Group Dynamics (for Social Service Workers)

Unit topic:
The Transitional Stage of a Counselling Group
Week/date/hours:Week 8/Oct 24/2 hours
COURSE:

Learning outcome
Upon successful completion of this learning unit, the student will have demonstrated the ability to:
- describe the characteristics of the transition stage of group process
- describe the member functions in the transition stage of group process
- understand some strategies for addressing members common fears and anxieties in
the transition stage of group process

Connection Activity:
Description

Time
required
Socrative Self-Reflection Quiz

1. I will ask students to log on to the Socrative website and enter the classroom number to access the self-reflection
quiz about their thoughts and personal attitudes regarding the typical characteristics in the transition stage of group
process.
2. As the results display on the screen, the students will be able to see how they compare in their own beliefs to the
rest of their classmates.
3. After the result of each question is displayed I will ask the students if they would like to say more in response to a
particular question.
4. I will then note that the quiz questions are to help them identify and clarify their own attitudes and beliefs about this
particular group process. How leaders manage this group stage will predict whether or not the group will move into
a working, productive stage or stall in the Initial Stage of group process

15
minut
es

Resources
Cell phone, lap top,
or a friend with one of
the above

Steps or sections of the learning unit

Step /
section

Content Activity

Time &
Resources

Practice Activity

Time &
Resourc
es

1. Characteri
stics of the
Transition
Stage of
Group
Process

Mini-Lecture
I will give a brief lecture outlining the common
characteristics of the transition stage of group
process.
During the lecture I will use the board for a minibrainstorm regarding Trust vs Mistrust behaviours.
I will also use examples from the text and from my
own work experience with groups in this stage of
group process.

15 min
[see
attached
PowerPoint
slides]

Find where you

belong
1. Each student will be
provided with a
recipe card that has
a statement or
characteristic of
group process
printed on it. The
card will indicate
either an Initial
Stage of group
characteristic or a
Transition Stage of
group characteristic.
2. On one Board I will
write INITIAL STAGE,
and on the other
board TRANSITION
STAGE. Students will
be asked to try and
identify which stage
of group their card
best fits within and
will be asked to
stand by the board
that fits best. They
will be given 5
minutes to do so
3. Students will then
be given 5 minutes
to read their
characteristic out
loud to the class and
explain why they
chose the board
they did...
4. I will clarify any

10 min

Step / section

Content Activity

Time &
Resources

Practice Activity

Time &
Resourc
es

2. Member
functions
during the
Transition
Stage

Jigsaw Learning Expert groups

1. I will first ask the class to form into groups of 6.
These will be referred to as the home groups
2. Within each home group, I will give each
member a colored ju jube and ask them to join
an expert group based on the 6 colored ju
jubes. (Once they form their group they can eat
the ju jube!)
3. Each expert group will be given a member
function which they will become the expert
on. They will be asked to describe the member
function/issue in the Transitional Stage and
discuss the reasons for it and some ideas about
how they might manage the member
function/issue using their text and their own
personal experiences and ideas. Page
references from the course text will be provided
to each expert group. The areas of expertise
will be as follows:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.

Defensiveness (p. 219)

Fear and Anxietyself-disclosure and
being vulnerable (p. 224-225)
Fear and Anxietyrejection and being
judged (p. 225-226)
Fear of Losing Control (p. 226-227)
Confrontation and Conflict (p. 227231)
Challenges to the Group Leader (p.
232-233)

4. Each expert group will be given 10 minutes to

help each other become experts on their
assigned topic. They will be expected to
describe the topic to their home group for the
practice activity

20 min
[5 min to
describe and
divide; 15
minutes to
become
experts
I will bring
two copies of
the text in
case
students did
not bring
their text to
classI also
posted a
news item
on DC
Connect
asking
students to
bring their
text to next
class

Jigsaw Learning
Home Groups
1. After each of the 6

expert groups have

honed their expertise
on their assigned
subject, they will be
asked to re-join their
home-groups
2. Within the home
group, each expert
will then teach on
their topic of
expertise. Other
group members will be
encouraged to listen
or take notes as their
home expert teaches
them.
3. After all of the experts
have had a chance to
teach their home
group I will review
with a few Power Point
slides and will also
post the information
covered by each
expert group on DC
CONNECT

20 min

Step / section

Content Activity

3. Managing
member issues
in the Transition
Stage

DVDTransition Stage
1. Students will be shown two segments of the
teaching DVD Groups in ActionEvolution and
Challenges which accompanies the course text
and documents a real group process that is cofacilitated by the authors of the text, Gerald
Corey and Marianne Schneider Corey. The two
segments will take about 7 minutes to review.
The segments demonstrate the co-facilitators
skillfully managing two group members having
common transition stage issues.

Time &
Resources

Practice Activity
Quiz

10 Min

2. While watching the video, students will be

asked to answer the questions on a hand out
that will be provided to them prior to watching
the DVD

Time &
Resourc
es
10 min

1. The students will be

asked to individually
identify the common
Transition Stage
issues they
observed and how
the co-facilitators
managed the
member issues.
2. The students will be
asked to share their
responses to each
question with the
large group for
discussion
3. I will summarize and
review the concepts.

Summary Activity:
Description
Meet Your Match!
1. Half of the students will be given questions about the content or concepts on a
recipe card. And half of the students will be given the answers to these questions or
definitions of the concepts on a recipe card.
2. Students will mill about the room and talk with each other until they find the match
of answer to their question or definition to their concept.
3. Once they find their match, students will be asked to stand in pairs and read the
question and then the answer to the large group.
4. I will tell students that the questions, with correctly matched answers will be posted
as a document on DC CONNECT prior to the next test in this course.

Time required
10 min

Resources
Text book,
PowerPoint

5. If there is not time to get through all of the questions in the large group the
students will still have had the opportunity to actively engage in the summary and
will have access to all of the questions and answers on DC Connect.
6. This will assist students to review the material covered today by thinking about
what would be the important take aways from todays class.

Rationale
Context of Unit
The above lesson plan was created for a course entitled Group Dynamics. It is a second year course for students
in the Social Service Worker program at Durham College and it is a mandatory course. It is a weekly face to face
course comprised of 14, 2-hour lectures and 14 1 hour small groups within one semester. This lesson plan is for class
number 8 of 14 classes and moves the students into discovering the characteristics and issues typically involved in the
second stage of group processThe Transition Stage. The goals of the unit are for students to be able to understand
and determine when they are leaving the Initial Stage of a group and moving into a new stage. The goal is also to
prepare them for issues in this stage that they will likely encounter and how they might manage the issues as new
group leaders.
In the first half of the course students learn about basic theory and group leadership skills. In the second half of the
course there is the excellent experiential component of the students being separated into small experiential groups
where they get to be both group members and practice being group co-leaders. This experience gives the students a
rich opportunity to practice what they have learned in class and be witness to the different stages and issues that
emerge in groups. I typically use the small group experiences as examples to bring back into the classroom during
content delivery.

Use of Universal Design for Learning Principles

Principal I: Provide Multiple Means of Representation
The above lesson plan exemplifies the Multiple Means of Representation UDL principle in that I have attempted to use
a variety formats to deliver the information to the students. I have embraced their use of cell phones and lap tops by
using the Socrative quiz at the beginning as a connection activity. Also, during my short lecture I have used Power
Point slides sparingly and used pictures (such as the BUMP caution sign) to help represent the concepts. Further, I

will use many examples from the text and my own practice with groups in order to reinforce the content and
demonstrate the concepts. As well, I do post the Power Point slides on DC Connect prior to class so that students can
either print them off and follow along, or they can bring the material up on their lap tops in class if that is their
preference. I have also connected new learning with already acquired learning by using the exercise where students
had to decide which characteristic was an Initial stage versus a Transition stage during the practice activity for content
#1. Lastly, I have also included watching the DVD as part of my lesson to practice the use of digital media for students
and too highlight the learning in a very real way by watching a real group in action.
Principle II: Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression
This lesson plan addresses the Multiple Means of Action and Expression UDL principle by offering students a wide
variety of learning activities. For example, students will be actively engaged in the learning by individually using their
cell phones or lap tops to respond to the Socrative Quiz during the connection activity. They will need to get up and
move around to engage in the Initial Stage versus Transitional Stage practice activity. Also, the students will be
physically active again and have the opportunity to engage in small group activity during the Jigsaw learning exercise.
As well as the small group activity, the above lesson plan allows for students to do some individual work and personal
reflection as they answer the questions while watching the DVD. Finally, there are many opportunities for large group
discussion and brainstorming within this unit lesson plan such as the Trust versus Mistrust brainstorming segment
during the lecture.
Principle III: Provide Multiple Means of Engagement
This lesson plan addresses the Multiple Means of Engagement UDL principle by using a variety of activities to engage
students in learning the unit information. The Socrative connection activity will be fun and engaging to students at the
very beginning of class. This will hopefully hook the students immediately to engage in the content and be excited to
learn more. Further, students will have a variety of tools to use during the lesson. There will be a Digital component
through Socrative and the DVD and there will be handouts for them to work on and take away. I will use my own group
practice experience and the students own experiential group experience to highlight concepts and connect the
learning to real life and their career as social service workers in the field. Finally, the summary activity will challenge
the students to apply their learning by thinking through answers to the questions before they can find their match!
I hope that this rationale demonstrates how the lesson plan above captures all of the Principles of Universal Design.