Topic: Practicing Small Group Roles

Secondary School

10-second review: Describes the roles played by various personalities in making groups work successfully or keeping groups from working. In this blog, I will describe how to practice the roles.

Title: “Small-Group Discussions.” Raymond Stopper. Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris. 2004.

Thanks to David M. Litsey, “Small Group Training and the English Classroom.” English Journal, September 1969, pp. 920-927. Copyright, 1969 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Reprinted with permission.

Discussion of these roles is always interesting.

To familiarize students with these roles, Litsey suggests having students view a video tape of a group discussion. Each student in the class is assigned to observe one of the members of the group. After viewing the discussion, the students fill out the following evaluation form:

Name of Rater……………….. Name of Participant ……………………

Directions: Circle the level of participation which you think most closely approximates the extent to which the “ratee” has been each of the following:

Initiating: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal.

Information Seeking: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Information Giving: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Clarifying, Elaborating: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Summarizing: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Consensus Testing: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Encouraging: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Expressing Group Feelings: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Harmonizing: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Compromising: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Gate Keeping: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Setting Standards: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Blocking: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Aggressiveness: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Seeking Recognition: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Deserter: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Dominating: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Playboy: Not at All…… A Little ….. To Some Extent ….. A Lot …… A Great Deal

Another way in which to familiarize students with these roles would be to stage a small group discussion in which each student in the group plays one of the roles.

After participating in a group discussion or project, students could rate themselves, using the above scale, on which roles they think they played.

Litsey also suggests an evaluation form to be completed by each individual at the conclusion of a group discussion or project.

Our Effectiveness As a Group

Scale: 1…..2…..3…..4…..5…..6…..7…..8…..9…..10
(“1” is low; “10” is high.)

1. ………. Members of the group felt free to state their real opinions.

2. ………. The group defined its task.

3. ………. All members accepted the responsibility for the outcome of the meeting or project.

4. ………. All members of the group were productive.

5. ………. All members of the group feel positive about the work in this session.

Teaching students how to work in small groups requires a complete teaching effort. Like it or not, participating cooperatively in small groups is how the work of business and democracy is accomplished. Students need to learn how to help small groups work cohesively. RayS.