Bob and all, John Heron has some useful work on 'anxieties' that underlie defensiveness. He distinguishes between 'existential anxieties' and 'archaic anxieties'.
· The first are those which have low level but distinct impact at the moment of entry into a new and likely to be affecting initial behavior. These would link neatly with Tuckman's (or other) observations on usual 'forming' stage behaviours. These we can address by careful attention to well structured introduction and visible support for those less comfortable with the unusual nature of XB.
· "Archaic anxieties" are less amenable to management in this way- and may not even be known to the person - until triggered by some event/s words etc. within specific contexts. Last year I had one student whose 'archaic anxieties' seem to have been strongly triggered by XB. she was unsettled from the beginning and although others settled into the process quite quickly - she continued to draw the m back to an issue of 'assessing' work. She forced the group to develop and agree 'principled methods for giving feedback. they agreed and complied quite extensively. Then one student, assuming the issue was resolved, attempted to apply the agreed rules. That was the moment when the student in question burst into tears and left the room - subsequently writing and submitting a highly critical letter about behaviours in the room. I was not allowed to respond to her report [despite the university having standard response to student complaint procedures in place] and then chose to stand aside from all the issues [most of them highly emotional ones for me] until I could be sure that I had sufficient equanimity to address the future and my goal of continuing to run XB. Repeated 'revisiting' of the entire episode has led me to conclude that she was being 'driven by particular archaic anxieties concerning peer related feedback which must have had links to ti an experience of adverse feedback from someone previously trusted by her. [ I draw these conclusions from the scraps and fragments of her statements at various times - but am unable to confirm my suppositions].
Knowing more now about Heron's work has helped me to develop a better sense of the differences that individuals may experience in the early phases of XB. It has also helped me to learn more about my own similar anxieties - and to reduce the likely hood of their future adverse impact on me when least anticipated or needed. One particular factor that surfaced was my trigger-finger reaction to unfair/unsubstantiated accusations about my own behaviour. It was particularly helpful to have encountered this, as another student seemed likely to follow a similar path this year, and recognizing both the path and my possible responses led me to act in a different manner and much sooner that I might have without the lessons learned last year. It is this kind of learning that makes XB so valuable - but also difficult to balance! so defensiveness exists as a potential - and potent - force in every XB classroom. However opening up to it seems to help some to identify and resolve their concerns- while it does not satisfy some who are driven by extremes of need to 'defend' something that may not be attacked in this present moment but is still hurting for some past time. This may be more apposite to my classes where participants are older (average 27+) - but it is now something I watch for most carefully! EL
A: I have redefined/expanded the role of the Diad group. They are responsible for anticipating individual or interpersonal emotional issues that may be occurring in XB and addressing them privately. Diad has no role in evaluation; they are to do everything confidentially. If there are implications for wider classroom issues, Diad reports those to me without mentioning any names. If I see anything that may be an early warning, I report it to Diad. Since all is confidential, I have no idea what may be happening. Since this has just come into place, I have no sense of whether it is working. --Bob
As I may have mentioned awhile back, I changed the responsibilities of the Diad Group. I gave them an ombudsman role, with special attention to the emotional health of members of the organization. This appears to be working out, as their memo below indicates.
>Subject: Diad Agenda
>Memo:
>Obstacles: People are becoming increasingly defensive and no longer actively paying attention to each other. Group are wondering about their place in XB and their diminishing list of responsibilities. Each person wants to give more to the organization. Multiple personal conflicts.
>Solutions: Reinforcement of Diad presentation: listening behavior, communication, and handling criticism on both ends. Regarding group responsibility-a few suggestions as discussed in Diad meeting yesterday. First, observing groups should post observations on the web. This gives Communications a grasp on something they can do to actively promote XB without being monotonous (a concern of theirs. Also, it allows the observing groups, mostly Informal, to show a concrete observation and to assert themselves as something other than the group who does parties (also, a concern of theirs). The Group Group is beginning to print out observations every other week for each group. Both of these allow for the members of XB to mark their improvement and see where improvement should be made. Perhaps both of these will bring effective communication between members. Also, looking back on a previous e-mail, Directing group is to recruit moderators. Since a lot of individuals may be hiding or are insecure about their place, could Directing pick moderators outside of its own group to alleviate this? It would make each individual feel they had more of a part in the organization. Finally, concerning the personal conflicts, these should be treated individually but in the group memo, we can reinforce our position and open door policy.
>Other interests
>Kayla in the Formal group may need to be dealt with as soon as possible. She is having problems showing respect to other members, and it is beginning to be noticed by others. Also, we may want to sit down with the entire formal group concerning their behavior during presentations. How would we do that?
>I think we should leave Michael alone for awhile. He is already beginning to improve his attitude. If we feel that in the future he is upset by the way others are treating him or he is not improving, we should step in. The party next week will probably tell a lot.
>How do we deal with the forming hierarchy? It is quickly becoming a huge obstacle causing discomfort in the group, according to our meeting yesterday.
>Let me know if I missed anything, and we can go ahead and formulate the memo. As far as other interests go, we can talk more about it on Monday.
I'm sure there may be more than just those.
>Thanks,
>Meg
I have just had an hour-long conversation with a member of the diad group. As you may recall, I changed the diad responsibilities a bit. Diad acts as an ombudsman; i.e., a point of appeal inside the organization to try to resolve problems or conflicts informally. Diad has the responsibility of heading off problems, dealing with issues before they get out of hand, calming people down and resolving their issues. This is working amazingly well. They are getting calls from everywhere in the organization asking for help. Diad group members meet or communicate almost daily. The task is time-onsuming, but they seem to love it. They have 5 phone messages when they go home in the evening. Some group leaders dislike them and say they don't do anything, and diad, by the nature of its role, does not defend itself, but remains silent. They have a better idea than anyone else what is going on in the organization. They see the process as going well. The reading groups are effective, and the whole operation is running smoothly.
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