28-09-2016: An Exceptionally Fun Group Task

I had a rather interesting experience yesterday.

I believe I’ve previously touched upon my discomfort in and hatred of group tasks. Maybe one but not the other. Either way, I participated in a group task yesterday. It took place relatively late in the afternoon - outside of my usual weekly schedule, in fact. A few of my colleagues and I - my group, if you will - got together to work on a task for a course.

Now, shockingly enough, I didn’t feel the slightest hint of discomfort. Granted, I was somewhat quieter than the rest of my group, but I managed to open my mouth on more than one occasion. In fact, I could go as far as to say I talked more than usual. It was the first group task in ages I didn’t actually hate.

I should also say that I had only seen each of my group members once before and knew them by no more than their names.

I’ve pondered a couple of possible factors as to why my discomfort didn’t kick in for once. The first one is that it essentially took place outside of school. It didn’t happen in a classroom situation where an authoritative figure - in other words, a teacher - would watch my every move. It happened in a more relaxed setting with no one quietly judging. Just my student colleagues and I.

That’s the other factor I’ve pondered. The lack of a “pressure” factor, if you will. The lack of a silent, yet somehow startlingly loud alarm that goes off if I don’t contribute. Without the existence of that factor in that setting, I felt as though I wasn’t quite as forced to keep a constant train of thought going, thus giving me time to form cohesive thoughts and contribute my part to the conversation only when I felt ready without further concern.

For instance, thinking back to the pedagogical studies’ entrance exams, I said next to nothing in the group task part. Others kept firing their thoughts like full-automatic rifles, but not me. I need time to think what to say before saying it - but in that situation, that time didn’t exist. I wasn’t even asked to contribute my own thoughts.

Yesterday’s group task, however, was a more-than-welcome change of pace.