|
We encourage other women to form and work in a collective. In
order to be successful, a potential collective must discuss the process to be
used and each woman in the group must have a clear understanding of the shared
nature of decision-making. Likewise, each woman must accept her part of the
responsibility. And each individual must be willing to suspend some of her
individual power so that the group can function well.
|
We encourage other women to form and
work in a collective. |
|
The benefits of collectives are many. We share and help each
other. If you don't have the answer someone else is bound to have an idea, and
when the group discusses an idea, the creative process is superior to one
individual thinking alone. We learn new skills and polish old ones. We learn
new ways of knowing. We develop trust and an appreciation for the talents and
abilities of other women. We become friends and have fun. We produce a product
that is worthwhile.
|
Force collective,
sagesse collective
par Patricia Williams
En 1990, quatre femmes de la Saskatchewan ont
décidé de former un groupe pour rédiger un numéro
spécial de Women's Education des femmes sur l'éducation et la
violence (vol.9, no 4). C'était la première fois que la revue
était préparée par un groupe. Cette expérience a
été stimulante pour nous et pour le CCPEF.
En groupe, nous avons pu associer nos talents et notre
expérience, et tirer le meilleur parti du temps dont nous disposions. De
plus, chacune d'entre nous a du se défaire de son pouvoir individuel;
nous n'avons pas toujours fait les choses comme chacune d'entre nous le
voulait, mais nous discutions de nos positions, les modifions, les expliquions
et les clarifions jusqu' a en arriver a un consensus. Bien que cette
méthode prenne davantage de temps, nous estimons que ses avantages sont
supérieurs à ses inconvénients. Nous avons
préparé un produit supérieur à celui qu'aurait pu
préparer seule n'importe laquelle d'entre nous et personne n'a du
assumer tout le travail et toutes les responsabilités.
Nous incitons fortement d'autres femmes a s'essayer a ce
genre de méthode de création collective. Nous procédons a
des échanges et nous nous aidons; nous acquerrons de nouvelles
compétences et améliorons celles que nous possédons
déjà; nous nous dotons de nouveaux moyens d'apprentissage.
|
Patricia Williams is a member of the CCLOW- Saskatoon
chapter. She designs and give workshops on communication and does writing and
research on women's issues. She is a member of the Saskatoon Women's Calendar
Collective and, with Anne Elliott, Wanita Koczka and Pip Van Nispen, formed the
editorial collective that edited volume 9 number 4 of Women's Education des
femmes, "Learning and Violence: Women Speak Out" (summer 1992).
- Research on communication in small groups demonstrates that
through the process of idea modification, groups are creative. "Actually the
slowness of the group process and the inherent start-and-stop process of
modifying decisions encourage creativity from group members. Each member has
the time and the opportunity to mull over [her] own ideas and the ideas of
others and exercise [her] own potential for developing new insights. Experts in
creativity consider the incubation period essential to the creative process."
See Aubrey B. Fisher and Donald Ellis, Small Groups Decision Making:
Communication and the Group Process, 3rd edition, Toronto: McGraw- Hill,
1990.
- Groups arrive at decisions through an idea modification
process that has several phases. One model describes these phases as:
orientation, conflict, emergence, and reinforcement. See B.A. Fisher, "Decision
Emergence: Phases in Groups Decision Making," Speech Monographs, 37 (1970), pp.
53-66; and Ernest G. Bormann, Discussion and Group Methods: Theory and
Practice. (1975), New York: Harper and Row, pp.280-308 and
383-390.
- For instance, if there seems to be an impasse over an issue,
the member who can step in with mediation skills might perform leadership
functions for a time; in another group the situation might call for someone
with specific information or experience to share. If the group has to organize
many bits of information, the person with the best organizing skills might
emerge as leader for that task. As the group needs change, as the situation
changes, the leadership needs change. Style, which is sometimes referred to as
an answer (as in, "you need x style of leadership to solve your problems")
tends to be counter-productive in looking at small group evolution.
|