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3.4
Developing Comfort with Ambiguity
Submitted by Jack Crittenden
This activity is designed to encourage participants to grapple with “no win” situations. Through discussion, participants will explore seemingly simple moral dilemmas which will actually expose the complexity of decision-making.
Learning Goals
Develop an appreciation for complexity and ambiguity and move beyond “good vs. bad” binary thinking.
Practice developing arguments for particular actions.
Instructions
Set Up: Prepare for the Activity
Select a single or set of moral dilemmas from the What IF…Moral Dilemmas Collection or create your own moral dilemmas relevant to your group. For the dilemma(s), also generate three “monkey wrenches” or twists, which add new variables or alter the dilemma in some way with the aim of getting participants to reevaluate their initial choice.
Organize participants into small groups (4-6 ppl).
Begin by introducing the learning goals of this activity.
Step One: Put Initial Reactions on the Table (10 min)
Provide the moral dilemma as a handout or on a shared screen so that participants can review it together and at their own pace.
In small groups, each participant should read and then react to the dilemma. Record or take notes of initial reactions, such as “I'd do this…This is wrong…You can't act that way, etc.”
Get all views on the table without discussion or critical examination. All participants need to offer an initial suggestion as to what they would do in this situation.
Step Two: Discuss the Dilemma (10 min)
Open up the discussion. Participants can ask each other questions. They are invited to make a case for their position and explore the positions of others.
What's wrong with doing X? Why is doing Y the right thing to do?
Why would someone oppose Y?
Which values are informing your position?
Step Three: Introduce Monkey Wrenches (20 min)
When the discussion begins to slow down, reach consensus or an impasse, initiate a lightning round of “monkey wrenches.”
Introduce these one at a time. After each new monkey wrench, invite brief discussion and poll participants. Has this new information forced you to change your position? Why?
Step Four: Debrief as a Full Group (10 min)
How did it feel having to take an initial reaction to the dilemma?
How does this activity help you to empathize with decision-makers?
How, if at all, did your initial reaction to this dilemma change over the course of the discussion? What helped you to change your mind? Or, what helped you to solidify your initial reactions?
TIME
50
min
MODULE
Critical Collaboration
This activity can be completed by any discussion group.
This activity might be considered high energy or more playful than other activities.
This activity can be easily modified to serve as an introductory exercise and completed in less than 10 minutes.
Tell us what you think. Rate and review this activity:
Have any helpful suggestions or modifications for this activity?
Share them in the comments below!
0 Comments
Sovi Herring
July 24, 2023 at 7:24:46 PM
I adapted this toward skills students can bring to their next group project to learn about themselves and appropriately accommodate others. This complements our course texts "Crucial Conversations" and "Thanks for the Feedback" as well! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rbVXIQkViuqmg4nnZdKyGsroHQn-_xsn/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=113770591818162655510&rtpof=true&sd=true
July 10, 2023 at 2:15:53 AM
Sovi
July 7, 2023 at 4:01:49 PM
I think this one went really well, especially when adding in premade roles. I didn't have access to a color printer, so I handmade character cards. I had to modify this activity a bit, but it was a blast. We paired this activity with some of the skills from the book "Crucial Conversations". Some also had to be bad/uncooperative communicators in the scenarios we had. Here's a Google Drive link to the materials I used for this activity. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nK0F0JxxTLJvBJYgOSJVFGdwPmGjYzYb/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=113770591818162655510&rtpof=true&sd=true
June 28, 2023 at 1:28:26 AM
June 27, 2023 at 3:21:16 PM
June 27, 2023 at 3:07:43 PM
June 26, 2023 at 10:07:17 PM
Sovi Herring
June 26, 2023 at 8:55:50 PM
I did this as a sub for a class and it went really well! The only feedback I have is that the prompts are a little long. I didn't edit them for this class, but I did offer a second prompt. Other than the bulky-ness, it was a great conversation and activity to have students do. Here are the materials I used in a Google folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QOVDnMYkouMsXtM9DfSVO38adPXdqKyM?usp=sharing
June 23, 2023 at 5:57:47 PM
June 23, 2023 at 3:02:10 AM