Conclusion to the Roles People Play in Small Groups

Question: How can teachers prepare students for successful and productive small-group discussion?

Answer: An excerpt from my book Teaching English, How To…., Xlibris, 2004.

There are 18 roles that people can play in small-group discussions as suggested by David M. Litsey, Copyright by the National Council of Teachers of English. Reprinted with Permission. The roles are labeled “Maintenance,” “Task Roles,” and “Self-serving roles.” It’s time now to familiarize students with the roles.

To familiarize students with these roles, Litsey suggests having students view a video tape of a group discussion. Each student in the class is assigned to observe one of the members of the group. After viewing the discussion, the students fill out the following evaluation form:

Name of Rater-----------------------------  Name of Participant-------------------------------------------------

Directions: Circle the description which you think most closely approximates the extent to which the participant in the group discussion has been each of the following:

Initiating:  Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Information Seeking: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Information Giving: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Clarifying ,Elaborating: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Summarizing: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Consensus Testing: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Encouraging: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Expressing Group Feelings: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Harmonizing: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Compromising: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Gate Keeping: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Setting Standards: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Blocking: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Aggressiveness: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Seeking Recognition: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Playboy: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Deserter: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Dominating: Not at all  A little bit  To some extent  Fairly much  A Great Deal

Another way in which to familiarize students with these roles would be to stage a small group discussion in which each student in the group plays one of the roles.

After participating in a group discussion or project, students could rate themselves, using the above scale, on which roles they think they played.

Litsey also suggests an evaluation form to be completed by each individual at the conclusion of a group discussion or project:

Scale: 1     2     3     4     5

                Low        High

(1) ………. Members of the group felt free to state their real opinions

(2) ………. The group defined its task.

(3) ………. All members accepted the responsibility for the outcome of the meeting or project.

(4) ………. All members of the group were productive.

(5) ………. All members of the group feel positive about the work in this session.

Teaching students how to work in small groups requires a complete teaching effort. Like it or not, participating cooperatively in small groups is how the work of business and democracy is accomplished. Students need to learn how to help small groups work cohesively.