A Study of Very Small Groups

Constructing solidarities at work: Relationality and the methods of emancipatory education

“…Much of this containment comes down to the capacity of the tutor to provide a secure and predictable framework for participants and to negotiate the tensions between individual difference and membership of a union (Gosling 1981). Although the role of a tutor is not to provide interpretations specifically about group dynamics (Miller 1989) as with the therapist, tutors are involved in managing group dynamics and providing understanding and articulation of the issues within the group.…”

“…One of the difficulties for learners is to overcome the defences that we create to protect ourselves from the pain of being challenged and provoked out of an ‘everyday consciousness’ of the world. This is a central aspect of psychoanalytically informed processes, dealing with ambivalence in relation to wanting and not wanting to know about reality, and the resistances we put in place to protect ourselves from the anxieties this evokes (Gosling 1981).…”

“…As a result in small containing study groups, participants are likely to feel a stronger sense of freedom to talk openly about their experience, including their emotional experiences within a group setting. Gosling (1981) argues that, as a result, these transitional spaces are important locations for innovation and experimentation, much-needed resources within often stagnating trade union organisations.…”