North Seattle Community College
Gen Ed Cohort Group: Outcome #6 Groups
October 17, 2007
Outcome 6. Work and communicate effectively in groups.
A. To demonstrate effective listening skills.
B. To demonstrate effective speaking skills.
C. To facilitate a group effectively.
1 Introduction of our group (first group exercise)
2. Background – history of groups
From the syllabus of CMN 165 (Small Group Communication)
“If you are embarking on this course of study of small group communication, it is important that
you understand that the practice of small groups has its roots in ancient cultures and in the
symbol of the circle. Remnants of circle-based cultures have been found in archeological
discoveries and among remaining indigenous peoples around the globe. Local author Christina
Baldwin writes in her book, Calling the Circle: The First and Future Cultures (Bantam,1998):
The Inuits of the Arctic's lands still meet in council and building round dwellings. The
Aborigines of Australia paint sacred spirals on cave walls and on their bodies and still
follow the songlines of the earth across vast expanses of the outback. Some African
peoples build circular villages. Traditionally, the native tribes of the American plains
construct teepees and set them in circles. In all these variations of human culture, the
circle is the common element, the common source (27).
The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung noted that the circle has roots in our psyches. Jung found that
all human beings share a number of images that seem to spring from a common source within the
psyche. One of the symbols Jung studied was the circle. He traced the image of the circle back
to the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, when wheels were carved and painted as a sacred
symbol, thousands of years before the wheel was invented as an actual tool. Jung saw the wheel
as a primary symbol of the mythic motifs springing from the collective unconscious of humanity
(Baldwin 28).
Therefore, when you meet in your groups, you are entering a tradition that has thousands of years
of history and meaning within our collective memories. The skills that you practice and the
theories that you learn through the reading of your texts and the practicing in your groups are
based on recent studies, yet the "truths" that these studies put forth have roots in our collective
history. It is only recently that we have begun to "name" and study that which has always been
known -- how to participate in a community of peers.”
3. How groups are taught in your classes and what are their functions? “What do you want
students to be able to do out there that they are learning in here” (Ruth Stiehl).
4. What’s our task? Deciding on our task and process.
5. Next meeting: November 21st, noon-2 pm, TLC cohort room