Sample Absorb Activity #1
The purpose of the course I’m developing is to teach volunteer church office assistants the importance of maintaining confidentiality of sensitive information.
This activity aligns with Terminal Objective #1: Identify the potential damage that can be caused by breaches in confidentiality in a church setting, and Enabling Objective A: Describe in 2-3 short sentences past experiences when you were personally hurt by breaches in confidentiality and identify (check off) the feelings you experienced.
In order to introduce the topic of the first terminal and enabling objectives (and the course as a whole), I need to help learners develop a personal connection to the material content and to relate on an emotional level. They need to feel the impact of breaches in confidentiality so they can empathize with adults who may feel similarly when confidentiality is breached in a church setting.
In order to accomplish this, I have developed an “absorb activity” that begins with a narrated story (with script available) about a teenager devastated by having a secret divulged to others. Since my primary audience is women, this opening story will immediately bring to mind a story from their own teen years, creating a connection to past knowledge and helping them to absorb information about the subject matter very subtly.
[For a description of "absorb, do and connect" activities, be sure to read the main activities page.]
This activity aligns with Terminal Objective #1: Identify the potential damage that can be caused by breaches in confidentiality in a church setting, and Enabling Objective A: Describe in 2-3 short sentences past experiences when you were personally hurt by breaches in confidentiality and identify (check off) the feelings you experienced.
In order to introduce the topic of the first terminal and enabling objectives (and the course as a whole), I need to help learners develop a personal connection to the material content and to relate on an emotional level. They need to feel the impact of breaches in confidentiality so they can empathize with adults who may feel similarly when confidentiality is breached in a church setting.
In order to accomplish this, I have developed an “absorb activity” that begins with a narrated story (with script available) about a teenager devastated by having a secret divulged to others. Since my primary audience is women, this opening story will immediately bring to mind a story from their own teen years, creating a connection to past knowledge and helping them to absorb information about the subject matter very subtly.
[For a description of "absorb, do and connect" activities, be sure to read the main activities page.]
INSTRUCTIONS: Click on the play button at the bottom of the page to listen to a brief story. If you have trouble hearing or the sound on your computer isn't working, click on the "script" option. You may also choose to view the script while listening to the narration. While you're listening, try to visualize the situation in the story. [Note: instructions to learner relate to the final product after development. Audio is not currently available.]
Jenny’s Story
“It was the kind of secret you only tell a best friend. Jenny was 13 and, like any teenager, her whole world revolved around her friends at school. She was in that awkward stage between childhood and womanhood, where a girl struggles with self-esteem and uneasiness about growing up. But she knew her best friend would understand her deepest fears and dreams. She had never told anyone how she felt before – until last week.
“Then it happened: a few giggles from her classmates when they passed in the hallway, whispers and glances in the cafeteria at lunchtime, then the mocking comment – using her own words – from one of the “popular” girls. The bystanders who heard it laughed in cruel amusement as Jenny realized in horror that her secret was no longer a secret. Hurt, betrayed and humiliated, she choked back the tears as she ran from the now jeering crowd into the safety of the bathroom.
“Just another day of school for everyone else. But for Jenny, it was a day she never forgot – a day that changed her life forever.”
Most of us can recall some kind of similar experience when we were growing up. If it didn’t happen to us personally, it happened to a friend or acquaintance. Now we can brush it off with, “Kids can be cruel,” but at the moment it felt like our world had come to an end. Remember?
As kids we played games like “telephone” or “grapevine,” which taught us to laugh at how a statement was transformed as it passed from one child to another. Our parents taught us the mantra, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me,” as if it could ever possibly be true. We knew it wasn’t. But we wanted it to be. We wanted to pretend that our feelings weren’t hurt, that it was all just a silly game.
Funny how, as adults, we often forget the lessons learned in childhood. Confidential or sensitive information, when told to others without permission, can still cause hurt and humiliation. Even in adults. Even in the church.