Groupthink
In the phase of Covid 19, schools have digital learning as the only option. However, not all students would be productive enough on this new approach. Although most of the schools had adopted the new normal, there seemed to be more gaps that needed attention.
In a discussion on digital learning with the students council was called forth with a few of the teachers. While most of the teachers thought digital education would be more productive, a few of the students thought there’d be several potential distractors. These distractors would hinder them from fully concentrating on school work. Others thought waking up to online classes would be difficult and demotivating.
While most of the teachers thought it as the best option, others were silent and seemed to go with the majority wins rule. After all, they would save on fuel and other expenditures. The leaders of discussion concluded with the majority gains control. Dissatisfaction would be on the faces of some of the participants, especially students who awaited their final exams in due time. They had no choice.
Some of the symptoms of this discussion include rationale. Group members ignored negative feedback and discounted warnings, which may have lead the group into a different option. Morality, members of the debate, ignored the moral or ethical consequences of their decision. Self-censorship, some of the members avoided airing their concerns with the fear of undermining the group’s consensus.
The group discussion created a narrow style of decision making which led to poor decision-making. They did not commonly explore options by surveillance of opportunities. The options were also not conceptualized and given more time for discussion. There was no optimization before the idea’s implementation.
Most of the students were left dissatisfied, while a few were happy at their expense. There was no time enough to critically think through the matter while exploring different options at the same time. Consequently, they decided that, based on the majority wins rule.