A Paradoxical Approach to Teaching Group Dynamics: First Thoughts, First Findings

This article reports on an attempt to create an experiential group learning structure based on the paradoxical principles described in Smith and Berg's 1987 work, Paradoxes of Group Life. This learning structure departs from the group-on-group design described by Gillette and McCollom in their 1990 work, Groups in Context, in the role prescribed for the facilitator. In this structure, the facilitator is active in providing directions for each of the first five experiential sessions, directions that are intended to prompt members to explore together the influence on group life of (a) contradiction, (b) group membership, (c) opposition, and (d) negotiation with authority. The article includes case material from a single course in which this method was used and includes the authors' reflections on the opportunities and risks they observed in their initial attempt to put this approach into practice.