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Chapter Eight – A Consulting Break - Page 253
From the bottom of Page 243 onwards, Bill and Judi seem to part company even further,
as if trying to communicate via a bad telephone connection, with Bill valuing a male
student and Judi the new receptionist. After some agreement, Judi moves the focus to
her anxieties about management of the receptionist (a recently new role for her, and as a
management responsibility in the Centre, an issue external to this setting).
(Change of voice and position) As I read down to page 246 now, I recall my
growing frustration experienced in relation to Judi questioning a decision
taken at a course staff meeting at which she was not present, particularly a
decision that attempts to address community dynamics. I now wonder
whether, here in ‘myself and Judi’, Judi can represent for me ‘the students’,
who can arouse my frustration with what feels like unconscious resistance 7
to the work in hand. By ‘myself and the students’, I am referring to the
picture of relationship between myself on the one hand, and the ‘student
body’ (not necessarily including Judi) on the other. Therefore, my concern is
that Judi and I may variously take on the role of either party in this
interaction. I can and do play complementary roles for her too.
Bill is dismissive of Judi’s anxiety on Page 245 (suggesting rather facetiously that the
remedy for being bullied by the administration staff is to bully them back). Judi moves 8
to another anxiety, again in a different role, 9 although this time as Acting Director in
relationship (that is, as his manager) to Bill and his plans as Head of Training. These
plans concern training and the structuring of the new post-graduate course to replace
this one. This interaction ends with some conciliatory remarks by both Bill and Judi,
agreeing to consider the issues carefully. Bill then brings the focus back to the group in
hand, but mainly to re-make his point in relation to the disagreement. 10
7 I am taking phenomena such as persistent lateness, the prevalence of the taking of a dependent position
as a learner, and apparent losing or forgetting of important learning as possible signs of unconscious
resistance, in this case to learning.
8 Another example of the tendency noted above for both Judi and Bill to make frequent moves of topic.
9 This shift is apparently to another difference in another setting. This would seem to be a manifestation
of displacement, and may well be a result of our difficulty of addressing directly difference between us in
this setting.
10 Down to this point in the transcript (page 246), one view is that a power struggle has been going on
between Judi and Bill. This is discussed further below, in ‘Interpretation’.