Roles and Stages Alexa Piekarski Ryan Draksler Andrea

Roles and Stages Alexa Piekarski, Ryan Draksler, Andrea Correa, Jasmine ohnson, and Perla Sanchez

Introduction • In late January, we all participated in a 3 -day series of vocation circles. • Brandon and Anders, our facilitators, asked “What does vocation mean to us? ” • Vocation is a “calling” to figuring out who we are and who we want to be. • Prior to the list of RQ’s presented to us, our group agreed that the best way to describe vocation was through the roles and stages that were performed during these meetings. • Thesis: Vocation circles are self-help, storytelling groups because of the specific task, maintenance, and individual roles that occurred in our meetings.

Review of Literature • Narrative and Deliberation in Small Group Forums by David M. Ryfe • Storytelling is involved within communication groups • It builds a sense of community • Avoids conflict and argument • Repetition must be present in order for community-building to be within a group • Similar stories become a tradition • Norm of reciprocity occurs • The gap that still exist in small group communication is our knowledge about different kinds of communication groups. • There's more research about other type of groups.

Method • Through participant observation, articles, and books we found that vocation circles are classified as self-help and story-telling groups • In each vocation circle, we were given worksheets that asked us questions that helped us discover who we are, our dreams, and steps we should take to achieve them • These questions prompted us to tell stories • Stories aid the process of vocation circles • Through this interaction we learned beneficial information about ourselves and our fellow vocation circle participants

Research Questions • “What roles, if any, are present in the evolution of a Vocation Circle? ” • “What roles emerge in the course of a Vocation Circle? ”

Findings • Tuckman’s Model of Stages • • • Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning • Benne and Sheats Functional Group Roles • • • Recorder Group observer Gatekeeper Energizer Elaborator Facilitaotor

Conclusion • We hope to have provided useful results for all that are invested in the Vocation Initiative. • Sense of community gets built by establishing norms of tradition and/or reciprocity. • Four of the Five stages of Tuckman’s model were present in the vocation circles. • Six functional group roles. • Finally, the vocation circles we participated in are to be classified as “self-help” or “storytelling” groups.

Reference List • Keyton, Joann. Communicating in Groups: Building Relationships for Group Effectiveness. 3 rd Rev. ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print. • Beebe, Steven A. , and John T. Masterson. Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices. 9 th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2009. Print. • Tubbs, Stewart L. A Systems Approach to Small Group Interaction. 9 th ed. Boston, Mass. : Mc. Graw-Hill, 2007. Print. • Adams, Katherine L. , and Gloria J. Galanes. Communicating in Groups: Applications and Skills. 6 th ed. Boston: Mc. Graw-Hill, 2006. Print. • Young, Kathryn Sue. Group Discussion: A Practical Guide to Participation and Leadership. 4 th ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2007. Print. • Galanes, Gloria J. , and Katherine Adams. Effective Group Discussion: Theory and Practice. 13 th ed. Boston: Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print. • Ryfe, David M. "Narrative And Deliberation In Small Group Forums. " Journal of Applied Communication Research 34. 1 (2006): 72 -93. Print.