The following text is adapted from work by Bill Moyer and Alan Tuttle (Off Their Backs ...and on our own two feet). Their work was about any group interactions not necessarily seminars, but a lot of the behaviours they identify can crop up in seminars.
Dominating Behaviour in Communication Within a Group
The following strategies are very common in groups. The best way to counter this is for each individual to be attentive to their own behaviour and check that they are not using these strategies in a way that may oppress others.
· Hogging the show. Talking too much, too long and too loud.
· Problem Solving. Continually giving the answer or solution before others have had a chance to contribute.
· Speaking in Capital Letters. Giving one's own solutions or opinions as the final word on the subject, often aggravated by tone of voice and body posture.
· Defensiveness. Responding dramatically to contrary opinions.
· Put-downs and One-upmanship. "I used to say that but I know now that ..."
· Negativism. Finding something wrong or problematical in everything.
· Focus transfer. Shifting the focus of discussion to one's own pet issues.
· Self-listening. Formulating a response after the first few sentences, not listening to anything from that point on, and leaping in at the first pause.
· Condescension and Paternalism. Speaking down to others and expecting them to need help.
· Running the show. Continually taking charge of tasks before others have a chance to volunteer.
· Speaking for Others. "A lot of us think that we should ..." or "What she really meant was..."
If after reading that list you are feeling you are not fit to socialise with others as you yourself adopt many of these - don't panic it is a bit like reading a medical dictionary and thinking you have at least six fatal diseases. We all do some of these some of the time and if we think about why it can be from a lack of confidence rather than too much. From my experience about 98% of students would do well to contribute more. If you still feel you could do with some self-adjustment in the 'being less dominant arena' read on, help is at hand. Also the following list has good tips for everyone regarding communication in the seminar group.
Solving the problem
These are positive strategies that can be used to learn more democratic ways of communicating and allowing ourselves to learn from and respect others.
· Limiting our talking time to our fair share. With ten people in a group ensure that you have a very good reason or the backing of others if you take up more than one tenth of the 'air time'.
· Not interrupting people who are speaking. Leave a space, don't be frightened of silence, try counting to five before speaking to ensure that a more reticent person was not prevented from getting a word in.
· Becoming a good listener. Good listening is active participation.
· Helping others to formulate and express their ideas, make the space and encourage them. (Beware of paternalism though).
· Well formulated questions are sometimes more valuable than answers.
· Not giving answers and solutions. State our opinions and beliefs but not in such a way that they are presented as more valuable than others'.
· Not speaking on every subject. We do not need to share our opinion on everything. Especially if that means we don't get to hear someone else's opinion on anything.
· Not putting others down. If we feel the urge to do this we should check our behaviour and examine why we want to do it. "What am I feeling?", "What do I need?"
· Getting and giving support. Ask a friend to tell you if they observe you exhibiting behaviour that you want to stop. Swap the favour with them if they want to make changes to their behaviour.
· Students can always ask their tutor if they should contribute more or less and tutors can ask their students.Return to Seminar Guide // Return to Collaborative Learning in Philosophy page