Chapter 14
GROUP
The Chapter at a Glance
Dynamics
of group behavior.
Group-life
in the class- room and the play-field.
Educational
implications of group behavior.
Main
Topics under Discussion
A group is
composed of a number of individuals who are organized into some sort of a unity
of their own. Group behavior refers to the activities of the individuals as
members of the group.
The
present chapter discusses the dynamics of group behavior among children. It
surveys the various aspects of children’s behavior as members of the class room
and the play field groups. The chapter closes with the appraisal of the
educational significance of group behavior and of the necessity of educating
children for a balanced group mindedness.
Dynamics
of Group Behavior
A study of the dynamics of group behavior is rich in interesting
details. The factors that contribute towards group formation at various age
levels have been mentioned in a preceding chapter on Social Development. Other
interesting details regarding the development of group behavior among children,
the interaction between the group and individual children and the roles and
functions of various members of the group will be briefly examined in this
section of the present chapter.
The Dilemma and the Conflict
The way children grow from self-centered creatures into
individuals conscious of their responsibilities to others in a group, is
nothing short of miraculous. The growth of this group consciousness, however,
is not a very smooth process. At various stages of this development children
face varying degrees of conflict resulting from the clashing demands of
expressing their own individuality and of conforming to the demands of the
group.
This conflict which starts in infancy persists in varying
forms practically throughout life. If unresolved it causes a lot of
ambivalence, anxiety and frustration to the individual. One of the important
tasks for homes and schools, therefore, is to guide the child in the art and
technique of resolving this dilemma in an amicable manner.
Need for a Happy Adjustment
Adequate guidance alone will enable a child to learn the
art of reconciling the demands of self and the larger interests of the group.
He is to be taught to conform to the group. But care should be taken to see
that he does not develop blind conformity to such an extent that he sacrifices
his own individuality.
Successful parenthood and efficient teacher-hood demand
that the child should be enabled to make the happiest adjustment between these
two demands in his thought and behavior in all fields of life.
The Formation of Groups
The development of group formation among children reveals
that age and experience bring a progressive increase in their sense of
adjustment between the demands of the self and those of the groups.
Infant Groups: The young infant is not very group-minded in the beginning.
The earliest groups of infants are usually composed of two members. Common
interests in toys and other play-materials, nearness of residences, their
helplessness and need for companionship in play seem to be the factors those
determine early infant group formations.
Early groups of infants and young children are seldom
founded on stable bases. Their making and unmaking goes on very rapidly
throughout the pre-school years.
Children's Groups: Round about the sixth year when the child starts his
schooling a marked expansion and change takes place in his group behavior.
Interests in toys and nearness in residence no longer remain the sole determinants
of group formations. Common interests and activities, similarities in
intellectual, emotional and social development now begin to figure as common
bases of friendship and group formations.
Groups formed during childhood days are relatively far more
stable than those formed at pre-school level.
Adolescent Gangs: Teen age is characterized by gang formations. During this
period boys and girls feel impelled to form closely-knit gangs of their own.
The names, purposes, membership, pursuits and the scope and modes of operation
of the adolescent gangs as we have already seen, are very interesting subjects
for study.
Participation
in the Group Life
In children's spontaneous
group play, the
progressive development of which was discussed in the chapter on Social
Development, the members comprising the group or gang fall naturally into certain positions. They
are then expected to fulfill their own particular roles befitting the positions
occupied by them.
Some of the common roles,
positive and negative, that the children are usually observed playing in
most of their groups can be categorized as follows -
(1) The Leader.
(2) The Followers.
(3) The Socially Indifferent.
(4) The Social Isolates.
(1) The Leader:
The child who possesses extra-ordinary ability, intelligence, tact, insight,
resourcefulness, etc. is usually assigned the role of the leaders of the group.
It has been commonly observed that leaders usually hail from homes where
parents are group-minded and participate in the affairs of the community.
(2) The
Followers: The followers are those members of
the group who are less capable in most fields of life. They usually come from
homes where little responsibility is entrusted to children.
It may, however, be remembered that the roles of leaders and followers
are not mutually exclusive in an absolute sense. The leaders give direction to
the followers who have to carry these out. Nevertheless, in several situations
the leaders accept the suggestions, advice and guidance of the followers.
Followers could be divided into the following two subclasses: -
(a) Passive followers, and
(b) Active followers.
Passive followers are either unable or unwilling to think
independently. Such followers abound in a group where the morale is low. A group
which is leader centered and autocratic also abounds in passive followers who
are blindly obedient to the absolute authority of the all-powerful leader.
Active followers are more likely to be found in groups where the morale
is high and the activities are group-centered. They make valuable contributions
to the group thinking, planning, pursuits and programs. Sometimes an
exceptionally capable and active follower is even called upon to play the role
of the leader temporarily.
(3) The Socially Indifferents:
Some children have capacity for group membership but they do not exercise
it. They are socially indifferent. They remain engrossed in their studies and
scholastic pursuits most of the time. They are mostly indifferent to the
formation and functions of the groups of children busily occupied around them.
(4) The Social Isolates:
Social isolates are incapable of participating in the group either as a
leader or as a follower because of their isolated and introverted nature. Owing
to their social deficiencies such children are not accepted for group
membership even if they desire it.
The indifferent and the isolates need careful understanding and
guidance. They should be encouraged to develop some sort of group and community
feelings.
Development of Community Feelings
Development of community feelings and identification with the group is
a process of slow and gradual development. Striving for the cause of the group
and feeling personal satisfaction through group achievement takes a long time
to learn. Those who have experience of organizing children's group games will
remember that most children seldom show any adequate realization of the
interests of the group as a whole. Nearly every child wishes to play the role
which is most exciting and most privileged irrespective of his suitability for
it.
Marked individual differences have, however, been observed in the ease
and rapidly with which various children learn to appreciate group feeling and
acquire the group code. Some children are very sharp and quick in getting colored
by the esprit de corps. Others take rather longer to get used to the
collective life of the group.
Continuous participation in group activities, favorable home
background, personal conditions, personal experiences and many other factors
speed up the socialization of children.
Group Life in the
Class-Room and the Play-Field
It is hardly necessary to reemphasize that the behavior of the child
when all alone is different from his behavior when in a class-room or a
play-field. The nature and pattern of pursuits in these two social situations
is somewhat different. The pursuits in the class-room are predominantly
scholastic. The activities in the play-field, on the other hand, are mainly recreational.
The wider educational and socializing influences in both of these situations,
however, are more or less the same. In both of these situations the child
engages in some sort of a group activity. Both the groups are motivated by a
purpose. In both cases each member contributes his share to further the purpose
of the group.
Whether in the class-room or the play-field the socializing influence
of the group continues to operate on the child. Let us now study these two
spheres of group activity in detail.
The Child in the Class-Room
The class-room is a place where a child acquires skill and
insight into a number of subjects. In addition to the formal education,
however, he gets excellent opportunities for mixing and working with children
of his own age group. By its very structure and function the class-room
provides the child with an ideal training-ground in group behavior.
It may, however, be remembered that all children do not profit
equally from the
class-room training in group behavior. Moreover, much depends upon the teacher.
If he possesses an insightful understanding of child-life, he can exploit
class-room situations to the maximum advantage of the students. Through
carefully organized group work he can succeed in developing in them various social
habits and virtues, e.g., co-operation, healthy competitive behavior,
fellow-feeling, honesty, integrity, sincerity, perseverance, sociability,
cheerfulness, etc.
Socialized Teaching Methods
Contemporary education has evolved certain
specialized instructional methods which have been found favorable for the promotion
of healthy group-mindedness among children. These methods of instruction seek
to promote learning through cooperative group activities. The emphasis in
these methods centre around developing the children into socially effective
citizens.
Socialized recitations and group discussions are two examples of such
instructional methods. Both of these methods aim at developing a habit of group
thinking among children. The group discussion technique is most concerned
solely with the frank expression of varying view points by the children. It is
rather concerned primarily with the understanding of different opinions
expressed by various members of the group. The discussion group aims at solving
a problem. It endeavors to arrive at a mutual conclusion as a result of a
co-operative effort. Zeleny gives
experimental evidence in favor of the great educational utility of the group
learning method.
The Child in the
Play-Field
The play-field makes a very vital and subtle contribution to the social
education of the child. The young self-centered child, coming to the play-field
for the first time, soon finds that unless he observes the rules of the game he
stands little chances of getting any pleasure.
The group behavior on
the play-field provides an ideal training in nearly all the social habits and
outlooks needed by any individual. It also provides training in leadership. The
child discovers that unless there is a leader of the game and unless his
instructions are carried out no game can continue. He learns the necessity for
co-operation in a game. He perceives the desirability of competition; an
element which is also strong in a game. The child finds that the entire team or
group on the play-field has a common goal. Whatever the role assigned to the
individual players, every one strives to achieve the goal common to the group.
The varied social training offered by the play-field has a very
desirable effect on his mental and physical health. It is, in fact,
indispensable for the proper development of his personality and character.
All school-going children, however, do not necessarily participate in
group games. In every school certain students will be found who are
temperamentally indifferent and even opposed to group activities on the
play-field. Such children are liable to develop into social isolates,
introverts and "shut in" types of personalities. They should,
therefore, be forcefully persuaded to join the children on the play-field.
Influence of Class and Status on Playful Behavior
As repeatedly pointed out at several places in the preceding chapters,
the socio-economic level of a child's family also influences the trend and quality of his group recreational activities very
considerably. This is true in nearly all those countries of the world which are
still abnormally class conscious.
Group Recreations of
Under-Privileged Children: In our country, for instance, the
lower class families usually cannot afford to send their children to school.
From a very tender age the child is obliged to share the domestic
responsibilities with the parents and the elder members of the family. The
little time that such an unfortunate child can spare for recreation is mostly
spent in the streets of his slum where all his playmates hail from similar
families.
The usual group recreational activities among such underprivileged
children are exchanging of funny abuses with each other, playing kabaddi, gulidanda, eecho-cheech, hide
and seek, blind man's bluff, keeri-kara, etc.
Group activities of Privileged Children: Most of the children in the middle and the upper
class families get schooling facilities. Consequently, they get ample
opportunities for associating with varied and more organized groups of children
at their school. Such privileged children get fairly satisfactory opportunities
for participation in organized sports e.g. cricket, Hockey, football,
badminton, etc. and a number of other group recreations. They have, therefore,
better chances of socialization through organized group activities than the
underprivileged children belonging to lower class families.
Democratic Reorganization of School Sports
The problem for the majority of our children, however, is
rather different. Most of our schools either don't have enough sports equipment
and play-fields to cater for the recreational needs of every child or they
spend a major part of their sports funds on preparing first teams, school
elevens and on patronizing gifted athletes. These two factors are mainly
responsible for depriving a huge majority of our school children from deriving
any benefit from sports.
Overcoming
Our Sports Problems
The inadequacies in our sporting facilities, however, are
not absolutely incurable. Scarcity of play-fields, for instance, can be
partially overcome by turning the vacant plots of land in and around a school
into play-fields. The unwholesome tendency of spending most of the school funds
on first elevens, etc. can he cured by a changed and democratic outlook on sports. The school
authorities should realize the futility of patronizing specialized teams and 'color-holders'
at the expense of the majority of children who are denied any sporting
facilities. They should appreciate the necessity and urgency of a democratic
reorganization of sports so that each and every child gets an adequate
opportunity for participating in some sort of organized group games.
Such an arrangement is bound to yield immense joy and
pleasure to everyone on the rolls of a school. It will also provide a useful
social training in organized group behavior which is the fundamental right as well
as the basic need of every child and which at the moment is denied to most of them.
Educational
Implications
The social education of the child is as
indispensable for his proper growth as any form of education and training. Such
an education is possible only if a child participates in group activities. The
educational significance of group participation cannot be over-emphasized.
Dangers
of Isolation
A teacher should realize the dangers consequent upon
children's non-participation in group activities. A child who prefers to remain
aloof from the group most of the time is usually exposed to a number of risks
and dangers some of which are:
(1) Physical disadvantages.
(2) Mental mal-developments.
(3) Social dangers.
(1) Physical
Disadvantages: A child who avoids sharing the pleasures and joys
of group games and organized recreations is liable to remain physically
underdeveloped and even unhealthy as compared with a child who participates in
such activities.
(2) Mental
Mal-Developments: A non-mixer is also most likely to develop
certain undesirable habits and mental anomalies, e.g., suspiciousness, jealousy,
abnormal brooding, egocentricism, introversion, day-dreaming, etc. Such
psychological anomalies might develop into serious mental abnormalities in
later life.
(3) Social Dangers: An isolate child is
deprived of the social virtues and grace which can only be learned by sharing
the group life. A self-centered child, who does not feel interested in other
school children and their pursuits, usually develops very little interest in
the school and the pattern of its life. He might even start playing truant, and
truancy is the first step towards delinquency, crime and immorality. Thus
non-participation in group-life is likely to impair the social health of the
school child rather seriously.
Socio-Economic
Consequences of Non-Participation
Just imagine the huge human and economic wastage occasioned
by these mal- developments resulting from a lack of appropriate group
participation. Physically unfit or handicapped children are a social and
economic liability to the family as well as the nation. Huge financial outlay
and vast funds of energy are needed for specialized training and guidance of
such children. Moreover whether or not
such children will benefit from these specialized measures is uncertain.
Similar is the case with the mentally unhealthy children.
The harmful consequences of the presence of a socially
deviant child or adult in a community need no explanation at all. Anti-social,
delinquent, criminal and immoral people prove great social nuisances as well as
serious economic drains on the state.
The
Teacher’s Responsibility
A teacher should, therefore, realize the magnitude of the
various undesirable consequences of children's non-participation in group life.
The sole aim of education is not mere imparting of bookish instructions. A
balanced education should aim at all-round health and efficiency of the child.
It should enable the child to become a physically fit, mentally healthy and socially
useful member of the community.
To achieve the true spirit of a balanced education,
adequate participation in group activities should be emphasized right from the
early years of life. Special attention and guidance should be paid to those
children who remain isolated from group activities.
Education
for Group-Mindedness
During his class instruction the teacher should, therefore,
concentrate on developing healthy group-mindedness among the children. Some of
the methods which will prove helpful for him in this direction are:--
(1) Socialized teaching methods.
(2) Development of extra-curricular activities.
(3) Reorganization of sports.
(4) Socio-cultural functions.
(1) Socialized Teaching Methods: The
teacher should endeavor to give a socialized treatment to all the subjects that
he teaches in the class-room. This means that he should conduct the teaching
work in such a pleasant manner that the whole class participates in it.
Teaching through group recitations, group discussions, etc. are some of the
effective methods of socializing the teaching and learning processes.
(3) Reorganization of Sports:
Practically every child should be stimulated to participate in school sports
and group games. This is only possible if sports are organized on democratic
and liberal lines. School sports and games should no longer remain a monopoly
of a few privileged children who are members of the first teams or are
preparing for professional careers in the field of sports. A reorganization of
school sports is absolutely essential in order to make them the favorite pastime
for every child.
(4) Socio Cultural Functions:
Occasionally socio-cultural functions, e.g.,
Children's Day, Parents' Day, Old Boys' Day, Annual Function, exhibitions,
dramas, fun-fairs, etc. should be organized at the school campus. The organization of such functions should
be entrusted entirely to the children themselves. They should consult
the teacher only when they feel some major difficulty in managing the affairs
themselves.
Provision in a school of the program outlined above normally succeeds
in simulating the interest of nearly every child in some sort of group
activity.
Treatment of Socially
Difficult Children
However, despite all his best endeavors, a teacher may still come
across a number of children who do not respond to any of the socializing
methods that he tries with them. Such children continue to cling tenaciously to
their isolationary habits. They remain utterly indifferent and even hostile to
the activities of the group. The presence of such socially difficult children
in the class is a serious threat to the social health of the entire group.
If a teacher feels really helpless in understanding and guiding such
children he should do better to refer them to a child guidance clinic for
expert guidance and treatment. A psychological clinic aims at analyzing all
the causative factors which lead such children to shun group activities.
Various psychological methods, e.g., organized play therapy, group therapy,
etc. are tried on such children in order to stimulate their interest in the
activities of the group and thereby restore them to their normal social health.
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