Characteristics of Group Environments for Learning and Development

This document analyzes the characteristics of group environments that foster learning and development. It also evaluates strategies to manage group behavior and dynamics, as well as management techniques for delivering learning and development in groups. Additionally, it explores ways to involve learners in managing their own learning and development in groups.

UV40767- Manage
learning and
development in
groups

4.1- Analyse the characteristics of group environments that foster
learning and development
There are numerous factors and characteristics that must be in place in
order to form a good group, that will allow all of the members within the
group to learn and develop tremendously. Bransford, Pellegrino and
Donovan (1999) stated, that there might be some conflict between the
group members but, this is normal and inevitable to happened as every
individual has their own opinions, ideas, and preferences on different
matters and they are voicing out their thoughts which some individuals
might not agree with. There will be some conflict that will arise during
group discussions but this should not be avoided as it may cause
unnecessary arguments but rather, the individuals must come to a calm
agreement by communicating with each other in order to resolve the
issue and not allow the problem to escalate further. By each member of
the group voicing out their opinion other individuals within the group can
learn knew knowledge and skills which will allow them to expand and
develop their learning because individuals tend to learn best from their
peers and they can pick up new information at a rapid speed.
Each individual within the group must be given a certain role that they
must carry out and or contribute to the group. For instance, each
member must be offered a clear outline of their role, responsibilities and
workload must be distributed equally within the group, which means that
everyone must have equal amount of work that they must present on
behalf of the group. Tuckman (1965) stated, there are four stages of
group formation i.e., forming, storming, norming and performing. The first
stage is “forming” this is where a few strangers collectively come
together to form a group. In that everyone have the same goal that they
would like to achieve by being excited, nervous, and shy. This is where
the leader has an immensely important role in guiding their team
members for accomplishing role and responsibilities allocated to them.
Although every individual has their wide contribution in group. The
second stage, is “storming” this is where some individuals might
disagree or rebel against accepting their responsibilities and roles within
the team. This might cause conflict between team members as they
question their team leader, not fulfil their roles or responsibility, become
too overwhelmed with the task that was allocated to them and some
individuals might become too lazy to complete the task that they had to
complete. The third stage is “norming” this is where the team members
gradually come up with solutions to the problems and the team members

become more comfortable with each other, form tighter/ stronger bond,
socialise with each other, and offer honest constructive feedback to each
individual which will help them improve. Last stage is “performing” this is
where the team is successfully working together and on their way to
achieving their goal. During this stage, there is no friction as everyone
knows each other and relies on each other for support and help. This
stage the team is performing immensely well together.
Maslow (1943) stated, that the individuals psychological needs must be
met which includes food, water and rest. It is important to fulfil basic
requirement of employees in effective manner because this is the only
way which help an organisation in making customer satisfy. These are
the individuals basic and essential needs which must be met in order for
them to go up the hierarchy of needs pyramid. The next thing, that
needs to be fulfilled is their “safety needs” which is making sure that the
individual is safe and has a secure environment. If this stage is met, they
can move up the Pyramid to belongingness and love needs, this is
where the individual needs to have good company around them for
instance, they need a good, healthy and uplifting relationships in their
lives. In order to achieve this, individuals must trust each other, respect
each other, communicate in an effective manner and make sure that
they do not hurt each other’s feeling but rather they address whatever
problem there is in a calm manner. As the individual progress in their
professional or personal life, they will have accomplished numerous
goals making their self-esteem needs met as they are feeling good,
positive and confident in themselves for achieving their short term goal.
Once the fundamental stages of the pyramid are achieved, the individual
has reached the peak of the pyramid which is Self -actualisation, this is
where the individual is at the peak of achieving their full potential and
according to Maslow they are content with life and immensely happy as
their profession and personal life is at its best and the person is
“enjoying life” during this final stage.
4.2- Evaluate strategies to manage group behaviour and dynamics
There are numerous changes that each member in the group must make
in order to work collectively together to achieve their goal because team
work makes the dream work. For better implementation of changes in an
team Lewin’s (1992) stated change model, that there are three stages
(unfreeze, change, refreeze theory) to improving the group’s outcome
and their behaviour toward achieving goal as a team. The first part is

“unfreeze” in this stage it is duty of leader and manger to prepare team
members for change and unfreeze the policies as well as guidelines on
which they are working at present. The second stage to his theory is the
“change” this is where the group members execute the change that they
have previously intended to make during this stage, all of the team
members work collectively together to make positive change occur as
they help each other, motivate each other and strive together. During
this stage each member is on the same page which is bettering
themselves in order to be a good team member. The last stage is
“refreeze” during this stage the change that the team members have
made is permanent and that everyone is working immensely hard to
make sure that the team is still thriving, working hard, and improving as
they go along.
Likewise all of the team members are following their organisational
legislation, procedures, and policies. The team members are making
sure they are abiding by their organisation’s policies to make sure that
they do not break any policies or procedures or behave in a manner
which is against their organisation’s code of conduct or that will tarnish
the companies reputations. As well as doing this, the team members are
negotiating with each other to make sure that each member has been
offered a fair workload and that the work has been distributed fairly,
equally and in a positive manner. The team members should set
boundaries which must be respected by other members of the group/
team and that each group member must respect each other’s
boundaries and not exceed them as this can lead to quarrels and
arguments within the team. Rather each team member must empower
each other, uplift, and celebrate each other’s milestones, boundaries and
goals that they have achieved in order to make the team a positive and
professional place where everyone contributes equally.
In my nursery, we are constantly working as a team because team work
is immensely important in my work place as it allows us to help each
other, distribute our work load equally, strengthen our bond, improve our
communication skills, negotiating skills etc. In addition to this, team
working is important because with the assistance of this I will be able to
accomplish desired goals and objectives in effective manner within
required duration. Moreover, working in team will not have burden on
individual because work will be divided within team members and they
will able to conduct operations in proper manner as per the requirement.
Furthermore, the policies and procedures are there to keep the children

and the staff members safe. If we work as a team we make sure that we
are professional, motivated, sympathetic and hard working as these are
some of the crucial and fundamental aspects to making sure that a team
functions smoothly and effectively. We make sure that we listen to the
leader and that we all follow/ fulfil the roles and responsibilities that have
been allocated to us for instance, making sure that we hand in the task
that was required from us, having a good work ethic and self-motivating
ourselves to complete the work, offering praise to each other when they
have done a task that is tremendous and respecting each other as an
individual.
4.3- Evaluate management techniques which facilitate the delivery of
learning and development in groups
There are numerous management techniques that a teacher might use
to facilitate the delivery of learning and development in groups. Such as
self-reflective practice as it is about thoroughly looking at ones self and
reflecting on what they did and how they can improve. Petty (2004)
stated, that an individual must ponder deeply on how they have
performed and ponder heavily on their involvement in the group activity
in order to make positive changes. Through thoroughly thinking about
what they have done well and in which areas they can improve it allows
for immense learning and development to take place. When it comes to
self -reflective practices I make sure to be critical and not that lenient on
myself as I want to get to the bottom of the problems and come up with
the solutions and find ways to improve my group activity practice for my
learners because with thorough reflection I can find ways to improve and
better my practice and incorporate more learning, knowledge and skills
that they can learn during the group activity.
Likewise, I ask numerous people for feedback like myself, learners and
peers to make sure that I am listening to others wishes and seeking
different feedbacks from different individuals in order to improve my
group activity practice and see how others are viewing my practice and if
it is effective. These feedback will only make my practice more effective
and efficient for my learners. Furthermore. I do not take these feedback
to heart but into consideration and use it to better my teaching practice
and help my learners improve.
Kirkpatrick (1998) stated, the four levels of his evaluation model which is
specifically used to measure: the reaction of student for instance, what
the student thought and felt about the teaching. The next stage is

learning during this stage for instance, did the result increase the
student’s knowledge or capability? during the next stage which is
behaviour- is the degree of behaviour and capability in terms of
improvement, implementation or application and lastly the results, this is
the effects on the group or environment resulting from the students’
performance. During the reaction stage, evaluation envoys about how
they felt about the training, teaching or learning experience and during
this stage the learners can express their feeling and offer their feedback
either verbally by talking and having a conversation or non-verbally
which can be done through feedback sheets. Learning evaluation is
about measuring the individuals knowledge in order to see if it has
increased and having a before and after learning gain to keep track of
the student’s knowledge. The teacher can carry out evaluations during
this stage to see if the learner has improved or offer them a mini test to
see how their learning, knowledge or skills has improved. Behaviour
evaluation is the extent of applied learning back in practice in other
words executing and applying their knowledge that they have or have
learnt during the group activities. It is immensely important that the
teacher continuously observes or carry out a mini interview after a few
weeks in order to assess their students change, relevance of change,
and sustainability of change as it is immensely important to know what
level the student’s learning is at during all times and keeping track of
their progress in order to offer them help if they require it. Lastly results
evaluation is the effect that the learning as on the group and the learning
that has occurred due to the student contribution towards the group.
There are three types of leader for instance, laissez-faire, authoritarian,
and democratic. Lewis (2017) stated, that laissez-faire leadership is
allowing the group members to have full freedom as the leaders does
not participate in the decision-making process, and rarely offers their
opinions. This style can be effective with a group that is immensely
motivated and competent. However, laissez-faire leadership has
numerous negatives because without the leader’s input, the group may
have immense conflict as the members have arguments about the roles
and responsibilities. Likewise, these debates or conflicts might continue
for an immensely long time and the group might not be able to produce
any work or function effectively. The second is authoritarian leadership
which means that the leader has full power/ control over the group and
they tell the group members of what to do and expect group members to
execute. Under time pressure, this style may work well, allowing the

leader to make a quick decision and providing the group with direct
instructions. An authoritarian leader who presents a clear vision can
motivate a divided group. However, authoritarian leaders are more likely
to disregard the good ideas of others and can also inspire resentment
and stress in the group. Lastly, democratic leadership balances decision-
making responsibility between the group and the leader. Democratic
leaders actively participate in discussions, but also make sure to listen to
the views of others. This style often leads to positive, inclusive, and
collaborative work environments. Furthermore, a good democratic leader
can bring out the group’s creativity. Under this style, the leader still
retains final responsibility for the group’s decision.
4.4- Analyse ways to involve learners in the management of their own
learning and development in groups
Maslow (1943) stated, that both the leader and group members
psychological needs must be met before coming in to the relationship
which includes making sure that they have food, water and rest. These
are the leaders and group members basic and essential needs which
must be met in order for them to go up the hierarchy of needs pyramid.
The next thing, that needs to be fulfilled is their “safety needs” which is
making sure that both individuals are safe and have a secure
environment. If this stage is met, they can move up the Pyramid to
belongingness and love needs, this is where the individual needs to
have good company around them for instance, they need a good,
healthy, uplifting relationships in their lives. The group leader and group
members relationship can also come in this category. In order to,
achieve this both individuals must trust each other, respect each other,
communicate in an effective manner and make sure that they do not hurt
each other’s feeling but rather they should address whatever problem
there is in a professional and calm manner. As the individual progress
during the group activity they will have accomplished numerous goals
making their self- esteem needs met as they are feeling good, positive
and confident in themselves for achieving their short term goal. Once the
fundamental stages of the pyramid are achieved, the individual has
reached the peak of the pyramid which is Self -actualisation, this is
where the individual is at the peak of achieving their full potential and
according to Maslow they are content with life and immensely happy as
their profession and personal life is at its best and the person is
“enjoying life” during this final stage.

The planning should be done in an inclusive manner which includes
making sure that all of the learners needs are meet individually within the
group. The planning process should make sure that every learner is
thought about and catered to. Petty (2004) stated, that we should make
certain that every learner gets the same learning opportunities
regardless of their circumstances and differences. The things that need
to be taken into consideration when the team leader is planning for their
team members is the learners learning preference for instance, does the
learner prefer to learn by moving around and being active which will
mean that they are more likely kinesthic learner, but there are also
auditory learner who prefer to hear and listen in class for instance, to
audio presentations, videos, verbal praise etc and visual learner who
prefer to visually see for instance, things like power point presentations,
handouts, written praise etc but the team leader should also, keep in
mind that the learner might have more than one learning preference and
they will only know this by knowing their learners/ team members really
well. If the learner is a visual learner than they would like written praise
more than verbal as they love to visually see and read it but if it was an
auditory learner it would be vice versa. The team leader will need to
make sure that the session, task, role and responsibilities given to the
team members cater to each and every learners method preferences as
well for instance, some learners like peer work, others enjoy group work
and some learners like to learn on their own and will have no problem
achieving the learning aims/ objectives this way.
The learning aims/ objections must be specific, measurable, achievable,
realistic and timely (SMART) because if the aims/ objectives are not
realistic it can have a negative effect on the learners motivation because
they might give up once they realise that the goals are not realistic and
attainable. Along with this, it is important to ensure that aim and
objectives must be implemented in daily task so that better outcomes will
be gained in effective manner as per the requirements. On the other
hand, some learners might be really quick when it comes to doing their
work and finish it early than everyone else and for those learners/
members the team leader can assign a different task to them or ask
them if they will be okay with helping the other team members who might
be struggling or that might be overwhelmed with their task.
The team leader needs to be self-motivated as this will reflect immensely
on their team members and they will observe their role model which
might be their leader, thus the leader has to be ambitious about wanting

to achieve higher. According to Gravell and Simpson (2010) the leader
should have a positive reflection about their own learning and know why,
what and how they themselves are learning as their self-concept is
significant because their previous knowledge and skills can be
immensely vital in helping changing their students outlook on learning
and their attitude to learning or education in general. The team leader’s
willingness to learn is immensely important as it will motivate the team
members to go out of their way to learn new skill and extend their
knowledge not only when they required/ have to learn something new
but rather it should be a choice of yearning to want to learn new things
and improve their own knowledge. Gravell and Simpson (2010) further
states, that the team leader should add their diverse learning
experiences if it is relevant to the topic/ session or task because this will
inspire their team members to have the desire to achieve more.
In my practise, I firstly make sure that I conduct an initial assessment
which is an assessment done at the beginning, before the learner starts,
to see what prior knowledge and skills they have before starting, to see
where I can place them in the EYFs age band for instance, is the learner
on trace for their age when they first come to the nursery or are they an
age band below for their age which will help me form an individual
learning plan (ILP) for them. In my nursery I have a child who is behind
in her communication and language which affects the rest of her
development as she finds it immensely hard to express in words what
she wants, feels and generally finding it hard to verbally expressing
herself through words. I have created an individual learning plan (ILP) for
her that I support and help her with for instance, I slowly read the Mr
tongue book to hear so she can see how I move my tongue and
pronounce the words, I offer plenty of one to one support to her and I am
working in partnership with her parents to make sure that we both help
her as well as referring her to the special educational needs team
(SENCO). I do regular formative and formal assessments on her through
observation, long observation and oral questions to see if she is
progressing and how much progress she is making. I also, assess her
through role play as it helps her gain more confidence and she becomes
immensely occupied with the costume that she is wearing and it helps
her become aware of the character that she has dress up as.
Permitting the learners the chance to assume responsibility for their own
learning as they are massively mindful of what their own needs are and
which zones they need improve in and by empowering autonomous

learning the gathering part can investigate and discover reasonable
approaches to manage their own learning. This will help the gathering
part to discover assets that will work best for themselves and assist them
with improving their aptitudes in having the activity to help themselves
first freely and once they have gotten content with helping themselves
they can partake in the gathering more.
4.5- Analyse risks to be considered when managing learning and
development in groups.
There are numerous risks that the leader and the team members must
take into consideration when it comes to managing learning and the
development in a group for instance, the health and safety of each and
every learner. In addition to this, business environment is dynamic in
nature which result in creating several changes that may create risk.
Thus, it is important for team to learn risk analysis because it will provide
them assistance in managing learning as well as development in group
within effective manner. Furthermore, when team members will able to
analyse risk in effective manners, they can conduct operations
appropriately and gain better outcomes. Everyone within the team must
be safe and their safety should not be in danger during any
circumstances, to insure that nothing happened to the learners health
and well-being, regular health and safety checks must be done in order
to make certain that everything is observed prior to the group staring to
make sure that there are no hazards that can inflict harm upon anyone.
Dam (2018) stated, that it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that
the environment around them is safe and secure in order for the team
members to be safe and not be affect by any hazards. Furthermore, he
also stated, that everyone within the team should know who their fire
marshal, designated safeguarding lead (DSL) is etc, in case of any
situation that might arise. The team must take it in turn to always
complete the risk assessment before the other team members come in
for instance, there can be a roto for each member of the team to come
10 minutes before starting to do the risk assessment to make sure that
there are no risks or hazards and if there are, appropriate precaution
needs to be taken in order to minimised the negative affect on other
individuals within the team and themselves. If there are any hazards the
individual must follow their organisations procedures and handle it
according to their health and safety policy.

Some other risks that might arise is there might be some learners who
are stronger in terms of completing their task before the rest of their
peers, their knowledge is more broader, immensely confident and
voicing out their opinion, ideas and being hands on in the group but on
the other hand, there might be some members who are shy, reserved,
require motivation, stays quite during group conversation and lacks self-
esteem which might cause some resentment between the group and the
group leader must be able to handle this without upsetting anyone or
disrespecting anyone for instance, they can pair the strong and shy
group members together to balance out any ill feeling and the strong
learner can encourage and motivate the shy learner which can be
immensely useful as this is encouraging working together. Likewise, no
group member will be able to dominate another which will eliminate
bullying as the group members have been allocate with the opposite
qualities which can be a positive thing as no group member will feel left
out and feel like they are not contributing to the team enough and
everyone will be able to get along and work together in peace.
Along with this, there are several risk which involved while managing
and developing group. In this, it is responsibility of leader and manager
to make sure that risk will analyse in better manner as well as major
steps related to the same will taken in advance so that negative impact
will minimise and positive will gained. Moreover, major risk will be
commitment and support from top management, communication, culture,
information technology, organisational structure, training and many
more. In addition to this, it is responsibility of employees, senior
managers as well as other top management authority to manage risk in
proper manner and accomplish desired goals and objectives within
required duration.
4.6- Explain how to manage barriers to individual learning in groups
There are numerous factors regarding personal, social and cultural, that
has immense impact on learning within the group. It is important for
leaders and manger to make sure that all the factors which result in
creating issues have to be managed in proper manner so that their
negative impact will minimise and positive will gain in better manner.
Gravell and Simpson (2011) stated, that there are no two learners that
are the same and the group members should embrace this and make
sure to cater to each learner individually. We should accommodate to
each learner’s preferences, learning styles, needs, hobbies and abilities

to make certain that we are being inclusive and catering to each and
every learner. Furthermore, the learner’s needs must be at the focal
point of the group members priority list and have their best interest at
heart. This might include offering some learners more one to ones
because they are struggling and require more help especially if the
learner has special educational needs, some learners, skills and
knowledge blossom in group activities while other leaners prefer to work
on their own as that is how they learn best. The leaners must be offered
all of these option / opportunities and the team leader should observe
how the learner’s work well, what their likes, dislikes and preferences are
in order to set the team and each learner on the path of achieving their
maximum potential. Apart from this, it is important for leader and
manager to focus on each and every individual who is working in team or
group. Because there are several issues which particular person will
face while working in a group and it is essential to resolve these issues
in proper manner. So that better outcomes will gain as well as individual
goal is related to organisation and accomplishment of individual
objectives result in achieving company requirements in better manner.
Thus, it is essential to overcome with barriers in proper manner so that
better outcomes will gained in effective manner and things will also
manage in appropriate way as per requirements.
Likewise, it is immensely significant for the team leader and members to
minimise any potential barriers regarding instructional, social and cultural
factors, that might affect the learner in a negative manner. For instance,
the institution that the learner is studying in must be safe, secure and
provide all the essential requirement according to the organisations
health and safety policy. If there is any bullying or harassment that the
learner is experiencing from their peers, then immediate and appropriate
steps should be taken according to the organisations bullying and
harassment policy to put an end to the bullying and harassment as it is
not healthy for anyone to go through such difficult circumstance that can
cause an individual psychological damage and it must not be taken light
but rather consequences will be issued accordingly. Finally, there might
be some cultural difficulties that a learner might be experiencing within
the team and it is the team leaders responsibility to make sure that the
learner gets the appropriate help that they require to blossom for
instance, a learner might have a language barrier due to them not
speaking English or English not being their first language, the team
leader might get someone within the team to translate the lesson,

activity, task, role and responsibilities etc to the learner, offer them
addition support to improve their speech or provide an easy task where
the learner is able to comprehend what their role and responsibility is.
The team leader must make sure to work around the problem and find a
solution in order to help their team members succeed and achieve their
goals.
In my nursery, I make sure to help my learners to the best of my ability
which means going out of my way to provide my learners with support,
help and cheering them on. I make sure to include all of my learners in
my activities and cater to their individual needs. For instance, we were
learning about colours and I made sure to include all of my learners
learning styles, for my auditory learners I made a fun power point
presentation which had numerous animation on each slide from titles
flying in to pictures appearing with different effects, offering them print
outs and doing painting activity. For my auditory learners I made sure to
include a YouTube video of the colour song that would help them
memorise the colours and catered to their learning by playing a video for
them to listen to and for my kinestheic learners I placed numerous
coloured objects around the room and gave them a list with had the
pictures of the different colours in order to make it easy for them and
they had to go around the room and find the colour and then cross it out
from their list to state that they have found it. As well as doing this, I
made sure to incorporate numeracy by saying “let’s count how many
colours we can see” and literacy by using new vocabulary in order to
expand their knowledge and speech. I made sure to make a difficult,
medium and easy level to the activity in order for my learners to have a
go regardless of their abilities and to make in inclusive to all my learners
and give them the opportunity to take part in the activity if they wished
to.
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