Parting Ways

I have worked on many committees and with numerous groups of people over the past 20 years in this field. Thinking back to my Head Start years, I worked within programs in which the staff became strong teams. At the close of each year, we would say good-bye in the hopes to get the chance to work together the following year. Our adjourning each May was pretty informal because we were sure our paths would cross again. 

Last year a committee I participated in finished the work we were charged with. While we said good-bye in that group context, we are all still involved in a larger committee in which we can interact and work for the common good in early childhood. O’Hair & Wiemann (2012) state, “some groups may decide to continue to work together on new tasks” (p. 258). In many of the committees I am involved with, the work is conducted in sub-committees that, when the work or project concludes, they rejoin the larger whole.

My experience has been the groups that are the hardest to leave are the ones who were small and who did have established norms. Groups that gather over a long or extended period of time are extremely hard to leave. I am two months away from saying good-bye to a group of early childhood administrators who have been a part of a training seminar that began this past January. Over the last ten months we have meshed into a close-knit group who has built trust and mutual respect. We have come to rely on one another in brainstorming and solving challenges across a number of programs. Our closing session and graduation is scheduled for five weeks from now. I know that though we are moving, or adjourning, into a new phase, we will remain connected via reunions and other communications.

References:

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.