My clients are a lot younger than me so I will have to modify my language drastically to transmit that I respect them and their opinion. I will make sure I use small words and small sentences but because I have such a large range of age groups I will have to adopt different registers to suit each of their needs. I will generally adopt a formal register so that the children feel like I know what I am talking about. However I do not want to sound too formal because that can cause my clients to shut down and not want to talk to me.
Non Verbal Communication (Paralinguistic features)
As I described in my One to One, non verbal communication concerns things such as body posture and movement, eye contact, proximity and touch, personal appearance, use of space and props, gesture, and facial expression. Each of these will have to be slightly modified in a group situation in comparison to a One to One. One example is that whilst talking to my clients I will have to ensure that each and every one of them feels that I am transmitting inclusiveness by maintaining eye contact with everyone in the group. Throughout my interaction I will make sure I use Egan’s acronym for listeners when one of the group is talking. (See One to One)
In the interaction I will also adopt an open stance which transmits that I am welcoming questions and answers. I will also try and get the fine line between staring a client out and maintaining enough eye contact.
Verbal Communication
Like my one to one I will use a variety of open and closed questions. Open to extract information and closed to make them feel comfortable about the situation. If a member of the group doesn’t speak out about certain subjects I will use probes and prompts to try and get the information from them. I will also use lots of understanding checks such as nodding my head or verbally saying ‘I understand’. I will also make sure I get what they are saying by saying ‘So what your saying is…’
I tried to eliminate as many physical barriers as possible in my Group interaction. As you can see from the diagram of the layout I chose. I do not want my clients message or my message to get mistranslated because of a physical barrier.
I didn’t use Tuckman’s example of group interactions which is;
Forming – Group asks questions about aims and roles. Leader emerges
Storming- Conflict occurs as members argue over purpose.
Norming- Group identity develops with a strong set of shared values and norms. Group becomes cohesive
Performing- Group gets down to the task, goal is more important than the leader.
I didn’t use any of these in my group interaction because of the age range of my clients. They were two young to argue over purposes and most of them would have been bored by the time I had finished forming and I would have lost them.
I would expect Bales ‘different types of communication behaviour expressed by members of a group.’ To appear in my interaction, in particular:
Proposing- offering new ideas e.g.
Supporting- communications that support/agree with the comments of others.
Blocking- some of the children employed this when I asked them their opinion of their doctor. But through a series of open questions I will try to negate this behaviour.
Information seeking- I used this a lot when trying to extract information about why they had to go to the doctor’s.
Information giving- most of the group gave me information when I asked them. Some might not so I will have to use lots of open questions and adopt a friendly tone.
For my interaction, like my one to one, I have written a few guideline questions that can be used. If there are more questions that come about because of my group’s answers then I will use those.
Guideline questions
- How are you today? (C)
- When did mummy/daddy take you to the Doctors? (C)
- Why did mummy/daddy take you to the Doctors? (C)
- Was the Doctor friendly? What did he do? (C/O)
- Can you remember what the Doctor said? (C)
- What happened after that? (O)
- Did you feel better afterwards?(C)
Interaction
At the start of my interaction I noticed that I began with proposing the question ‘How is everyone today?’ I went round the group and each got an answer. Many of them employed blocking techniques but the rest of them answered freely and a few of them I couldn’t stop talking. They all gave direct answers eventually to my closed question. I then followed this up with a series of closed questions to make each of member of the group feel comfortable. This time I didn’t fidget with my hair like I did in my One to One which showed I had overcome my nervousness. Most of the older children spoke confidently and freely but many of the younger ones found it harder to speak and I had to use open questions to extract information for them. All of the group’s confidence increased as they relaxed and I managed to find out what happened to them.
I made sure I maintained good eye contact with the entire group, something which I have been told I do well by a Level 3 cricket coach. I knew when to break eye contact so I did not come across as intimidating. This transmitted to the group that I was listening to each and every one of them. I adopted an open posture to each person in the group and when one was talking I turned to them and had eye contact with them to transmit I was interested in what they were saying. I had to move my pillow around a lot and sit closer to the quieter children. One of them even sat on my lap when I spoke to them. Sometimes touch is important because it transmits I care what they are saying. But I made sure I didn’t have my back to any of the group because children have short attention spans and may have moved off physically or mentally.
A few of the children moved off to the Lego Area which was situated next to me so I took some Lego pieces back to the pillow so they could play with them while talking to the group. I also gave them empowerment by asking them if they wanted the Star Wars Lego or the Indiana Jones Lego. To highlight the care value base I modified my language by using shorter, simpler sentences and smaller words. I also adopted a caring tone to transmit the care value base to everyone in the group.
There were a lot of barriers in the room we were situated in such as windows, doors, T.V s and Lego. I managed to eradicate many of them at the start of the interaction. However there were other carers in the room who interrupted in our group conversation which did distract the children a bit. I couldn’t help this but I soon managed to get their attention back to me. I also got each of the children parents to sign a confidentiality form which stated that I would change the children’s names and only use the information I obtained for my portfolio. This transmitted confidentiality to my clients because they knew I wouldn’t misuse their information.
Evaluation and Conclusion
To improve my interaction I still need to stop fiddling with my hair! I did it less in my Group interaction but still it could distract my client (s) or seen to be rude. I maintained eye contact with everyone in the group and managed not to make them feel intimidated. My verbal communication could have been improved if I spoke a little bit more simply to the clients. Because of their differing age ranges I had to keep modifying my language to make sure each child understood my meaning. I used clear and precise understanding checks to show that each child understood what I was saying. I also used them in reverse to show I was listening to each member of the group. My interaction only lasted four minutes because I could see the children were getting very restless. So I deemed it sensible to end it earlier than intended so the children still liked me. There was no point trying to get information form them whilst in this state.
I could of removed yet further barriers in the room we was in by, packing the Lego away, turning the T.V. off, closing the curtains. But this may have made the children switch off even earlier. It was important to make them feel as comfortable as possible so I could extract as much information as possible.
If I were to do this interaction with a group of adults who were the same age I would adjust many things. I would modify my language by speaking with longer sentences and use a larger and more complex vocabulary. I would adopt a more formal register to transmit that I was taking the interaction seriously. I would also make us sit on chairs not pillows because sitting them down on pillows would be a patronising.
If I were to do this interaction with a group of older people I would adjust many things. I would modify my language again and depending on their condition, use smaller, simpler sentences. However they could take this offensively because they might not be death and would prefer to be spoken to more formally with a larger vocabulary. Assuming they are death would be stereotyping.
Sam Hennessy 811 Pre Clinical Portfolio Frances Grew