PA133-6-SP-CO:
Group Relations and Professional Life
2023/24
Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Monday 15 January 2024
Friday 22 March 2024
15
09 November 2023
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA C847CO Psychodynamic Practice,
BA C848CO Psychodynamic Practice (Including Foundation Year),
BA C849CO Psychodynamic Practice (Including Year Abroad)
This module will provide students with the opportunity to make links between the theoretical aspects of their programme of study and experience of group and organisational life.
As students near the end of their degree, this module, alongside PA211-6-SP Organisational Dynamics, focuses upon their own functioning in groups and organisations in professional life. This module is foundational for those particularly on programmes which include clinical and professional practice development components.
It is a ubiquitous aspect of working life that organisations are a place where the personal, professional and the social come together. The experience of this conjunction can be enriching and harmonious but with the complexity and fast rate of change in millennial organisations both conscious and unconscious influences mean that disharmony, dispute and confusion may also result. The Group Relations Conference (GRC), a two day residential event, is designed to provide both an experience of group and organisational life and to be a mode of direct research for reflectively exploring and investigating this experience. It requires students to participate, to be curious, to explore, to take risks and to be self-reflective.
The GRC addresses experientially a number of key features of organisational life such as role, authority, leadership, followership, organisational hierarchies and boundaries, conflict, task, participation, resilience, group life and the place of the individual in large institutions. Participation in the conference enables students to enhance their employability skills and to recognise the significance of their input to group and organisational processes.
As a mode of study the GRC is an example of 'situated learning' where the environment in which learning occurs replicates features of ordinary group and organisational working life. Students will have the opportunity to learn from experience and learn from action. The GRC is therefore a learning accelerator: at this milestone in their programme the student begins to see more clearly the meaning and depth of psychodynamic theory and thinking and its application to working life as a mode of career development learning.
The module will therefore involve four stages of learning:
1. Students participate in a series of preparatory and post conference reflective groups
2. Students attend the Group Relations Conference
3. Students attend three key seminars to learn about the origins and history of group relations events, and how these are conceptualised and understood historically and in contemporary studies
4. Students will bring all of the components of their learning (learning from the experience, and learning about the experience) together in two key assignments
Early in the Spring Term members of the Group Relations Conference team meet with students for a short meeting. The meeting will be followed by a Reflective Group to consider the GRC. The GRC itself takes place in the Spring Term.
Following the Group Relations Conference there are three taught seminars of 2hrs each of which are divided into two components. Seminar 1 is lecturer-based. Seminar 2 is a group discussion where the readings are discussed and reflected upon in the light of the student's participation in the GRC. The discussion seminars will include preparation for the assignment. The essay question will require the students to make links between the theory studied and their own work, placement and organisational experience. The Reflective Report will require student to focus upon the more personal aspects of the GRC.
After the GRC and theory seminars a final Reflective Group will be held in order to consider and process the overall experience, how this relates to the student's programme of studies, and what the experience means for their personal and professional life.
This module aims to help you:
1. Appreciate the deeper significance of your theoretical learning through direct experience and to set it in the context of group and organisational life
2. Reflect on the challenges involved in taking up a professional role within the boundaries of an organisation
3. Explore management of self and others in complex organisational settings
4. Develop understanding of the irrational processes that occur in groups and organisations
5. Link your experience of the conference to your own working environment, and to use the learning from the conference to contribute to organisational life more effectively
6. Generate new ideas and ways of working to create sustainable organisations
By the end of this module you should have:
1. Solid understanding of the group relations history and theory
2. Awareness of the links between psychoanalysis, therapeutic organisations and groups relations
3. Awareness of the role experiential learning can have in terms of personal and organisational growth and development
4. An increased understanding of the unconscious dynamics at work in individuals, groups and organisations
5. Greater recognition of how psychodynamic concepts come alive and apply to individuals, groups and organisations
6. Greater awareness of the key features of organisational life such as role, authority, leadership, followership, open and closed systems, organisational hierarchies and boundaries, conflict, primary task, and participation
7. Better awareness of the role each student plays in group and organisational life including their capacity for self-reflective practice and management of self
The programme can be challenging. All students attending this event are asked to complete a Student Health and Wellbeing Form to provide any information on their health relevant to their participation which they would like shared with the conference staff team and the conference administrator. They have an opportunity to meet with a member of staff to discuss this if they wish.
Teaching is divided into four components:
1. 1hr preparatory meeting with GRC staff
2. Two Reflective Groups
3. An experiential 2-day conference (Group Relations Conference).
4. 5hrs of seminars on campus which are divided into two components. Seminar 1 is lecturer-based. Seminar 2 is a group discussion where the readings are discussed and reflected upon in the light of the student's participation in the GRC. The discussion seminars will include preparation for the assignment. The final session is a reflective group.
Students will be provided with a conference description and programme two weeks prior to the event.
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Murray, H., Trist, B. and Trist, E. (2016)
The Social engagement of social science: a Tavistock anthology, Vol. 1: The Socio-Psychological Perspective. Philadelphia, Pa: University of Pennsylvania Press. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512819748.
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Fraher, A.L. (2004a) A history of group study and psychodynamic organizations. London: Free Association Books.
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Tracy Wallach (2014) ‘What do Participants Learn at Group Relations Conferences?*’,
Organizational and Social Dynamics, 14(1), pp. 13–38. Available at:
https://pep-web-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/search/document/opus.014.0013a.
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Edward R. Shapiro (2012) ‘An Introduction to Tavistock-Style Group Relations Conference Learning’,
Organizational and Social Dynamics, 12(1), pp. 70–80. Available at:
https://pep-web-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/search/document/opus.012.0070a.
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Armstrong, D. and French, R. (2005b)
Organization in the mind: psychoanalysis, group relations, and organizational consultancy?: occasional papers 1989-2003. London: Karnac. Available at:
http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429478079.
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Colman, A.D. and Bexton, W.H. (1975a) Group relations reader. Sausalito, CA: GREX.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Reflective report |
|
25% |
| Coursework |
Essay |
|
75% |
Additional coursework information
Assessment is made up of two components:
1 x 2000 word reflective report (25%)
1 x 3000 word essay (75%)
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Chris Nicholson, email: cnich@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Madeleine Wood, email: madeleine.wood@essex.ac.uk.
from Dept of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies
Student Administration 5A.202; telephone 01206 874969; email ppsug@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
Dr Anthony John Faramelli
Goldsmiths
Lecturer in Visual Cultures
Available via Moodle
Of 8 hours, 8 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
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