The name is absent

For me the most important aspect of the Alternative
Course has been the school group. It has been the
pivot on which the year turned - the crucial factor
in transforming the course from an uneasy juxta-
position of teaching practice and education theories
into a framework which has been able to provide
an organising link between the two .....

As real experiences in school

the school group began to take on a better defined
function and this process was supported by the streng-
thening of social relationships within the group.

in general the group functioned as a welcome

conviction. Without it I think more of us would

have ended the year bedraggled and disillusioned
and unconvinced of our sanity. Through the school
group our opposition in itself became institution-
alised and this sustained our confidence in our own

a sympathetic listener was usually available.

The weekly sessions at school, and the school group
seminars at the Institute were the high points of

The fact of going into a school

working with other people and sharing

that discussions occurred in a

find difficult to believe would happen

The main thing about the experience of relationships
on the Alternative Course is that it is safe experi-
ence .

There was real friendship - a real spirit, a real
sense of unity between student and teacher to solve
the problem of the teaching situation.

Retrospectively, I feel that the School Group is
the key to the success of the Alternative Course.

(Jones 1981 P32)

Such views and the experience of working with groups of students
as both a teacher and researcher led to the following summary which
points to the potential of such groups in harnessing the strengths
of the sub-culture in professional and personal learning.

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