On Tuesday we had our first values workshop, this tied into the lecture we had that morning. When I first walked in I found myself trying to go to a table that wasn’t too full nor too empty, this was fruitless.

When Carrie came in we were each assigned a number between one and four. I was given the number three; this number meant nothing to me when the task first began as I was blissfully unaware of what the task involved. As everyone began the first task (emptying the intriguing envelope and creating items to give to new university students to help them settle in) people began to notice that different groups had either more or less compared to another group. When starting at group one, they had a plentiful supply of stationary, paper etc. but when you reached group four they only had a few items. As the task continued it became extremely apparent that each number was being treated differently; having great praise in groups one and two, and then almost no comment at all in groups three and four.

This task was a great example of values and experiences in today’s society. Through subtly showing that some people or families are less fortunate and have to live with the little amount of items they have, it brought forth many discussions on the topics of wealth, community and schooling.

After leaving the workshop I began to reflect upon how, in some areas, the community can affect a child’s learning or how being unable to buy new clothing/accessories each school year may push children to dislike school. So through this one workshop it has been interesting to see how by having different upbringings or experiences how this can affect the way you perceive something to be.