UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR\SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
47-337 (01) & (02) Theory and Practice of Social Work II.
Dr. Wilfred A. Gallant Winter, 2008
HERE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A REAL PENETRATING DIARY AND CRITICAL REFLECTION.
Weekly Diary
January 10 – 12, 2006
This class on Monday was the beginning of implementing the course structure into class content. The beginning exercise listed in the syllabus was “the Ice Breaker Exercise.” I was prepared for the exercise having the outline ready for the class. I had imagined how I was going to feel during this practice. There was anxiety due to the anticipation of the task. I was also excited because I enjoy meeting and talking to new people. I did feel relieved that wenever got to the assignment, but I was also disappointed.
On hand I was prepared by previously completing some required readings. My interests to bring to class were the benefits of groups, self talk, fear with personal exposure, and how to affect group cohesion. EXCELLENT
The practice of group work has a great many values, but the one most exemplified in my readings was how clients benefit by sharing feelings within a group setting, and how cognitive change is necessary for optimal benefit (Cory & Cory, 2002). I felt this to be a large task with sharing in class with people we have had no prior experiences with because of feeling exposed and vulnerable. PRECISELY. In my experience, in depth sharing of feelings takes a relationship building, and sharing increases with familiarity. How would I facilitate such a daunting task in a group with persons I hardly know? With respect to cognitive change, thinking of the fear of openness became the focus. Thinking of being vulnerable certainly doesn’t assist in creating openness. I was challenging my own fears that stem from my own thought processes of being in that situation of sharing feeling. Something I am not used to in a new setting. In my perception, I wanted to redirect the building anxiety, and transform it into enthusiasm. Not a simple task, but I wanted to use the experience to change how uncomfortable I was with the pending situation.
Cory & Cory (1992) also stress being mindful of one’s self talk. Here I was monitoring what I was feeling because of a perceived stressful event. I was listening to my thoughts and how I was building on the fears by wondering what to expect instead of considering what I would gain by actively participating. Here there was a definite change in thinking for me. I was building excitement because of the importance of connecting to others and relating personal information towards building relationships instead of concentrating on the fears and anxiety of being exposed to a new situation.
This leads to the next concern I was reading on. Boyd (1971) wrote that when we investigate our personal lives in search of problem behaviours, there is the possibility of generating guilt and fear of reprisal. Clarifying why I was feeling fear from the anxiety of the situation became pertinent. I feared the exposure of self onto others, and I was concentrating on how I would be perceived by others. This doesn’t assist in confidence in a situation. I feared being judged by others instead of believing in myself that I am a great person. One of the events that assisted me in challenging such thinking was observing the other students in the class. They were looking as uncomfortable as I with the pending prospects of the exercise.
I had extensively thought on this situation prior to class, but I had omitted the shared reality of discomfort of the situation. I had researched leadership in Johnson and Johnson (1987). One of the points I picked up in the reading was how shared leadership is conducive to group cohesion. While sitting in class with the prospects of doom looming in my mind, I was thinking of how to share this with other members and get their insight to the feelings experienced with the class exercise of ice breaking. I thought that if I could share how I felt at being uncomfortable with new introductions that they would share and reflect the same experience.I figured if I opened to the group as I felt and they shared the same thoughts and feelings, we could exacerbate communication and sharing.
One realization was when we never got to the exercise because of time constraints was what a relief that was.
MY ADVICE TO YOU, I FEEL YOUR ENERGY FLOWING THROUGH AND THROUGH AND I AM PRIVILIGED TO HAVE A PERSON OF YOUR CALIBRE IN MY CLASS. FOR THIS DIARY BY ITSELF: ASSIGNMENT = A+
DR. GALLANT APPROVED SMILE!!! THIS IS FOR REAL.
KEEP PENETRATING YOUR QUEST. OH BY THE WAY I JUST GOT A QUOTE TODAY [GO TO HOUSEOFQUOTES IF YOUR ARE INTERESTED] AND HERE IS ONE OF THE QUOTES:
“EVERYTONE WANTS TO RIDE WITH YOU IN THE LIMO, BUT WHAT YOU NEED IS SOMEONE WHO WILL TAKE THE BUS WITH YOU WHEN THE LIMO BREAKS DOWN”
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