooldays both students and teachers
attend many different groups - This is very demanding
7- If the primary task is unclear and the structures
dont properly work,there will be confusion and
chaos in groups - Then anxiety in groups will increase and
permanent roles like spacegoat, being bullied or
being left aside may come out - In these situations there will be a danger that
the problems may be seen caused by one or some
individuals - Then actions and working is focused on individual
students and their missing abilities instead of
observing the whole group and its
psychodynamics - Challange of the work of the school psychologist
is to try to make these invisible dynamics
visible
8SOME ASPECTS IN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
- THE LEARNING RELATIONSHIP
- The meaning of the leadership is most important
- The good leadership and clear structures can be
contained as experiences of a clear target and
safety - The head is the leader of the school
- Teachers are leaders of large groups of
students - It is important that they have also ability to
understand dynamics of a group - Anxiety reduces at school if there is capacity
to create a genuine,respectful and open-minded
interaction - Confidental, permanent relationships reduce
anxiety - Turnovers of a teacher or a class may cause
feelings of lost which has been experienced
earlier in life
9- There should be time to process turnovers and
other important changes at school - Ways of managing changes and the feelings which
accompany these , and structuring the beginnings
and the ends of the day, the week, the terms in
school life, can reduce anxiety based on early
infantile experiences of separation and change - Students can learn to recognise their emotions
and to find age-relevant ways to express
themselves in everyday life - It is possible to get new, correcting emotional
experiences in containing learning relationships
at school
10- Both the whole group (school/class) and
individuals are important - Social spirit will increase by strenghtening the
feelings of belonging together and cohesion - This can be carried out by all kinds of
activities, rituals and celebrations, by
remembering the history of a group and by
planning future - Students are mostly working in large groups at
school - There may be much creativity in large groups
- But in large groups the amount of relationships
is great, dynamics are strong and there may be
feelings of losing control
11- By dividing a large group into heterogenous
smaller ones, the feelings of safety may
increase - If learning tasks demand everybody
participating,it will be difficult to remain an
outsider - And if a teacher gives varying roles to members
of a group, permanent roles can be avoided - It depends on a task, which kind of grouping is
best - Cohesion will increase and interaction
relationships will become better, if everybody
works with everybody during the school year - Then phantasies may decrease
12- The lifespan of a group at school should be
noticed - In the beginning of a new group there will be
anxiety and tension earlier experiences of
relationships and groups may come into the mind - Dependency of the leader is great
- Building the structure is important
tasks,rules,methods and ways by which to be in
contact - Culture of a group begins to develope
- In the next stage of the development of a group
members want to be seen as individuals - Conflicts and resistance are usual
- Different kinds of cliques may be born
- There will be many feelings of envy and rivalry
13- In the next stage acceptance of others ways of
being in a group will grow - Cohesion will become important
- Undertaking the primary task will increase
- The last stage is the ending of the group
- That can arouse strong feelings of past
experiences - This stage is very important, because it is the
start of new beginnings -
14- ENVIRONMENT
- Individuals are also joining emotionally to
physical environment - It can support the well-being and safety
- LEARNING SITUATIONS
- Students have different styles in learning and
different kinds of abilities - For many students subjects like art, music,sport
and handicraft can give possibilities to express
their abilities - These subjects also make it possible to develop a
person as a whole - Naming of things and feelings helps students to
find words and conceptions for their experiences
and to integrate them - Learning situations should be entities the
meaning of the beginnings and endings - Many situations include competition and arouse
strong feelings e.g sport lessons should end in
relaxing and calming
15- CO-OPERATION WITH PARENTS
- Building the partnership with parents is
extremely important - School must take an active role
- Clear structures are needed
- It will be challange as to closeness and
distance
16- SUPPORT
- Children and young students show quite openly
their feelings - This may arouse into the adultsmind feelings of
their own earlier disappointments, shame and
unfilled needs - Then a need to upbring, teach and take the bad
away will increase - Adultscapacity to contain is very important
- At school it can be strenghtened by good
leadership, genuine, open-minded interaction and
structures both inside a school like teams( e.g
student well-being team) and outside a school
like e.g supervision
17THE STUDENT WELL-BEING IN THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY
- In Helsinki development of the student well-being
at schools has continued already for years - There are student well-being teams in every
school - Usually the teams consist of the head, the
teacher with special education,the study
counselor teacher ,the school nurse, the school
social worker and the school psychologist - In large schools the team has weekly meetings
- The Education Department in Helsinki has
published a report concerning the development of
the student well-being in 2003 - The report gives general outline when planning
the student well-being program in school
18 STUDENT WELL-BEING IN THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Student well-being
Principal/Head Teacher Special educ.
teacher Studies counsellor School
assistant Parents
The whole staff Parents
SAFETY IN SCHOOL
TAKING CARE OF CHILDREN IN SCHOOL
STUDENT WELFARE TEAM
Cooperation partners Social administration Health
service Parents
SUPPORT AND CARE/THERAPY
School social worker School psychologist School
nurse School doctor Parents
The student well-being services
19THE STUDENT WELLFARE TEAM GHANGES THE FOCUS OF
ITSWORK ON PREVENTION
- THE DESCRIPTION OF THE SCHOOL AND ITS STUDENT
WELLFARE TEAM - This primary school has 400 students
- There are general classes, seven classes for
students with special needs and three
international classes for English speaking
students in this school - The student wellfare team consists of the head,
the vice head,two teachers with special
education,the school nurse, the school social
worker and the school psychologist
20- The meetings of the student wellfare team (SWT)
in 2005 - Every class teacher had their meeting with SWT
once a year - In these meetings they wanted to discuss about
the problems of individual students - Theachers told about so many problems that there
never was enough time - The problems were seen as separate from the
learning environments of the class and the school - Teachers were expecting actions from the SWT
- They especially expected that the school
psychologist would test those students having
problems - Unability to utilize the special knowhow of the
whole SWT and its members could be seen - Teachers didnt know exactly what the primary
task of the SWT was - The work of the SWT focused on individual
students and on their problems - There was only a little space for preventive work
- After the meetings the members of SWT (and maybe
teachers too) were often very tired and
frustrated
21- The change starts
- The school psychologists in comprehensive schools
in Helsinki City formed in 2005 a group with the
primary task to understand better the meaning of
learning environments - One of its tasks was to study the work of SWTs
and begin this task with conversations with the
head - The head of this school considers the meaning of
the learning environments very important - She thought that it was necessary to change the
focus of the SWT - The whole team wanted to develop the preventive
work - As the result of these discussions the SWT
decided that every member of SWT (except the
head)will take more resbonsibility of some
classes than the other members, and that she will
visit her classes and will discuss with the
class teachers before the meeting of SWT during
the spring term in 2006
22- The resistance
- In the evaluation meeting of the teachers in the
end of the spring term 2006 some teachers wanted
back the traditional work of SWT - They were frustrated in reporting twice of
their students first to one member and then to
the whole team - In spite of resistance the head wanted to
continue and develop the preventive work
23- The preventive work reinforces
- In autumn 2006 the SWT discussed much of learning
environments - The school psychologist made a litteral
suggestion for the team the meaning of which was
to help the discussions with class teachers
before the meetings of SWT - The school psychologist also made a form to be
fullfilled together with teachers before the
meetings of SWT - The meaning of these discussions and suggestions
was to find important aspects conserning learning
environments - The whole team wanted to continue in this way
24- The evaluation
- During 2006-2007 the focus of SWT changed towards
learning environments - The utilization of the special abilities of every
member in SWT increased - The group dynamic in SWT changed
- The role of spacegoats decreased when the classes
were observed as entities - Beacause the meetings were better structured, the
time of the meetings was long enough - The SWT got much information of all students and
learning environments at school - In the evaluation meeting of the school in spring
2007 teachers told that they were satisfied with
this kind of working model and were eager to have
more discussions with their own member of SWT - Some of SWT experienced that they lacked time
for these discussions - The process goes on