Making decisions

These teaching strategies help students to:

• make informed decisions
• examine things that impact decision making
• consider their own beliefs and values
• link between feelings and behaviours
• consider the positive and negative consequences of actions
• to predict problems
• identify risks and risk reduction strategies
• manage feelings before making decisions
• develop empathy
• record and analyse information
• select a course of action and reflect on consequences of the actions chosen
• solve problems.

Decision-making model

• Provide your students with the 'Decision-making model' template.
• Identify the problem and write this in the model.
• Identify and discuss their feelings about the problem.
• Gather information to identify the range of possible options. *Remind students that going to others for information can assist their decision-making, especially when a difficult decision is to be made. However, they need to balance their own views with the views of others.
• Write the options they have identified on the model.
• Consider the consequences (both positive and negative) to evaluate each option. When considering the consequences ensure students look at the different types (i.e. physical, social, emotional, financial and legal). The impact of the consequences on self, family, friends and the community in the short-term and long-term also needs to be examined.
• Discuss the feelings associated with these consequences and then justify their choice.
• Optional: create a 'problem box' for the classroom, where students can place a problem they need advice on into the box anonymously.  These can be used as the problem to workshop using the decision-making model.

Fortune teller

• In groups of five, allocate the roles:
  •  2 x ‘predictors' - provide suggestions on what is likely to happen to the individual in a given situation
  • 2 x ‘advisors' - provide suggestions on strategies that may reduce the risk of the situation
  • 1 x ‘decider - decide on what strategy would be most effective in the situation.
• If focusing on sexual health-related situations give students the categories:
  • ‘sexual health' - describe the type of behaviour, how much and over what time..
  • ‘individual' - describe the person's age, gender, mood, and relationship, etc.
  • ‘environment' - describe the where, what time, and who is supervising or involved.
  • ‘reason' - describe the 'why' - e.g. wanting to impress, to cope, to have fun, to experiment.
• Example scenarios:
  • A 15-year-old is at home alone with their girlfriend/boyfriend. They both want to have sex but don't have any condoms.
  • A student is starting high school and is worried about getting their first period at school.
  • A student's best friend is moving to another school. 

I feel, I think, I can

• Give a piece of paper to each pair and ask them to make 3 columns and label them - I feel, I think, I can.
• Pose a scenario that may cause distress (e.g. being teased about being the only one in your group of friends who does not have a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner or being pressured by your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner to have sex). 
• Model the use of the cards to illustrate that the most important card is the ‘I think' card as helpful and positive thinking can result in positive behaviour, and unhelpful and negative thinking may result in negative behaviour.
• Ask students to discuss how they would feel and think in this situation and then decide what they can do to have a positive outcome.

Thought bubbles

• Draw a comic strip scenario of no more than 4 frames outlining a stressful or difficult relationship situation. E.g. A best friend seems to be spending more time with someone else and you are worried they don't like you any more.
• Swap comic strips with a partner. The partner must draw in speech bubbles and write in helpful and positive thinking that could be used to cope with the situation depicted.

Hypothetical

• A hypothetical situation is developed either by the teacher or the students for ‘expert' panel members to debate and ‘community members' (rest of class) to make a decision upon. 
• Devise the hypothetical situation well before the debate and ensure that the situation is broad enough to warrant a wide range of panel members (e.g. P & C President, student representative, police officer, parent, doctor). Assign each expert panel members a role. 
• Both panel and community members then research the topic from the perspective.
• On the day of the hypothetical, allow panellists time to practise their introductions and responses to the situation and give the rest of the class time to prepare possible questions that may challenge the panellist's opinions.
• Labels describing each expert should be placed on the panel desk.
• The teacher or a student facilitator poses the hypothetical situation, introduces the members of the panel and prompts the audience for questions.
• Once the debate is finished, facilitate the final voting process with the audience.
• It is important to process the hypothetical by asking the audience to identify which pieces of information presented by the panel members helped them to make a decision.
• Example scenarios:
  • A child wants to ride a scooter to school by themselves, the parent thinks they aren't old enough/responsible enough. 
  • A 17-year-old wants to access contraception.
  • A school want to have a 'therapy dog'.

PNI (positive, negative and interesting)

• On a piece of paper, make 3 columns labelled - positive, negative, interesting
• Pose a question, statement or scenario for students to consider. 
• Brainstorm the positive, negative and interesting implications and record these on the worksheet.
• Discuss the ideas with the class.
• This activity may help with decision-making but can also highlight that there isn't always one simple answer.
• Scenarios/statements:
  • Advertising featuring highly sexualised people and situations should be banned or restricted in Australia.
  • Young people should not be allowed to have social media until they are 15 years old.
  • Students should not have to wear boy's/girl's uniforms.

Problem predicting

• Generate a range of scenarios or problems that can occur between friends or classmates, or where someone may be influenced to choose an unhealthy or unsafe option. The scenario should include a character plus supporting information.
  • Who is influencing the character (e.g. older sibling, peers, adult or person of the same age) or is the influence coming from the character's own thoughts?
  • What kinds of things are said, done or thought to influence the character's behaviour?
  • Where is the situation happening (e.g. at a friend's place, the shops, car park)?
  • How is the character feeling in this situation?
• Collect scenario cards and ask the class to rank the cards from the scenario that would cause the most distress or upset to the one that is the easiest to deal with. Ensure students provide reasons to support their rankings.
• Give each group a scenario card, ensuring that it was not a scenario originally created by the group.
• Discuss the scenario and predict what outcomes or problems could occur.
• Share the predictions generated by each group and decide which option they would choose after considering the positive and negative consequences.      
• Optional: Write, tell or role-play a story in which the problem is brought to a solution. Or role-play various responses to a problem and see how they might work in ‘real life'.

Role-plays alternatives

Role play tips

• Use character names rather than student names. 
• Use a simple prop to help get into character (e.g. bag, hat or mask).
• Remember that a role-play is not a polished performance. It is a way of examination scenarios, thoughts, feelings, outcomes. 

Example scenario: Respectful relationship qualities

• Role-play different ways someone may respond to a partner wanting to go out with their friends without them.
• Role-play different ways someone may respond if a friend invited other friends to a party but not them.

Fish bowl role-play

• Have a small group of students perform a role-play on a selected topic. 
• Other students sit around the group creating the fish bowl to observe.
• The observers are given 3 different roles:
  • Ideas and responses - listen to one character's ideas and responses carefully.
  • Feelings - think about how one character might be feeling in this situation.
  • Different outcomes - think about different outcomes that may have resulted if someone had said or done something differently. 
• Observers report their findings.

Hidden thoughts role-play

• During a role-play have some students play the 'brain' of each character. 
• The 'brain' should stand behind their character and when called upon by the teacher, reveal the hidden thoughts or feelings that may not be expressed by the character.
• Questions:
  • What is the character afraid of?
  • What is the character hoping will happen?
  • What is stopping the character from doing what is right/necessary?
  • What would help your character to do this?
  • What would it take for your character to stand up to the other person in this scene?
• Ask the rest of the class to offer advice to the characters in the scene and have them 'try out' two or three of these pieces of advice. 
• Discuss which would be the easiest, most realistic, most effective, healthiest, most ethical, etc.

Interview role-play

• Students interview a role-play character who is experiencing, or is affected, by a problem.
• Students ask questions about what it is like to be in the situation and suggest what they think would be helpful for the character to do.

Snap decisions

• A volunteer is seated in the 'snap decision seat' and presented with a dilemma.
• The student must try to put themselves 'in the shoes' of the character.
• Two students stand either side of the seated student and offers opposing perspectives.
• Try to avoid terms like 'good/bad' or 'angel/devil' as this places a value on the thoughts and decisions.
• The student in the 'snap decision seat' must make a decision based purely on the arguments placed by the two students.

Green flag, red flag

• Provide students with a sheet of red paper and a sheet of green paper.
• Sort a range of actions/statements according to respectful/helpful (green) and disrespectful/unhelpful (red).
• Scenarios:
  • Ways to make friends (e.g. invite them to play, make fun of them, talk to them, etc)
  • Romantic partner qualities (e.g. listens to me, wants to be with my all the time, won't let me talk to my friends, etc)

Post problems and solutions

• In groups, students think of a problem and write it on the front of an envelope (or provide problems for the students).
• Swap envelopes with the next group. Spend 5 minutes writing a range of solutions and place them in the envelope.
• Pass the envelope to the next group and repeat process (without looking at other answers in the envelope).
• Repeat until the groups end up with their own problem back.
• Review the ideas, sort them into groups and decide what the best solution would be.
• Possible problems:
  • My parents won't let me have a phone.
  • My boyfriend/girlfriend wants to have sex and I am not sure.
  • My friend shared an intimate photo of someone else.