Reflections of the Paradoxes of Speaking

Now I can say it out loud, I’m almost a teacher!! I had the biggest test of our teacher education two weeks ago. It was about the Didactics and it was implemented as a group test so we accomplished our task as a group of four health science teacher students. This particular group has been together for a long time, approximately for two years. We have spent a lot of time together because of our studies and we have accomplished many tasks and achieved many goals in our journey. In this group we are already faced the forming, storming, norming, and performing stages and the group and its members have found the balance how to be successful.

 
As Smith & Berg (1997) refers the paradox of speaking is a description of the journey of a team to become a successful, active, well-functioning “ecosystem” where the members and the team find a balance to express their individual and mutual voice. The paradox of speaking deals with the concepts of authority, dependency, creativity and courage. The concepts represent the possibility of empowerment, the created conditions where a team can achieve its best outcome in an environment where the task and social orientation are in balance, people have a chance to engage in the team, to be productive without fearing mistakes and to have faith. In this particular study group we have been very successful, but also we have done mistakes. The paradox of speaking could also refer to communication, to the ability to speak up and use our own voice. It means that it is the only way to a group to learn to build the environment to be successful and have trust and faith. And trust me, we have learned how to communicate, both good and bad.

The key factor is the dynamic of influence team members have on each other. The paradox of speaking arises from an influencing process in groups and teams, the struggle with influencing and being influenced (Smith & Berg, 1997). In a team we need the courage to trust to influence and to be influenced. In my study group it’s unconditional because we are dependent from each other. Even though we have to work as individuals we have to acknowledge that without our team and our best effort we can’t achieve as good outcome as we can as a group. It’s our best interest to put an effort to a group because we all have the same goal: to become competent teachers of health sciences, to learn. This has been a journey that is going to face its last stage of group life, adjourning. And I already feel wistful because something good is going to end in some form. But on the other hand it means courage to let go because it means creativity. As it said in Smith & Berg (1997) something old must be destroyed to build something new. In addition it makes me realize that the end of my journey at the VCU is also facing its end soon. But that is something I don't want to think about, not yet.