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Chapter Five - A Beginning – Page 165
There is then some talk between Paula and Mary (joined at times by Ron) around the
eggs, hens, the benefits and challenges of having hens, but the delight none the less.
There is discussion of the need to push broody hens off the nest. Enter Bill and Judi to
the discussion (from their silence).
Bill raises the two-week inter-semester break in the teaching which is due the next
week, to be followed by the last five meetings of the whole course. Paula starts to talk
about her mixed feelings about participation in the course, and the difficulty of the third
hour (that is, the one-hour facilitated ‘Reflective Group’ which excludes the tutors and
which follows each two-hour taught session). Mary joins her. Paula is despondent, and
acknowledges that when she was absent from early sessions of this Semester she was
reflecting feelings that she describes as regressed. Mary then interweaves with Paula as
a participant in the discussion, and they give more information about experience in the
reflective group as well as outside of course meetings that has not previously been
shared with the tutors.
Next, Frances enters the room and comes straight in to the discussion. She excuses her
lateness on the grounds that her car was blocked in the car park at her workplace prior
to leaving, and she could not locate the owner of the offending car. Mary tells Frances
that she is lucky that it was not five cars blocking her in. Ironically, Mary then identifies
with Frances. Then comes a Sticky Moment (in the course of this Sticky Episode, which
is located in a Sticky Theme).
Judi tells Paula to go back to ‘whatever she was bringing up … up-bringing (laughter)
… (Judi becomes flustered) whatever’. An extract of the transcript is re-produced
below, and this description of the process of the session continues after that.