Training and Education in Group Relations: Some Characteristics of the Learning Environment

Abstract

In the past 15 years there has been a growing interest in the Tavistock group relations approach to group and organizational behavior. To begin to ex-amine and evaluate the current status of training and education in Tavistock group relations work in America, this paper describes one comprehensive group relations training program. We then describe four critical character-istics that affect the learning environment in group relations training pro-grams: the person, role, the capacity to accept ambiguity, and the oppor-tunity to integrate learning. These factors are discussed in relationship to the goals of group relations training and methodological implications for group relations training and education.