Aims

By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- develop the necessary complex skills for working in a group;
- run, and participate in, discussions in small groups, whether the aim is to obtain
information, stimulate reflection and analysis, resolve problems and take collective decisions, or use social interaction as a pedagogical tool;
- situate and study the group as an element of social construction, not only in
integration and differentiation roles, but also in the effects of the relationships that develops within it;
- use group 'techniques' and procedures to be put in place in the light of the objectives
being pursued;
- work in a group (e.g. to know how to lead, to know how to delegate, to trust, to learn
from what other people do, to occupy a place in a group, to share cognitive skills, to develop reflexivity, and to self regulate).

Main themes

Organisation of an activity designed to encourage:
- learning how to run, and participate in, discussions in small groups, whether the aim is.
to obtain information. stimulate reflection and analysis, resolve problems and take collective decisions, or to use social interaction as a pedagogical tool;
- use of the psycho-sociological tools of communication;
- learning about reflexivity;
- an analysis of measures that support actors' interactions and produce the social bond.
The following themes will be addressed: the typology of meetings, functions and roles in a group, authority, reflexivity, leadership, power and power games, places and the
Relationship of places, regulation of control/autonomous regulation decision-making, looking for agreements, encouraging participation, 'communicational acting', group-work measures, and the social bond.

Content and teaching methods

The instruction will consist of a two-way movement between know-how and a reflexive renewal of this know-how designed to enable students to learn how to work in a group and run small-group discussions.
Methodology
The overall methodology adopted by the course will tend to favour the 'mediation of knowledge'.
The methodology will be in three stages:
First stage: Theoretical inputs, and experiences of simulations', role-playing and
case studies.
Second stage: observation of established groups (e.g. local government councils).
Third stage: Concrete experiences of running and observing group discussions. Work in sub-groups. Presenting, sharing and analysing these experiences. Theoretical inputs.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

During the year, students will be invited to present several individual and group pieces of work based on analyses of observed and animated group situations, and work that critically
reflects on, and integrates, texts that constitute the course's theoretical support. All of
this work, will be assessed. The assessment criteria will be improving quality in observations and descriptions, and in the quality of analyses.
Syllabus consisting of a series of ten texts.
Partly residential seminar requiring supervision from Assistants.

Other credits in programs