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A group experience
Focus: School Years
Topic: Inclusive Education
Tapia Martin
Barcelona
Spain
Introduction.
The main reason why we started the Program to improve the visual behaviour in children with reduced vision in groups, was to go beyond a purely visual stimulation.
We started to work when we detected special needs in children, who not only skared visual disabilities and similar moving disabities but also recerved individual attention in order to have access the school curriculum.
Perhaps their schools, as an integrated school, had offered adopted the most suitable resources to be able to enter the different areas of learning, we observed that the work and participation in the group-classroom was more difficult to incorporate into their curriculum.
Our aim although it is not to form a work group which is strictly therapeutic, is at least to give a therapeutic air to the sessions with we have been doing over three years and its components under the supervision of professionals who are experts in the subject, trying to create group consciousness among the children through which they would be able to improve that visual behaviour.
There are many definations of group and from a lot of disciplins. We have chosen one which we consider simple and clear.
A group is made up of two or more people who has certain things in common and who interact a phenomenon of mutual proximity and out of which social relationships arise.
Using as a starting point the basic supposition od considering the relationship a basic element, without which the tasc that we propose would not depends a lot on the attitude and motivation that the child has to bot and in that way to be able to follow with attention that which is happening around him or her.
Within, the group what the child does in other areas and situations becames important. On the other hand if we want the child to make a effort in the group, we have to believe in his ability and his progress. The child has to be the recipient of yoru confidence.
We think that through the recognition of the differents of each one of the members of the group as well as the recognition of our own limitations we can find progressive balance in the dynamics of the group. In this way, we can gradually incorporate changes into the programme established by the sesion if we consider that they could favour the dynamics of the group, learning more room for freedom to act and for the spantaneity child.
In this way, little by little the child realve his belonging to a group, inteiorising those indications whick are valid to hiar, to look, to take into acount other people to share, to participate and to ask for help.
Our initial intervetion was directed at facilitating the transformation from a group of individual to an efficient group since ijn that way there is an improvement in the learning process, an ability to resolve conflicts and the assimilation of social skilk like: diallogue skills, browing how to listen, waiting your torn to speak knowing how to express yourself. When one works in a group one learns, listening to relate ones own opinions with those os others, to accept that there are those who think differently and its necessary, through an exchange of experiences, to reach common adjectives.
Personal skills which refer to all those forms of behaviousr which make identity and self-sufficiend easier. Skills of social interaction and respect for the norms in ones immediate surroundings.
One of our objective in the individual work with each of the children was to manage to optimise of the use of what left of the seght and now as each member of the group felt at ease, he found his own place and maintained a good ralationship amongst in peers, that process of optimation was also reinforced. Every one has a individual needs as well as the visual ones witch can be satisfied by forming part of the group. It is necessary then to stimulate the interactions since they are a means to improving the performance and formation of a positive conception positive of oneself, basic aspects witch make a good attitude towards learning possible. In this way, the group prespecitve emerges as a means not as a finality.
The group pass through different phases of development. In each one, the task of the professional will be to promote different attitudes and skills witck are not produced spontaneously. The adult will act the mediator in that psyche-social process towards progressive autonomy and the cohesion of the group where these will be a doble objective.
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First |
- To know yourself - To descover the other people. - Favouring confidence. - Favouring comunication. |
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Second |
- To make the group more dynamic. - To learn from the conflict. |
Knowing yourself.
According to humanist psychology, knowledge about oneself is the result of a dynamic learningprocess, produced by the experience acquired in the interaction with other companions and with the most important adults. So then becoming an individual and a social being is some simultaneous process from which the idenntity emerges.
Discovering others/Stimulating confidence.
In all groups one bonds between those members are established which have their orifin in affection. The professional should provide the conditions which make inter-relationships root of communication and co-operation easy. Group cohesion favours participation and self-confidence. Confidence is a social perception a volue judgement.
Favouring the communication.
In the group it is allowed to be protagonist, but also it is fomented to share, to be receiving, it is important to guard so that each member finds its time of communication. The development of the abilities that improve the dialogue situations is a way to establish an opened communication, respectful with the others, and in addition it is an instrument of regulation and planning of the own conduct.
Therefore, it is necessary to begin to work aspects like: to know how to wait for the turn of word, to know to listen, to know how to express itself, the difficulties that it has, how difficult is to do it correctly and effectively. In our case it is important to consider to what extent the deficiencies will act like obstacle to contact good so that the professionals offer alternative tools and resources that later also will be useful to facilitate the relations in their daily life.
To do the work in group dynamic.
The boy, by means of the relation with the other companions, is held fast in his learning, because he learns of the other people through the relation, the observation, the imitation, really, of the aid that they give him. The co-operation we can define it as the situation in which the objectives of the group are homogenous. A boy is linked more easily to a group when the proposed activities are to him attractive or they are to him satisfied.
The co-operative work is one of the factors most important to obtain the cohesion of the group. It is important that the adult raises activities that require the co-operative participation of the members of the group. The pretended results are not individual and the improvement of a member of the group directly repels in the own group as far as emotional stability and yield. The co-operative work helps to improve the group climate facilitating the interpersonal relationships in the same Group.
As J. Rué says (1989): “The true challenge of the work in group is not as much in the forms of control of the situation or in the absence of interpersonal conflicts, but in finding a form of organisation of the tasks and a configuration of the resources that allow the boy to arrive at compromises”.
The children who form this group, in addition to a delay in the learning, in greater or smaller degree, consequence of the limitations that tolerates its global deficit to him, have motor difficulties that they prevent him to make a displacement of independent way or without help. Almost all the members of the group need a walker-aid or a wheelchair to make a run.
By his schooling condition of children integrated in a mainstream school, or a school of special education, since it has been said previously, they have an attention very individualised, and often they have to his side a professional who him for of support.
Those more common experiences that their companions have, like being confused in an exercise, hurting a scratch in the court, in the break time, to compete to put itself first in the row, to even fight itself with the companion of alongside, have not had many occasions to live them.
If at some moment they face before one of these situations, it needs resources to solve them. Often we offer our help to them, even before needing it. We see that it is difficult to him to request it when they require or they show it this request by an inadequate way. Let us leave is expressed in the measurement in which their capacities allow it. The wheel chairs leave them in the door of the room where we make the sessions, with the purpose of which they move by the ground, all we can do it in one or another position: crawling, going on all fours…
The group is composed by a total of 5 children: 2 boys and 3 girls. There are 2 brothers: a boy and a girl.
Therapists.
Among the professionals who have taken part, in addition to the therapist, we have counted with a co-therapist during these three years. The third year we have had an observer. The third year took place a change of therapist. By individual necessities, also in some occasion it has been replaced by another professional.
The co-therapist has given sense of continuity to the group due to its permanent presence. Its role within the group has been guessed right. He has known to differentiate very well his own role from the task of the therapist. The opinions of the observer, in relation to the dynamics of group established in each session, have been very useful to modify or to change our model of performance. We have made a supervision of the work of monthly group, with an expert professional in works of groups, valuing, through the evolution of the group, the films and transcriptions, jointly yet the work party.
Methodology.
The anticipated initial time was of a year. When the finishing the first period of time, agreeing with the school summer holiday, and its continuity was valued. The work of group has lasted 3 years.
We have maintained the same space where the sessions placed.
The furniture and the decoration have been changed, sometimes by interest of the children, and sometimes by necessities of the institution.
The attendance to the sessions was biweekly. In a beginning the session was in the morning, and as of the second year the session was in the afternoon. Initially each session lasted 3 hours, later its duration was of one hour and a half. At the same time a group of parents was made. We considered this so important work with parents, or more than the group of children.
The sessions are structured in 3 parts:
We greeted, we left the shelters, the chairs and walkers in the door. Within the room we arrange of a space container, a mattress where to be able to seat and to watch who has come, besides to be able to explain other things of the house, the school, the weekend… also the calendar is made and we explained the prepared activities.
2. An activity becomes that has a part of mobility or displacement by the classroom and another more static part, centred in watching and recognising in the concrete scope.
Components of the group.
This group has been formed by a total of five children who throughout 3 years have attended the biweekly sessions of duration of one hour and a half. Among the children there were two brothers.
Therapists.
The group has been established by a therapist, a co-therapist and an observer.
Analysis of the evolution of the group.
We selected indicators to evaluate the changes produced in the dynamics of the group, through the observation of the films that throughout the sessions we have done. The transcription of these films has been helpful to supervise to the work of group and to make this study. The indicators, correspond to the evaluation of the pre-selected targets:
Indicators:
visual Behaviour:
To know the surroundings.
To look at with attention.
Evolution of the group:
Relationship with the other.
Requesting help.
Interrupted conducts.
General conclusions.
As we have been evaluating the progress of the dynamics of the group, we have been able to value, of progressive way, how the group won in internal cohesion.
We have been able to observe how they had incorporated the role of the therapist, distinguishing it from the co-therapist role. They did questions to the therapist or they called him for questions related to the activity to do. They called to the co-therapist for requests of mobility or to take a concrete object. Also it emphasises how they had caught the role of the observer (the stone person) to who did not do questions to him.
Initially the game is enough directed and in a space limited enough (mattress, pulls, …). As they are passing sessions it is left more space to the initiative of the components of the group. The professional, from the performance, is not very conscious of when it begins to produce this change, it is through the supervision and of a more exhaustive analysis when you notice it. This change not only takes place by the evolution of the boy, but also by the security that the therapists are acquiring in the group dynamics.
Also the components of the group have been winning in mobility. At the end of last course, having much more motor agility to move, to crawl by the ground, to collaborate in get-up…, that indicates to us that they did not depend as much on the adult to move and that they could leave the space where the group was, if they wanted. In this aspect, we can add that in spite of they can go away with more facility, was not so necessary the fact to protest to return again to the participation of group. That means that voluntarily they had been integrated within a group performance.
Another aspect that we have observed is the evolution to the initial incorporation to the group. At the beginning it was much difficult to do something in common, some components of the group needed a previous time, more than to do, to prepare themselves to do it.
Every time there were fewer contributions of games or objects from the outside, as well as fewer requests to take games out. It seemed that it was less difficult to separate “of”.
The components of the group, who listened less, as the sessions advanced, requested the fact of being heard, even to direct the others in some moments. Also the contributions of facts from the outside increased spontaneously.
An aspect which we have stated is to notice how the components, with less vision, called the others before looking at them, to be able to locate their presence. However those that had more vision watched and then called. Initially they called more to the adult. Later the times they were called themselves, increased. Sometimes they said things to the others, but no one in particular, and they did not watch, nor they waited for answer. We have been observing how the messages have been taken shape and personalised much more. They were waiting for an answer from that or those who were called.
Another difficult aspect was the fact of sharing material, leaving the other to be first or using it jointly, to be able to watch it closely, or to touch it.
Like indirect effect, we can add the canalisation through the group of the disconnection symptoms that presented some of their components, noticing a considerable improvement.
Sometimes the participation of group was not interesting if there was not a certain protagonism.
Often we interpreted that some conducts like to sound the glasses while they waited for lunch, or kicking underneath the table, were interrupted conducts, but we thought that those conducts were made by the children of their same age. They could, then, be interpreted as normality sign.
Among other conducts that took place at certain moments, like some symptoms of compulsive and obsessive conducts, we have been able to observe how the group was the container space of these manifestations. Which, without letting take place, could be contained and be canalised through other more plural and less mono-thematic conducts.
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