Values Clarification Lecture

We have really interesting lectures during our Psychosocial module in Occupational Therapy. Alot of them are interactive and really get you thinking. One of these lectures was "Values Clarification".

We were broken up into 2 groups and told that we are on a ship and it is sinking. There is only one lifeboat left and only 4 people can go on the lifeboat because of the weight allowance and other factors. We then had to choose from our group of about 12, which 4 people would be jumping in the lifeboat and who would be left on the sinking ship with only life jackets to use.

Once we were left to discuss the whole classroom was filled with everyone talking because our minds were racing with the factors we would consider when choosing who would stay on the ship and who would be on the life boats. Eventually our group went and sat outside because we were getting pretty loud and disturbing the other lecturers.

Escaping to the outside gardens

We then decided we would each have a turn to say who we thought would be on the boat and why. I started by saying that I think that Mo (Monique is a girl in my OT class) should be on the lifeboat because she is married and also does so much for the community so you would want someone like her to survive cause she could definitely make a change in this world. Then the discussion came up if married people should be put on the boat or not because they have had the chance to fall in love and the rest of us haven't. Another factor that came up was age and how Lauren should be put on the lifeboat because she was the youngest and hadn't even celebrated her 21st yet.

After a while we started to think logically and started thinking about what would be the best options. We decided that all the people that are swimmers or have done lifesaving should be left on the ship because they had the highest chance of survival. Then our lecturer came and told us that she was also on the ship and she expected to be one of the people on the life boat, which took up one of the places we thought we would have. There was some uproar then because of the fact she has lived longer than us but in the end it was agreed she would be on the lifeboat. I spoke up and said that I would stay on the ship because I have watched Bear Grylls and should be able to make a life boat out of the sunken ship supplies, this cause some laughter from the group, I am also a swimmer so thought I would have quite a good chance of survival.

Eventually the argument was going on for too long so we were given 5 mins to decide who the other 3 people on the boat would be. Mo was put on because she would get her husband (who always makes a plan) to come save us. Our lecturer promised that she would bring a helicopter or make some plan to come back and fetch us. The last 2 places were taken up by 2 girls in our class that can't swim very well and said they should be on the boat because they wouldn't survive if they were left on the boat.

After the exercise we reflected on how our different values played a part in our decisions. In the beginning we were all fighting to be on the lifeboat, which would probably happen in real life anyway. But if we started to think we thought of what would be the best for the most amount of people.It was so interesting to hear everyone' views and what things they placed importance on. We also did our reflection with the other group who had quite different views to us, they hadn't put on the married girl and they had placed importance on age rather than who could or couldn't survive if they were left on the ship.

We were then given a list of 10 values (money, acceptance/popularity, balance, beauty, communication, family, religion/wisdom, friendship, independence and peacefulness) and we were asked to prioritize them in the order of importance to us. For me it would be:

1. Religion/Wisdom
2. Family
3. Friendship
4. Independence
5. Communication
6. Acceptance/Popularity
7. Peacefulness
8. Beauty
9. Money
10. Balance

The next task was to take away 5 of those and add 2 of our own, so my new list would be:

1. Religion/Wisdom
2. Family
3. Love
4. Friendship
5. Independence
6. Success
7. Money

I hope this gives you a better idea of who I am and what I believe in and what holds value in my life. I learnt so much from this lecture and also about the other people in my class and the things that they value. I would encourage you to take the time and make a list of what you value in your life and what you would do if you were on a sinking ship, would you push and shove to get onto the life boat or would you stay on the ship and give the place to someone else...