Teaching and learning in small groups: An Analysis of Trainer Interventions

This article presents a conceptual modelfor assessing trainer interventions. Among the interventions made by trainers in two self-study groups, those judged as having contributed most to what group members learned were analyzed, yielding an 18-cluster system for categorizing trainers’ teaching acts. These clusters were grouped into several conceptual dimensions: Authority, Responsibility, and Power; Anxiety and Resistance; Personal and Interpersonal Issues; and Trainer as Teacher. All trainer interventions made in these two groups were recoded according to the 18-cluster system, and subsequent analyses examined trainer-member agreement, contributions to learning by cluster and dimension, and the impact of the intervention's level of complexity. The results show that group members learn best when provided with a theoretical framework and concepts to make meaning of their experiences in the group and when they are taught how to use their inner lives to provide information about that experience.