NEEDED RESEARCH IN TEACHER EDUCATION--SENSITIVITY TRAINING AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE.

TO HELP PREPARE PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS FOR ADEQUATE HANDLING OF THE PHENOMENON OF CHANGE, SOME ASPECTS OF THE APPLICABILITY OF SENSITIVITY TRAINING TO PROCESSES OF CHANGE IN EDUCATION ARE DISCUSSED. OBJECTIVES OF SUCH TRAINING ARE GIVEN AS--(1) SELF-INSIGHT, (2) BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS AND AWARENESS OF ONE'S IMPACT ON THEM, (3) BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF GROUP PROCESSES, (4) INCREASED RECOGNITION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LARGER SOCIAL SYSTEMS, AND (5) GREATER AWARENESS OF THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE. ONE TECHNIQUE FOR REALIZING THESE OBJECTIVES IS THE T-GROUP, A RELATIVELY UNSTRUCTURED SITUATION IN WHICH ALL MEMBERS ARE LEARNERS, AND WHERE DATA IS SIMULTANEOUSLY COLLECTED ON BEHAVIORAL TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN MEMBERS AND THE EXPERIENCE WHICH GENERATES SUCH BEHAVIOR. T-GROUP ACTIVITY FACILITATES THE PROCESS OF CHANGE BY IMPROVING INTERACTION. IN A CLASSROOM SITUATION, T-GROUP ACTIVITY FOSTERS NEW ROLE CONCEPTS FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (TEACHERS MOVE FROM DIRECTIVE TO INTEGRATIVE FUNCTION, STUDENTS MOVE FROM CONVERGENT TO DIVERGENT OPINIONS). THE PARTICULAR APPLICABILITY OF T-GROUP ACTIVITY TO SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSES DISCUSSED. PAPER PRESENTED AT EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOC. OF N.Y. STATE AND THE N.Y. STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT CONVOCATION (ALBANY, NOVEMBER 12-14, 1967). (AF)