In one of our classes we were practicing exercises on recording and reporting what we had learned in class. I followed four classic sociology references in the lecture. Quick summary:

• Jean Piaget, The Language and Thought of the Child. Piaget, in his study of how children think and learn, dealt with schemata and concepts. The schemata is a part of the concept. We talked of trying to measure whether the child has grasped the concepts of color and of shape. We mix together red, blue, and green circles, squares, and triangles. We ask the child to sort them. Child puts red triangle in one pile, then adds red square. Color, we think. Child has learned color. But no, the next piece in the pile is a blue square. Looks to us as though child has not learned concepts. Piaget points out that child has part of concept, color, but is distracted along the way by shape. Less a measure of child not grasping concept than of child having part of the concept, schemata.

  • Moral: What we see in our measurement is not always what is learned. We must look more deeply.

• Erving Goffman, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Classic presentation of social setting as a stage. We spoke of the concept of backstage and frontstage, and how, in communicatin, some issues are kept backstage. It can be overwhelming to bring a stranger into a backstage area with little preparation. We discussed the connection between inviting someone into the backstage and using a first name to eliminate the social distance of titles.

  • Moral: Trust is a part of learning. When children see that you respect whatever they have done, and do not hold non-negotiated goals they cannot or do not yet understand, they trust you to guide them, and will learn from you. That is a tremendous gift, expecting them to be whatever they can be, and helping them to get there.

• Edward T. Hall, The Silent Language. Classic social anthropological study that stresses the extent to which culture influences how we think and interpret both language and behavior. Culture, in this case, is the silent language.

  Helpful example at Why We Need Theory to Assess What We Know.

  • Moral: Piaget reminds us that children learn by stages. Hall reminds us that at each stage we are proud of what we have learned. Continued learning requires respect for what has been learned, and an understanding of how the schemata fit into the newly approached concepts. To the extent that we ask a child or a parent to give up "what they know" and expand that into new knowledge, we must be careful not to disrespect the prior learning.

• Bales, Interaction Process Analysis, (IPA). Bales did a fascinating study on small groups. He used groups small enough for face-to-face interaction. (That means much smaller than some of our class sizes today.) He was looking for patterns that might determine how leadership develops in the small group. He developed a scale for classifying all communications that his observers noted in the small group.

  Bales' work in the area of small group leadership is classic. He studied means of measuring leadership in face to face groups. A short summary of his findings is useful to this day. There are four separate categories of leadership:

  • Task-Oriented Leadership Measures
    • Summarizing and offering direction
    • Asking questions

  • Socio-Emotional Leadership Measures
    • Positive feedback to group members
    • Negative feedback to group members

  Bales actually expanded this list with subcategories to about 12 measures that made it easy to record observatiions accurately. But the simple breakdown gives you an adequate idea of how he measured leadership. Note that leadership need not always entail positive comments or leading the group in a specific direction. Asking focussed and helpful questions is also a sign of leadership.

  Discussion Questions

  1. Try this:

     Keep a record of your own communication. How would what you say measure up as leadership? Note that therapeutic and teaching perspectives would suggest that a pattern in communication can be brought to awareness and changed, if you so choose. Note also that Bales' perception of leadership measures a hierarchical structure for leadership in small groups. How might you alter his observational scale to measure effective communication in a collaborative group? Since we stress interdependence and the importance of collaborative work, how might you alter your communication patterns to strengthen the collaborative nature of our group work?

  2. Could summarizing, giving information, and asking questions indicate leadership in a collaborative group as well as a hierarchical group?

     Consider that when he was trying to measure patterns that indicated leadership, Bales found that there were many task-related activities that fit a pattern of leadership. People lead in different ways. In a collaborative group, not tightly bound by hierarchy, many of those leadership styles could contribute to group success at the group task. So, yes. They could all be effective in a collaborative group.

     What would measure differently in a collaborative group?

     Probably the socioemotional leaders' contributions, encouraging everyone to participate with suggestions according to their own patterns of thinking and of task-solving. This might be fun to experiment with. jeanne

  3. What kind of leadership is President Bush displaying when he says "I am the decider" or "I gained political capital and I am going to spend it"?

     Consider who is emphasized on his own thoughts as the leader? Would a collaborative leader declare himself a leader in this way? No, he would emphasize the interdependence of achievements. Would a hierarchical leader declare himself a leader in this way? No. He wouldn't need to because the pattern of communication would make his hierarchical position clear. To speak of yourself as leader and to enforce that idea directly is not typical of the strong or charismatic leader.

References:

• What Is Theory? Why Do We Need It? Women's Difference Women's Prize, Curran and Takata, 1999.

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