Grade 9 Foundations presents
Human Dimensions
Workshop: The Value of Truth


Related Terms

Truth: a statement that is in agreement with the facts of reality

Purpose

To make our social and professional relationships more positvie, productive and rewarding through increasing our appreciation of the intrinsic value of truthfulness and honesty.


Philosophy

"The truth will not always make us look better in the eyes of others, but it in the end, the truth reflects who we are. As long as we honor the truth, we honor ourselves."

"The truth shall set you free."


Strategies

  1. Avoid inflating your own image or esteem by telling untruths. Rather, direct your efforts toward nurturing understanding and empathy in others by being honest about yourself and the events with which you are involved.

  2. Avoiding the truth or concealing your true motives will usually only trap you in the end. Our attempts to conceal our true motives are usually far more obvious to onlookers than we realize. In addition, the actions we take while concealing our true motivations will often appear to be quite strange and irrational to others.


    Activity 1: External Outcomes


    Create a role play in which you act out two possible responses to the following situations. First, act out a dishonest response. Then act out an honest response. After each role play, the class will discuss the short-term, and the long-term ramifications associated with each response.

    1. Teacher confronts you about talking in class.
    2. You were cheating on a test, and now the teacher has raised her suspicions.
    3. After finding out that your major crush has the hots for someone else, your friends confront you about your true feelings.
    4. You and your old friend both run for house captain. Your friend gets elected, and you feel terribly jealous.







    Activity 2: Internal Outcomes


    Try this little experiment with your group. Each individual takes a turn telling the group a lie. It can be about anything, but the more believable the lie, the better! (Try to be as convincing as possible when telling your lie. Naturally, nobody will be fooled, as they will already know you are lieing.)

    Each member should take note of how they feel when telling their lie. It won't be the same as one would usually feel while telling a lie, but it should prompt one to recall how they would normally feel.

    Next, each group member takes a turn telling the group the truth. It can also be about anything, but it should be something that the individual would not normally admit. The more difficult it is to tell this truth, the better! Each member should take note of how they feel when telling this difficult truth.


    1) Which was harder to tell, the lie, or the truth? Why?

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    2) Which experience was more rewarding, telling the lie, or the truth? Why?

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