Jegersberg Overnight Trip
Aim-Group Dynamics, Outdoor Cookery and Shelter Building
The Jegersberg overnight trip provided an insight into different group dynamic tasks and games from the rest of the International class. We were split into our respective countries and were tasked with producing a game or task from our country that displays aspects of group dynamics such as team work, communication, leadership and positive moral (Forsyth 2009). We also had to provide a meal from our countries using only a handful of ingredients and a sturdy and efficient shelter for us to sleep in.
I was paired with George, Elouise and Kyle to form the 1st UK team from Worcester University. We decided upon rubber chicken rounders, which we have played several times at our home university and is a good icebreaker for new groups or developing communication and team work. The aim of the game is there are two teams. One team passes the rubber chicken through the legs and over heads until they get to the person at the back who then throws it. Whilst the 1st team is doing that the 2nd team huddle together and 1 person runs around the circle. The game gets people moving which is prompting psychical activity but also strategy. The game was received well from most of the students and some said they plan to use it in the future.
The other activities were also fun and displayed the aim of group dynamics. Australia displayed a wallabies and wombats game, the Germans the titanic rescue, the Swiss a mountain building game and unwrapping a parcel with a knife and fork whilst blindfolded, the Czech a balance and rely competition, the Finnish a blind trail and the other UK group provided a Simon says type of game. From all of them I think the Swiss and Germans best portrayed the vision of group dynamics. I believe the poorest example was the other UK group who clearly hadn’t had much experience with group dynamics and planned the task on the spot.
After all group had showcased their countries group dynamic game, they were judged upon and the winners were the Germans with the Swiss and my UK coming 2nd and 3rd. From the results, we got to pick to have 1st pick on meat, 2nd on veg and 3rd on anything else. We only had the use of a storm kitchen. We created a sort of cottage pie without the pastry which was alright but in comparison to others, it would C grade. The Germans once again won the cooking and food competition however cheated by bring their own sources of food. The food was good from all and everyone got tucked in.
The rest of the evening consisted of sitting round the fire, grilling sausages and talking with music and playing Werewolf, a mystery game. The overnight trip was fun and I believe that was designed to make bond better and become more cohesive as a class. We can use Tuckman’s five stages of group development, with the forming stage being evident here (Bonebright 2010).
References
Forsyth, D.R., 2009. Group dynamics. Cengage Learning.
Bonebright, D.A., 2010. 40 years of storming: a historical review of Tuckman’s model of small group development. Human Resource Development International, 13(1), pp.111-120.