Tribes: Author Jeanne Gibbs
Amazon Books has it
Excerpts from chapter 4
If a person does not feel included, he/she will create his/her own inclusion by grabbing influence-- attracting attention, creating a controversy, demanding power, or withdrawing into a passive belligerence.
When one has no stake in the way things are, when one’s needs or opinons are provided no forum, when one sees oneself as an object of unilateral actions, it takes no particular wisdom to suggest one would rather be elsewhere. -- Seymour Sarason
The result and response from people in this environment is either "fight or flight." Act out or drop out. Teachers do this as well as kids!
This is organizational dis-ease, a plague in any system that is “still managed through top-down authoriatarian methods that only provide inclusion and influence for the manager, principal, boss, or leader.”
Tribes groups are like closed membership small groups. They are long-term care groups, not just short term task groups. In short term, open-membership groups it is harder to develop trust and a sense of security.
The key idea in Tribes is that of transferring of leadership from the teacher to the groups. It is based on the value of the kids and the belief that they are capable people who can manage themselves and help each other.
Facilitator: “one who makes it easy.”
First step: Inclusion
In order for inclusion to occur, and bring about the feelings of peace and self-worth that come with it, the following three opportunities must be provided:
- Each person needs to be able to introduce herself, not just by stating a name but offering a short description of her feelings, interests, resources, talents or special qualitities.
- Each person needs to be able to express his hopes or expectations for what will happen during the group’s time together.
- Each person needs to be acknowledged by the group as having been heard, appreciated, and welcomed.
The use of “trial tribes” is appropriate, where groups or three or pairs can interact and find inclusion. Being included and feeling included is a basic human need. The time spent on building this into a group is time well spent.
Next step: Influence
To the extent that each person does not feel important in a classroom or organization, commitment and motivation decrease.
Instead of having group members wrestle for influence, the skilled facilitator provides a selection of strategies that help people to:
- express diverse attitudes, opinions, positions and feelings
- put forth ideas without others passing judgement; help people to respect individual differences
- use participatory methods for decision making so that all members feel they are influential and of value to the group
- help members share leadership responsibility
Conflicts are a necessary component of the dynamic process. Some strategies for dealing with them are reflection, discussion, role reversal, state feelings clearly, group members give constructive feedback, step by step problem solving, negotiation of an individual’s priorities.
During this stage, the facilitator supports the tribes as they work on their own. Circulate, get verbal reports. If the facilitator sits down with a group the dynamic changes instantly. The focus reverts to the teacher, instead of the tribe members.
You will know that you are in a community if you often hear laughter and singing. You will know you are in an institution or bereaucracy if you hear the silence of long halls and the intonations of formal meetings. -- John Mcknight
[What do I see in our school? The laughter is in the halls between classes. The kids have created their own tribes and their own communities. Their value is found within the tribes of their own creation: circles of friends, peer groups. The kids who are in such groups have a sense of belonging. The leaders of these groups no doubt find them very satisfying. What parts of this group dynamic are to be kept? Why can’t these skills and benefits be brought into the classroom? Is it because of the deeply set belief that the classroom stuff is not important, and not satisfying? There is no connection with who I am and what I’m interested in. . . Our challenge is to learn from the group dynamics that already exist, and to adapt our classroom environments to include them in our learning.”]
Interdependence and connection to others is key to human development, learning and the accomplishment of task.
Step three: Community
Indicators of community:
- capacity of each member is recognized and brought forth
- collective effort is achieved through including everyone, sharing responsibilities
- informality of transactions, based on caring and affection and consideration
- stories are generated of accomplishments, lessons and future desires
- celebration of achievement blurs the line between work and play as people enjoy both at once
Creating community requires
- dedication to resolving rather than avoiding uncomfortable problems and conflicts that begin to separate members
- learning and practicing the skills that enable collaboration
- agreements about how we will treat each other
- time to reflect on how well we are doing
Once a group has gone through adversity together, its members become filled with confidence that they can handle whatever comes their way. This is the path to RESILIENT relationships, creativity and outstanding results!
