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  A Cookbook For Humans:
Human Relations in Curriculum Change
The key to understanding Marxism in America.

by

Dean Gotcher

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.  They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.  The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."  Ps. 14:1-3.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.  Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.  Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.  For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.  But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil."  Proverbs 1:1, 27-33

"A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.  A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.  A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul."  Proverbs 18: 2, 6-7

"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.  Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.  He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.  The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.  As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.  As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.  As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."  Proverbs 26:4-9, 11 (See 2 Peter 2)

"Let no man deceive himself.  If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."  1 Corinthians 3:18-19

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:  who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.  Amen."  Romans 1:18-25

THE ROLES OF CHANGE.

GROUP TASK ROLES
GROUP BUILDING AND MAINTENANCE ROLES
THE "INDIVIDUAL" ROLE

As mentioned in the Diaprax articles The National Training Laboratory and the benchmark for all educational grants―BSTEP, Human Relations in Curriculum Change (HRCC) is the book of books on how to "Cook Humans."  Published in 1951 and edited by a master change agent, Kenneth Benne (Teachers College, Columbia University), HRCC is a compilation of articles written mostly in the late 40's by "social engineers" such as Kurt Lewin, Douglas McGreggor, Ronald Lippitt, Leland Bradford, Alice Miel, etc.  The following selection of quotations from HRCC will suffice to prove my point.  HISTORY:  "The present volume is a slightly revised edition of Bulletin Number 7 (1951) . . . in cooperation with institutions of higher learning, industry, agriculture, labor, and twenty-nine other lay and professional groups and organizations."  ["A basic grant for research was made by the Office of Naval Research."  "The National Training Laboratory in Group Development' held its first residential laboratory in the summer of 1947 at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine."  "The laboratory was sponsored by the Research Center for Group Dynamics then at MIT: The NEA: Teachers College, Columbia University; Springfield College; U.C.L.A.; and Cornell University." (Source:  The Laboratory Method of Changing and Learning, Theory, and Practice.  Ed. Benne, et al., 1975)]

THE CURRICULUM IS THE PROCESS & THE PROCESS IS THE CURRICULUM:  "In the area of human relations, individual and group process becomes the curriculum."  "A change in curriculum is a change in the people concerned—in teachers, in students, in parents, and other laymen, and in administrators."  "Curriculum change means that the group involved must shift its approval from the old to some new set of reciprocal behavior patterns."

The following roles are behaviors (characteristics) people demonstrate (perform) in meetings to move the group towards unity, i.e. either under a "facilitator of 'change's' influence" (of seduction, deception, and manipulation) or under a "dictator's" control (through the use of force or threat of force), or towards division.  Group Task Roles and Group Building and Maintenance roles initiate and sustain unity under the facilitator of 'change's' influence (a Heresiarchal Paradigm of 'changingness'), while the Individual rules initiate and sustain a hierarchical paradigm of authority (a Patriarchal Paradigm of "rigidity"), where the group is either subject to an authority figure or divided amongst many positions, with everyone looking for a leader who will promote their position or to be a leader themselves over the group insisting that everyone else serve and protect them and their position.  The Individual roles are characteristics of a father's authority or of God's authority.  The former environment develops a "super-ego" in the 'willing' participants of the group meeting, where their "feelings" of the 'moment' influence their decision making, while the later produces a "conscience," i.e. a "guilty conscience" for not following their father's or God's (a higher authorities) rules and commands.  The former roles are learned and applied in the "group" meeting in order to move all participants to the desired outcome, i.e. common-ism out of diversity while the latter roles would initiate and sustain and authorities position in the participants feelings, thoughts, and actions, as well as in their relationship with one another.  The objective (for the  use of the roles) is to negate the father's authority in the participants feelings, thoughts, and actions, as well in their relationship with one another through the use of the Group Task Roles and Group Building and Maintenance Roles which every willing participant is willing to play in order to bring the more "backward" individuals into alignment with "group think."

"Curriculum change means that the members must accept the replacement of some of the old roles [Individual] with new ones [Group roles] that promise more readily available or greater needs satisfaction to them." [See inserts]  "Lewin points to the relationship between ‘leadership' and the re-training of the ‘group' in which the leadership is to function." [Capitalist and Communist Roles defined—1946]

USING HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS ON HUMAN RESOURCES:  "Man-made experiences, so-called experiments, which grew out of the systematic search for the truth were necessary to bring about a change from less adequate to more adequate concepts."  "The basic task of re-education is to change the individual's social perception, thereby changing the individual's social action."  "Re-education aims to change the system of values and beliefs of an individual or a group."  "The objective sought will not be reached so long as the new set of values is not experienced by the individual as something freely chosen."  "New facts and values have to be accepted as an action-ideology, involving that particular, frequently non-conscious system of values which guides conduct—the way I really feel—the super-ego."  "An outright enforcement of the new set of values and beliefs is simply the introduction of a new god who has to fight with the old god, now regarded as a devil."

ENVIRONMENT CONTROL:  "Much stress is laid on the creation of an atmosphere of freedom and spontaneity—voluntary attendance, informality of meetings, freedom of expression in voicing grievances, emotional security, and avoidance of pressure."  "Carl Rogers' emphasis on self-decision by the patient stresses the same point for the psychotherapy of the individual."  "A feeling of complete freedom and a heightened group identification are frequently more important at a particular stage of re-education than learning not to break specific rules."

THE OBJECTIVE—GROUP CHANGE:  "How can a situation be brought about which would permanently change social interactions?"  "To bring about change, [the old constellation of] forces have to be upset."  "Hand in hand with the destruction of the old social interactions must go the establishment (or liberation) of new social interactions."  "Group decision facilitates change."

THE USE OF DISSATISFACTION:  "The administrators must learn who the skeptics are, for they represent a potentially powerful force for change."  "Persons satisfied with things as they are must be helped to acquire convictions for change and arrive at that state of dissatisfaction."  "Persons will not come into full partnership in the process until they register dissatisfaction;"

GROUP THINK:  "Group thinking and discussion refers to the entire process by which a group of people surveys the problem facing it, clarifies these problems, selects a problem which the group comes to feel is important and which it can hope to solve, formulates an acceptable common solution, devises ways in which the solution may be tried and decides upon the trial, and evaluates the success of the problem-solution.  The leader can go no faster that the group thinking can carry him."  "We have come to the definition of the good group as a democratically functioning group on both the external goal level and the internal member-functioning level.  1.  How well is this group as a group progressing towards some production or action goal it has set for itself?  2.  How well is this group fitting its immediate goals into the broader framework of our democratic society? 3.  How well is this group utilizing the potentialities of its members to contribute towards it work goals?  4.  How well is this group ‘growing' its members, how well is it helping them become even better contributors, to assume a wider variety of essential group rules, than their present potentialities allow them.  The assumption being made is that the further the group ‘grows' along these four dimensions, the more 'mature' a group is."

NEGATIVE & POSITIVE GROUP ROLES:  "The authoritarian functioning group will tend to keep the group functions or roles necessary for group production concentrated in one person, the leader."  "The democratically functioning group not only works towards an increasingly wide distribution of these roles among the members of the group but also towards increasing the individual member's repertoire of such group roles."  [pro group task and group building roles, NOT individual roles—see inserts] 

THE GROUP RECORDER'S ROLE:  ". . . to keep a running record of the content of the discussion so that, at any time, he can report back to the group what has been discussed."  "The recorder's job is different from the job of a formal ‘secretary' in that the recorder not only keeps a record of formal action taken but, what is more important, records the development of the discussion itself."  "His job is entirely different from that of a ‘stenographer,' for he selects from what is said and organizes it for use by the small group and by the whole conference."  "The contributor's name need not be recorded."  "[The recorder's role is] not to focus on who said something but on what was said in relation to the group problem."  "The leader may ask the recorder to summarize briefly at such times and the group to ‘correct' and supplement the summary."

THE GROUP OBSERVER'S ROLE:  The observer assumes a diagnostic or interpretational function which provides him with more pertinent observational material than any other member."  "He can use such material either as destructive or as constructive tools and must always be keenly aware of the possible effects that his statements or questions may have on the group and on group members at certain stages of group and member development."  "His ‘professional' responsibility is to realize he does not acquire a higher group status or the right to play the role of God."  "His training responsibility is to foster insight and sensitivity to group process among the group members."  "The observer works as part of a service team of which the leader and the recorder are the other parts."

THE GROUP FACILITATOR'S ROLE:  "The leader sees that the recorder helps the group summarize the groups thinking from time to time."  "The leader sees that the observer helps the group look objectively at its procedures and evaluate its procedures which are not working well."  "The aim is for all members of this team to work together in helping their group to do the best thinking possible."

ROBERT'S RULES OUT, CONSENSUS IN: "Does the group find it possible to dispense with the creaking machinery of parliamentary procedure?"  "Rules set early before the group understands the limitations which these rules apply to the discussion may serve autocratic ends later in the discussion."  "The description of the goal should represent group consensus, not majority vote."  "All members must feel commitment to the same goal or there will be continuous friction."  "The ideal of the group is consensus in action."  "The expectation which the group is building as to successful group discussion is toward consensus as the only adequate basis for common action."  "Agreement throughout the institutional social system is reached only through consensus—getting techniques in open discussion."

MOVED BY FEELINGS (FEAR) NOT FACTS:  ". . . the level of feeling is ‘deeper,' more pervasive, and more closely related to action through anxieties and fears than is the level of words."  Rogers, Carl R.  (1946) "Discussion must be over a perceived life threatening situation which demands immediate action."

THE LEADER:   "A change in methods of leadership is probably the quickest way to bring about a change in the cultural atmosphere of a group."  "Changing a group atmosphere from autocracy toward democracy through a democratic leadership means that the autocratic followers must shift toward a genuine acceptance of the role of democratic followers."  "To change a group atmosphere toward democracy the democratic leader has to be in power and has to use his power for active re-education."  "The more the group members become converted to democracy the more can the power of the democratic leader shift to other ends than converting the group members."

HMO'S (1949)??:  "For example, a profession, say the medical profession, may not only be assessing how effectively it is moving towards the standards or goals it has set for itself as a profession; it may also be continually assessing its objectives in terms of what should be the goals of the medical profession in a democratic society."

THE RIGHT GROUP SIZE for "soviet-delphi-brainwashing" to work:  "The size of group should be the smallest group in which it is possible to have represented at functional level all the socialization and achievement skills required for the particular learning activity at hand."  "To large a group duplicates skills . . . to small a group leaves gaps of competency."  "At the present stage of our understanding, we may guess that for such a task as creative thinking for the purpose of planning an experiment (in which a wide range of social skills is required to keep the problem in front of the group and to build on all the suggestions offered and to have a sufficient range of ideas to begin with) a group from four to eight may be found necessary."  "The specific goal is not an achievement goal per se but is rather a socialization goal which must be reached before the achievement goal can be adequately facilitated." The relationship between group and individual action should be such that the individual perceives his out-of-group action as the resumption of a task set in the group and interrupted by the ending of the preceding group meeting."

FACILITATED LANGUAGE OF CHANGE:  I wonder if all of us . . . I feel that each of us . . . We have all of us just agreed that thus and so seems to be . . . It seems to me that your ideas are very helpful but that your talking so much is keeping some of the other people from expressing their ideas."  "Feelings of not belonging can be forestalled by making everyone feel welcome and wanted from the very beginning."  "It is probable that the individual who does not belong will act in ways not conducive to good group action."  "The best approach is to help him feel that he does belong and that he is wanted, whether or not his ideas are similar to those of the group."  "Give him a ‘we' feeling if possible, and avoid any ‘you vs. us' attitude by word or gesture."  "For re-education seems to be increased whenever a strong we-feeling is created."  "The words ‘seem to' are significant; it is the perception which functions in guiding behavior—Carl Rogers"

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:  "…[A] hierarchy of leaders has to be trained which reach out into all essential sub-parts of the group."  "Hitler himself has obviously followed very carefully such a procedure."  "The democratic procedure will have to be as thorough and as solidly based on group organization."—Kurt Lewin.

No one can call themselves academically knowledgeable about what has happened to the United States of America in this last half century unless they are aware of the material found in the book Human Relations in Curriculum Change.  *The title for this article was inspired by a friend, Phil Ring, who shared with me a movie he saw while a young man—A Cook Book for Humans—about how aliens were able to cook humans without the humans catching on.

© Institution for Authority Research, Dean Gotcher 1997-2015