GROUP INTERACTION

Presentation of the nine women taking the course was the first activity to be carried out. Each of them had to express their expectations about the course while the teacher noted what was being said on a board. At the same time the context was defined and a feeling of belonging was established with usual patterns between activities and at the end of the day. Brainstorming and simulation were also used. The group also decided to take it in turn to note down everything about the experience in order to have notes to go back to.
In a second phase what had been written on the board was discussed and in particular those words and expressions which seemed vague and which did not really describe what the people taking part in the course felt about this new situation.
This reflection was carried out in order to distinguish between connotation and description and to underline the importance of using clear and logical terms so that there was less risk of ambiguous communication. These concepts were subsequently discussed during the lessons in the module on Interpersonal Communication.
When one of the woman taking part in the course said "I am happy", it was suggested that this expression could seem vague if it was not connected to a precise context.
After the discussion, the same person reformulated her idea and said "I am excited about participating in this course because I want to do new things, but at the same time I am not sure I will be capable".

The group of women taking part in the course was quite heterogeneous: some of them had known each other for quite a time and had worked together at the crèche; the others were new and they did not know each other or those who worked at the crèche.
Therefore the work on group interaction was carefully carried out to amalgamate the group and to try to find a balance between the two different parts of the group.Team games, the identification of a name for the group and role-playing activities were used for this reason.
The following passage taken from the book:"Bambini attivi ed autonomi" di E.Cocever was very useful and interesting for the above-mentioned aim: "In his travel books and diaries Alberto Moravia explains what a track in the Sahara is. It is a road which has been used often and has hardened because of the tyres of all the lorries and all the vehicles which have used it.For this reason alongside the original track many other parallel tracks have gradually formed. An old hardened track is difficult because of the continuous jolts caused by the ruts in the road which would damage any kind of vehicle.However an old track is precise because it shows the right way and the direction and it guides those who run alongside it! This image can be used to explain how the work is done at Loczy: nobody runs along another person's track,but uses it as a guide,to keep to the right route and the right direction."(E.Cocever, La Nuova Italia,1993).
As the group matured, the concept of group gradually changed; it was not a group of friends who were travelling together, but it was a group who were working and experimenting together and who were learning about education and communication.
Because of this new idea concerning the group, activities based on listening were carried out: being silent and communicating with gestures in pairs, talking about oneself and talking about the other person, entrusting oneself to another person walking around blindfolded; moving around blindfolded trying to recognize the other people without touching them.
At this point it is important to analyse some of the participants' views concerning the listening activities:
"I think about the children when they are silent and we try to create a relationship with them,when we pick them up and probably they feel that we are invading their life…."
"How easy it is to confer a certain role to children (you are a naughty child,that is a child who will bite you);but how difficult it is to get rid of that role!"
"There are so many connotations in our behaviour and in our attitudes!"
"There is only a slight difference between guiding people and invading their life".
"Letting oneself go did not mean losing one's independence, my body received messages,it relaborated them and it sent out signals"
"A completely silent context does not exist, there are instead lots of sounds which we do not manage to catch…"
"…I was afraid of embracing the other person, of being too present, of invading their independence,but at the same time I felt anxious because I thought I could not guide her. I realized that I had a tremendous power…"
During these activites the role of the teacher gradually emerged as it should be: paying attention to the children's development without forcing them, respecting their potentials and the different stages in life, but being present, alert and confident.

As the group consolidated itself, it was gradually possible to see the differences between the participants, the changes in relationships and also the first conflicts.
Even when there were problems, all the group took part actively trying to find the correct balance between listening, paying attention and trying to stay out of the discussion (confluence). The Gestalt technique of the "empty chair" modified according to the context, was very useful for this type of situation. The two people in conflict were made to change places and they were obliged to perform a sort of monologue so that each of them could talk for herself and then answer as if she were the other person. It was interesting to note at the end of this that both the people in conflict said they did not know enough about the other person in order to understand their real intentions.
Only after this could they sit opposite each other and talk and listen. The following points were the outcome of this way of managing a conflict and from the ideas which came out afterwards. It is important:
- to understand the problem,
- to maintain a certain distance,
- not to abuse the other person giving way to our own feelings,
- to talk respecting oneself and the other person.
The following passage on empathetic listening was also very important :
"The first stage in listening is to be open to the other person's message,but in order to understand his/her opinion of the world it is necessary to see and experiment communication from the speaker's point of view.Only if we understand the ideas,the knowledge,the experiences and the intentions which form the basis of what the speaker is saying, can we understand the importance he /she attributes to communication". (Franta H., Salonia G. "Communicazione Interpersonale", Las, Roma, 1981).
At this point it is important to consider a final aspect regarding the training in this course: the atmosphere during the lessons. The teacher tried to establish the right atmosphere to be able to transmit in the best possible way what was being taught. The link between verbal communication and teachers' behaviour is something which can also be used when working with children if the following points are taken into consideration:
- communication must always be clear;
- the activities must be organized according to time and to the moment and way of intervention;
- the others must be accepted without continually being evaluated or assessed;
- a healthy environment and a warm and positive atmosphere must be offered during lessons especially during the patterns of greeting;
- the correct time and space must be provided so that everybody can express himself/herself and at the same time still belong and respect the group;
- participants must control anxiety and try to behave in a constructive manner and not instinctively;
- pauses and silence should be respected so that the experience can be become part of one's life.
G.Salonia says in "Kairos", EDB, Bologna, 1994: "One cannot mature without silence and solitude.It is possible to express our deepest Ego and to make choices in our life only if we listen to ourselves, our needs, our feelings and our intentions."
Therefore during the course the teachers' style of communication was essential for the group of trainees because it took into consideration the ways in which the group went through the different phases of contact.

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