The distinctiveness of this thesis lies in its use of Group and Researcher Reflection. It is a responsive and experiential study, which has two main aims: to explore the phenomenon, experience in the everyday environment, and to develop an appropriate method. The study centres round Group Reflection, which consists of a small group of local residents (in Ushaw Moor, Co Durham), who met regularly over a year, to reflect together. They met to explicate and explore their experience, particularly heightened experience, of their everyday environment, and together to recognise themes, and so reveal, develop and share their understanding. The group collected their themes under three general headings: nature, buildings and people. A report summarising this Group Reflection was produced with the group. The whole of the Group Reflection forms the basis for subsequent Researcher Reflection. This seeks alternative orderings and interpretation of the material explicated, themes and experiences, and considers their relationship to the wider literature on environmental experience. A number of alternative themes, or gatherings, are suggested: looking language, social concept, ordering regimes, person-environment engagement. Then, the concepts experience, place and dwelling are explored in the context of everyday environment, and a number of speculations are made about the possible changing nature of dwelling. The study is inspired by Phenomenology, and therefore seeks to allow the phenomenon to speak of itself: through those who have direct experience of it, and it hopes to take into account the essential entanglement of what is studied with those who study. Finally, it seeks to encourage readers to continue the reflective journey into their own exploration of experience in the everyday environment.

The purpose of this study lies in its attempt to contribute to the understanding of leadership in small groups of boys in a conceptual framework that considers leadership as a dynamic interacting process rather than the summation of individual traits.

Ability grouping has become increasingly common in the teaching of English in Swedish secondary schools. This study was concerned with the effects of different group constellations on the more able pupils. The research questions involved the able pupils’ performance, their roles in mixed-ability groups and whether the learning environment is better for them when they work with other able pupils. The study used discourse analysis of group interaction in the target language between pupils in year eight. It was found that able pupils perform according to their pre-defined skill, regardless of what groups they were put in. They also supported and lifted the interaction to higher levels in mixed-ability groups. Finally, the results suggested that able pupils might have a greater chance to develop their English in tracked groups. It is argued that this has implications for the implementation of ability grouping in the teaching of second languages in Sweden.

The purpose of this study is to extend the theoretical model of organizational politics in different contextual situations by using cross-level analytical framework. In accordance with the social exchange perspective, this study draws on a reciprocated subjective cognitive state that existed between the employee and workplace (psychological contract breach) as a mediator to connect the relationship between group political climate and turnover intention. Additionally, this research also employed the situational strength perspective by introducing a group characteristic variable (group interaction) to investigate its moderating effect on the relationship between group political climate, psychological contract breach and turnover intention. Data were collected from 56 work groups consisted of 750 work group members who provided the information about group political climate, psychological contract breach, turnover intention, group interaction and demographic variables. Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were applied to test the full model. The results reveal that individual employees¡¦ psychological contract breach partially mediate the relationship between group political climate and turnover intention. Further, group interaction moderates the mediated relationship between group political climate, psychological contract breach, and individual employees¡¦ turnover intention. Lastly, groups with high degree of group interaction could lessen their employees¡¦ turnover intention induced by group political climate.

Four encounter groups were run using 41 undergraduates at Utah State University to measure the effects of leadership style, member vii socio-political subculture, and member personality on the quantity and quality of group interaction, and on member satisfaction. Using Kerlinger's Social Attitudes Scale, the subjects were divided into subgroupings of "conservatives" and "liberals." One conservative group and one liberal group were each conducted by a leader acting in a non-directive style, while one conservative and one liberal group were run by a leader acting in a directive style. The California Psychological Inventory was administered to the subjects to gain information on the personality traits of the individuals, and a questionnaire was used to measure member satisfaction. Each group met for six sessions, and the groups were rated for interaction using the Hill Interaction Matrix. Using an analysis of covariance, the results showed that the group led by the non-directive leader resulted in more interaction, and that this interaction was of a ''member-centered" work type. A statistical relationship was also found between the personality of group members and: 1) quantity and quality of interaction, 2) member satisfaction, and 3) the socio-political subculture of the members. An interaction effect between leadership style and socio-political subculture of the subjects was found to affect member satisfaction. Conservatives preferred a directive leader, while liberals preferred a non-directive leader. Finally, a trend was found suggesting a difference in group interaction due to the socio-political subculture of an individual. Implications for other types of groups, and for therapy and counseling, were discussed.

This research is concerned with the educational process within an outdoor centre involving groups of primary school children. It studies group interaction between the participants in a natural setting by taking a holistic approach, giving an account of their outdoor learning experience in the context of a group. It appears that there is little focus on groups in the outdoors, even though most outdoor programmes involve groups. Most of the research done on groups is quantitative and laboratory based. Such traditional approaches have been challenged, as empirical limitations and theoretical problems have been identified. It is argued that a study of group interactions within a natural environment, such as the outdoor classroom, would allow for a more insightful understanding of the phenomena involved, and it could also shed light on the outdoor educational process, which has been neglected by research in outdoor education. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used as part of an ethnographic approach. This enabled the collection of varied data, which resulted in a thick description of the phenomena explored. The findings show that the concept of team building is central to the philosophy of the outdoor centre and of its staff. The activities, which are used as learning tools, are group orientated. Teamwork is seen as essential for the learning experience at the outdoor centre. The study also revealed that the different approaches of the participants influenced the way learning was constructed. The two main themes that have emerged were empowerment and control. The empowering approaches offered support and encouragement to the participants, allowing for collaboration and cooperation to exist between them, which enabled learning to be more effective. The controlling approaches were characterised by a lack of dialogue between the participants, which interfered with the learning experience, by not creating an environment where the participants could work together as a group. A social aspect of learning was thus identified, which emphasised the importance of viewing learning as a joint process. The research shows that a well-designed process does not always result in the participants achieving the ‘desired learning outcomes’. The teachers/facilitators need to be aware of the impact that their approach may have on the learning experience of the participants.

Published Article / The value of interactive reflective activities in the development of a universal orientation among service-learning students is explored. Psychology students participated in a service-learning module that incorporated various reflective activities. The hypothesis that exposure to reflective activities would result in change with regard to students' universal orientation, was confirmed. The most significant changes were seen in students who were involved in interactive reflective activities. These results support the value of dialogue and group interaction in students' development toward a universal orientation to life. Interactive reflection (embedded in the philosophy of human mediated constructivist learning and connected knowing) models the idea of interdependence and maximises students' perspectives of "we-ness".

The problem of this study was to determine whether group interaction can bring about change in sociometric status, self-concept, and perceived group characteristics with respect to nursing personnel.

Book Summary: Given the success of ASGW’s previous activity books, and the fact that more and more Counselor Education courses are being taught (at least in part) via an online format, we decided that creating a book aimed at online activities for counselor educators would be useful. As the field of education continues to change as technology is being infused into classrooms at an amazing rate, we thought it would be helpful to compile a number of activities that counselor educators could implement in their courses. Each activity stands alone and includes goals and learning objectives, suggested courses for usage, a point in the group when activity might be best implemented, estimated time length, technology needs, directions for the activity, processing questions, possible adaptations, and potential cautions or issues that might arise. In addition, three introductory chapters are included that we hope will help counselor educators examine issues related to online group work, building a sense of community via online education, and group dynamics that may take place. While the activities are organized by suggested courses for their usage, we encourage all readers to read them through a creative lens, and (like all effective group counselors) imagine how they might be adapted for use in other courses or with other topics as well. We greatly appreciate the efforts of those who contributed activities to this book and hope that you will enjoy using them and find them helpful in promoting effective learning communities in your online counselor education courses.

This thesis explores the everyday practice of school bullying by examining children's participation in peer group activities as well as in school-based anti-bullying activities within an educational setting. The empirical material is drawn from a long-term (1 year) ethnographic study conducted among preadolescent children in a 5th grade class in a Swedish elementary school. An ethnomethodological approach is used in analysis of ethnographically based fieldnotes, and in detailed analysis of video recordings collected during participant observations.    The first study examines, through elaborated investigation of a peer group's everyday peer encounters, how social exclusion is situated within the flow of intricate, subtle and seemingly innocent interactions. In this, the study offers detailed information about how girls' everyday peer group interactions, taken across a range of activities, may be consequential for the process of social exclusion.    The second study examines the interactional moral work accomplished within the situated practice of ART classroom sessions on moral reasoning used as part of the school's anti-bullying prevention program. The study contributes an understanding of the interactional managment of children's moral stance-taking, something that has previously been overshadowed by the quest to project the outcomes for individual children's moral reasoning. The third study examines a gossip dispute event, in which a group of girls take action against another girl for reporting school bullying to the teacher. The study demonstrates how, as the gossip dispute unfolds, the girls accused of bullying appropriate and even subvert the social organization of the school's anti-bullying program, and manage to turn the tables so that the girl initially reporting to be a victim of bullying is cast as an instigator, and the girls accused of the bullying as victims of false accusations.    The thesis illuminates the complex meanings and functions of social actions referred to as bullying within a school context and in the literature. Also, it sheds light on the difficulties that come with teachers' attempts to structure children's social relationships. All in all, the thesis illuminates the need to challange an individualistic approach to bullying, recognizing the social and moral orders children orient to in their everyday life at school.