Group Development Project

Victoria Duncan

Dr. Ray Hardee

Gardner-Webb Univesity

When thinking about a group that I believe would help the community I was thinking about schools and how to help the teachers in them. I currently work in an alternative school and noticed that there was not the best support system for alternative schoolteachers, this led me to create Encouragement for Educators.

When thinking about what type of group I wanted Encouragement for Educators to be I ended up landing on a counseling group as the main purpose of the group is giving teachers healthy ways to deal with burnout and stress that come from working at an alternative school. This would be an optional group and would not be a group that a higherup could mandate a teacher to go to. I believe for a group like this to work everyone that is in the group must want to be there. If the teachers are forced it tends to feel like a meeting and not a counseling group.

The specific focus of the group would be to educate alternative schoolteachers on ways to deal with burnout and stress. Burnout is a very prevalent problem amongst teachers in today’s society and it is only getting worse as time goes on. Two main groups of people are more likely to leave when looking at the survey: women and black teachers (“Teacher Well-Being and Intentions to Leave: Findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey,” 2023). In a longitudinal follow-up study, which examined burnout and hospital admissions found that burnout “was related to future hospitalization due to mental and cardiovascular disorders among employees with no previous hospitalization periods or medications for these disorders” (Toppinen-Tanner et al., 2009).

The demographics of this group would be individual that teaches at an alternative school. Teacher burnout is currently at an all-time high and even more so for teachers who deal with special needs and alternative school students.  There are no groups where I live where teachers for alternative schools can go. The alternative school environment is more stressful for teachers than teachers at regular schools. This is due to the stress of working with kids who are labeled as “troublemakers” and “difficult”.  The way that I would make sure goals are being met is goal sharing and creating and revising outcomes.

Before joining the group, the participant would have to read the informed consent and confidentiality clause. Many of these teachers may work together or know each other so knowing what can and cannot be shared outside of the group is important. The confidentiality clause would be in place to protect students and teachers. Because this is a counseling group and not an individual session the children’s names should not be said. Teachers should not disclose any other teachers that are in the group.

I believe that for this type of group having a co-leader is very important. It would be very easy for the group to get off task and start talking about things not related to the group. The leader could be victim to this as everyone has problems with staying on task at points, this is why I believe it is important to have a co-leader, so everyone is kept on task even if one of the leaders is not.

The two theoretical approaches that I believe would help the group the most are cognitive and behavioral and postmodern approaches. For the cognitive and behavioral approach, I would use the dialectical behavior therapy. Research shows that cognitive-behavioral therapy used in a group relates to a decrease in burnout scores in 6 months when compared to a control group receiving care as usual (Ahola et al., 2017). I would use this subtype because it is meant to change how people behave and think about themselves. This is important when dealing with burnout because when people start experiencing burnout they tend to slow down in productiveness and their mental health declines leading to self-destructive thoughts about oneself. “Dialectical behavior therapy is founded on the interesting assumption that people need to both change behaviors that are self-destructive and also become more self accepting”. (Hutchinson, 2016). For the postmodern approach I would use the sub-section of strengths-based approach. The strengths-based approach is important because it focuses on people strengths rather than the weaknesses. This can empower someone who is experiencing burnout and stress. “focus more on their strengths than on their problems as they move forward with their lives” (Hutchinson, 2016).

The first group process that I chose to develop an exercise for was the “at startup” phase. The exercise or activity that I created focuses on highlighting participants strengths, an approach that is utilized frequently in the postmodern theoretical perspective. During the initial group meeting the group leader has the vital responsibility to create structures or activities that begin to develop a safe and supportive environment that reduces anxiety. In addition, opportunities must be given to for group members to form positive relationships by learning about each individual group member.

Activity One: At My Best

The first part of this activity would be to talk about how every person has different strengths. You would start by talking in a group and listing about 20 different words that represent strength, ex: power, stability, solidity, and braveness. The leader or co-leader would then tell the group a time that they felt that they were strong. The group members would then produce a word that they felt the leader or co-leader was showing during their time of strength. The third thing that should be done is giving everyone in the group a piece of paper or sticky notes. Then inform the group that each of them will tell a story of a time they felt strong, the other group members will right down a word that represents strength that they correlate with the story. At the end of the exercise and everyone has had the opportunity to tell a story of a time they were strong the participants will then give their paper/sticky notes to the correlating person that told the story. This lets the participants see what others think about them from a time they showed strength.

The second group process I selected to develop an exercise for was conflict resolution. Understanding that non-verbal communication can subconsciously influence perceptions is useful when dealing with conflict.

Activity two: Silent Signals

Give a handout that has nonverbal signals that are being acted out and have the group discuss their potential meanings, actions would include leaving forward in a seat, checking a phone, crossing arms, smiling and nodding, etc... after each small group had an opportunity to act out and discuss the whole group would come back together for a discussion and debriefing.

A way that I would let the teachers at alternative school know about this group is pretty simple. I created a flyer with the demographics, size, meeting times, location for the group. I would distribute this amongst alternative schools in the area and ask that they be placed in the teacher lounge/breakroom. I would give the teachers multiple ways to contact me and make a point that the group is a closed group with only 12 members maximum allowed. 

The main outcome that I would like to produce from this group would be to enlighten alternative schoolteachers on how to deal with the constant stress and burnout that comes from working in an alternative school. I would like for teachers to be able to reduce their levels of burnout and stress by using techniques that were taught to them during their time in the group. To see if I achieved these goals, I would set up a one-on-one exit interview to have the participant tell me about their time in the group and anything they might want to tell me. To track their progress throughout their time in the group I will provide them with the Oldenburg burnout inventory at the beginning and end of the group to see if there is any change.  The Oldenburg burnout inventory measures the levels of burnout that one is experiencing Bowman (2023).

Our textbook describes a modified version of one model for group growth and development. The standard version, forming-storming-norming-performing-adjourning model clearly and concisely names the evolution of successful groups. The modified version has similar phases that are greater in number and a bit more descriptive, however the major themes are present. Both models incorporate a phase known as norming. In this phase a group has adopted standard and predicable behaviors and group roles. Individual group members act in ways that demonstrate their different approaches to fulfilling needs such as control, attention, and affirmation.

Example Norming Session Schedule.

6:00-6:10 Arrival, refreshments, unstructured greetings

6:10-6:25 Session starting routine, share one time you showed your strengths this week

6:25-6:30 Review group norms

6:30-7:00 Team building, perform a team building exercise Dream Workplace: Collaborative Draw in small groups members will work together to draw their dream workplace collaboratively without communicating verbally.

7:00-7:25 Mindfulness practice, Mindful Listening Activity from the positive psychology tool kit.

7:25-7:30 Closing, review alignment to views and purposes affirm group efforts positive sendoff.

Work Cited

Ahola, K., Toppinen-Tanner, S., & Seppänen, J. (2017). Interventions to alleviate burnout symptoms and to support return to work among employees with burnout: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Burnout Research, 4(4), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burn.2017.02.001

Bowman, M. (2023, May 13). Bravely Blog - Supercharge your therapy. https://www.bravely.io/blog/olbi

Teacher Well-Being and Intentions to Leave: Findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey. (2023). RAND Corporation EBooks. https://doi.org/10.7249/rra1108-8

Toppinen-Tanner, S., Ahola, K., Koskinen, A., & Väänänen, A. (2009). Burnout predicts hospitalization for mental and cardiovascular disorders: 10-year prospective results from industrial sector. Stress and Health, 25(4), 287–296. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1282

Hutchinson, D. R. (2016). Great Groups. SAGE Publications.