Sunday, October 16, 2011

Adjourning Groups

The adjourning phase of a group is a time for reflection on what has happened during the time together. It is a time to look at success and failures and decide whether the group will simply now depart each other or perhaps take on another project. If the team built trust there may be lasting relationships and networking that are taken from the group. It is an essential part of the process because it not only adds closure but can provide a clear record of things learned for future groups.
In the military we form groups for so many things. I have been on groups that we call “process improvements”, designed to improve the way we support our staff and patients to better serve our patient and give top notch care. I have been on groups to plan promotions, awards, retirements and sadly many to organize memorial services for fallen soldiers. We form groups to make decisions on how to spend morale funds and improve base services for our young military population as well as their families. Depending on the type of group, we may adjourn by having a dinner, party or maybe even a BBQ.
Groups with clear goals that result in high achievement are always the hardest to leave. These groups make you feel like you are really accomplishing something and adding to the mission. These are also the groups that we tend to build bonds, friendships and network for future needs. The groups that lack this feeling of accomplishment seem more of a waste of time and are very easy to leave.
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Established Contact with My German Childhood Professional

My contact actually changed from Tonya Schmidt to Thomas Volz. He studied in New York and Turkey. He taught school in Turkey and in Boveria at the Abuture, which they call the place of higher learning durin ghte first years. He also taught Turkish students to speak English for 4 years. He has 3 boys of his own that are 11, 12 and 15 years old. Whe I asked him to tell me about povery in Germany that he might have experienced and how it affects children, this is what he wrote to me:
"In Germany the federal social security system is (still) so comprehensive that you hardly notice any differences between rich and poor students in class. As (still) most of our schools end at 1pm, lunch, nutrition and healthcare is predominantly considered a private matter. People are very touchy about the government interfering in these questions. So it is left to health care providers to inform and teach the public on a voluntary basis. Of Course schools support this, but not as an integral part of the basic curriculum. The stress is on academic subjects".
"However, times are changing. More and more schools exand their lessons into the afternoon and the schools provide lunch. This is generally a cheap alternative to private lunch served at home. Here the schools monitor ingediences and nutrition very closely because many parents are very aware of this topic"
"The gap between rich and poor is, however, quite obvious on a higher academic level. Children that are academically supported at home are more likely to proceed to higher education and achieve better results on the long run. This more a question of how educated the parents/families are. But as education and income are unextricably entwined the link between academic achievement and income is a sad (German) fact"