Adjourning (EDUC 6165)

I worked at an international school in Germany for 3 years. I started in a year when several new international teachers also arrived. The beginning of my second year saw another influx of new international teachers. There were several of us who were living in the same area as the school provides an apartment for the first month which we can then decide to stay in. This group of teachers bonded immediately. We were all experiencing similar things...being in a new country, not speaking the language, facing the same challenges that these things bring. We worked well together at school and became a strong social group as well. Many of these colleagues made the trip to the Netherlands to be at my wedding, knowing that my family was unable to attend. At the end of my third year, the group broke up because several of us moved on to new schools. It was a difficult ending because we had been such a tight group. I'm still in touch with many of these teachers who now live all over the world.

I think it was hardest to leave this group because the bonds were so strong. There was a lot of support between us and we had experienced a lot together. I guess we were a high performing group with the goal of making life in a strange country easier. We had a leaving party and each person who was leaving was honoured by someone who was staying. It was a testament to the respect we had for each other.

Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it allows the groups to appreciate each other and what they've accomplished. It gives a forum to show the respect and caring that has developed during the time the group was together. It also brings closure to the members of the group. The teachers who didn't move on that year continued with their group and brought new members in. It was a different group though with it's own dynamics and relationships.

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's

Conflict (EDUC 6165)

I wrote in my previous blog that I avoid conflict. That's not entirely true. What I avoid is confrontation. Recently a parent of one of my students told my boss that she had concerns about her child's levels in my class. My boss empathised but ultimately told her she needed to discuss her concerns with me. She was reluctant to make that move so my boss asked me to set up a meeting with her. It took me a week to do this (avoidance) but we did meet and discuss her concerns. What I discovered was that she was that her concern was not really about her child's progress but more with the fact that he is in a combined class with two different age groups and how that will affect him next year. The conflict was in relation to this concern.

One strategy that I used to manage this meeting was empathetic listening. I tried very hard to listen to her concerns without letting my feelings that she was attacking me come to the surface. I heard her concern about what will happen next year and how the three classes seem to have different levels. I tried to reassure her about each child developing at their own pace. I explained that every class has a range of ability levels and the teachers work with the students at the level they are at.

A second strategy was to focus on the issues. I brought this parent's focus back to the ability level of her child. I showed her work that he had done and explained what the next steps would be. I know from conversations with my boss and previous discussions with this parent that she is feeling guilty about going back to work. O'Hair and Wiemann state "[w]ith any issue, it's very important that the discussion remain centered ont he matter at hand and steer clear of any personal attacks." (2012, p 239).  I tried to focus on what we were doing at school to encourage his development and gave her some strategies that she could use at home or in the car or whenever she could.

I think this conflict was more of an internal one for this parent that she made external because she doesn't know how to solve it. I think I was able to reassure her that her son will develop and will not fall behind. I hope I showed her that I am listening to her concerns and understand that she wants what's best for her son, as do I.

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). The center for nonviolent communication. Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org/