By Jenn O'Rourke, MS
Associate Manager, Child Services
The most commonly and widely used model of Group Development was designed by Dr. Bruce Tuckman, a psychologist, in the 1960’s. Through this model, we understand that groups tend to follow similar trajectories of signs and symptoms that represent cohesion and functionality.
For individuals participating in Aspire groups, we provide additional specific supports and strategies that allow our groups to move through these stages. More importantly, our goal is to teach these strategies explicitly so that our participants can then apply them independently to other settings where they are expected to work in a group.
Forming: The forming stage is often characterized by individuals seeking the guidance of one single leadership member (in this case the Aspire facilitator). To support this phase, we implement:
- Collaboratively created group expectations and norms
- Highly structured ‘get to know you’ activities and ice breakers with explicit feedback to recognize shared connections
- Consistent and staff-driven consequences for a breach of group norms
- Predictable routines.
Storming: Aspire groups that reach the storming stage have successfully created a basic group identity and have committed (through practice) to living slightly beyond rigid group rules. In this phase, staff welcome appropriate conflict as an opportunity to learn and apply critical group skills such as negotiation, compromise, and self-advocacy. Strategies to facilitate productivity in this phase include:
- Explicit instruction of groupwork skills (self-advocacy, giving peer feedback, perspective-taking)
- Planned and highly structured group-based decision making (rather than staff-led decision-making)
- Personal and specific praise for applying skills to work through moments of challenge
- Group incentive programs and a greater proportion of highly preferred choice activities
- Increased processing (individual and group) about the connection between specific behaviors and the thoughts or feelings they create in others.
Norming: Not all groups are developmentally expected to attain the norming phase. For example, young children are rarely in a context where an adult or hierarchy figure supports group work beyond preferred parallel play. When appropriate, Aspire facilitates progress towards the norming stage by providing:
- Specific and age appropriate praise that labels successful interactions involving 2 or more participants
- Self-driven group topics and activities
- Increased peer-to-peer feedback and staff-supported explicit processing of interpersonal conflict to find resolution (in pairs or whole group)
- Leadership roles (previously Facilitator roles) passed to group members.
Performing: It is most common for Aspire groups to achieve this stage during our more intensive programs (summer camp, vacation week programming, school-based consultation) because this requires a greater amount of shared experiences and the expectation that the group will be together for some time in the future. To support some groups to reaching Performing successfully, we offer:
- Larger group-based projects with higher potential for reward (more long-term, more highly preferred)
- Group-based decision-making with (ideally) none or limited facilitator intervention
- Structuring and facilitating peer-to-peer feedback on more emotional and personal levels (citing positive emotions elicited by individual or group behaviors).
Adjourning: While not all groups progress through the Norming and Performing stages, most groups adjourn. Termination can be an anxiety-provoking event and Aspire works to support this phase with:
- Consistent and regularly spaced preview of the group calendar
- Explicit processing around common termination emotions and dual emotions (“I’m happy to get more time in my schedule, but a little sad I won’t get to play games with you.”)
- Structured lessons and activities around expectations for social relationships to continue outside of group (how to make it happen, how to accept that it may not happen)
- A return to staff-driven decision-making and problem-solving.