Facilitating work discussion groups with staff in complex educational provisions

Ellis, Gemma and Wolfe, Victoria (2019) Facilitating work discussion groups with staff in complex educational provisions. Open Journal of Educational Psychology, 4 .

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Abstract

This paper presents findings from an exploratory study of ‘work discussion groups’ (WDGs) conducted with groups of staff in three complex educational provisions (a special needs setting and two alternative provisions) facilitated by two Educational Psychologists (EPs) using Action Research. The objective was to give the group members tools to understand and develop their own emotional wellbeing and resilience. Four themes emerged from data analysis: ‘Group readiness’ – how the structure of a WDG was initially hard to follow; ‘Being heard’ – wanting to be listened to within the school; ‘Physical space’ – how the schools were physically positioned and located, and ‘Staff wellbeing’ – how the staff were able to consider their own needs. In each group, the facilitators used an ‘adapted WDG model’ to support the group members. This way of working was recognised by participants as a helpful way to come together and share ideas and reflect on practice. This suggests that the findings could have implications for staff wellbeing across complex educational settings.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Educational psychology, Work discussion groups, Action research, Systemic theory, Psychoanalytic theory, Staff wellbeing, Complex educational provisions
Subjects: Groups & Organisations > Occupational Groups
Learning & Education > Educational Psychology
Research, Tests, Assessments > Action Research- Social Sciences
Research, Tests, Assessments > Action Research- Social Welfare
Department/People: Children, Young Adult and Family Services
URI: https://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/id/eprint/2424

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