Making Your Group More Effective Through Dissent.

I found this article interesting and potentially helpful for anyone working within a group.

Start-Up. After the Siege.

The last week of August and the first two weeks of September are very intense times for high school counsellors.  We are bombarded with current students' requests for timetable changes and changes of plans due to summer school and online courses that were (unexpectedly) completed.  There are usually 30 or 40 new students to fit into appropriate timetables (in an already full school).  Many of the new students do not speak English fluently and have just arrived in Canada.   In a multi-cultural school like ours, all this intense activity requires highly developed diplomacy and first rate communication skills to make things flow smoothly.  Of course, everything is emotionally heightened by the fact we are dealing with adolescents who are on edge and under a great deal of pressure themselves.  Parents, naturally, become emotionally involved whenever their child is not able to get the courses he or she needs (or wishes for).  The front office is a beehive of activity and teamwork as new students are processed and current students' phone calls and requests are dealt with.  All in all, it is a very intense, exciting and physically/mentally demanding three weeks.   The important themes during this time include: teamwork, compassion, firmness, fairness, speed, efficiency and perseverance.

 After three weeks of intense effort by the counselling department, administration, the office staff and the ELL staff, 1500 students are happily attending their classes.  Teachers can now begin handing out textbooks instead of watching the constant flow in and out of their classes as schedules are changed and changed again.  Parents can begin to relax.  Today is Friday.  It is the end of three intense weeks of effort by counsellors..  It is 3:20 p.m.  Most of the students have left the school.  The sun is shining outside my window.  The sky is bright blue.  We can look forward to a relaxing and well deserved rest over the weekend.  On Monday, counsellors will begin to focus on all the other tasks we are involved with over the course of a school year.   For counsellors, the siege is over !