MY WORLDVIEW PROJECT

B i b l e 1 2 • M r. K n i g h t • H a r d i n g A c a d e m y o f M e m p h i s • 2 0 1 2 - 1 3

My Worldview ProjectUltimately, the most important goal of this unit is for you to develop the ability to look within yourself and explore your own emotions, values and worldview. This kind of self-awareness is not always easy to develop and what you realize about yourself is not always comfortable or flattering. However, an understanding of your own worldview is key to being an undivided, whole person who lives genuinely and effectively in our world. This project is aimed at helping you articulate what you can at this point in your development about your own worldview.

Step 1:

The first part of this project is the hardest and will take the longest. It is also almost en-tirely mental. So, I suggest that you start right now and spend the next several days just doing this part of the project. First, sit and think about your own worldview at this point in your life. Ask yourself these questions and others:

✦ What do you believe is true about life? What do you think is real/not real?

✦ How would you finish this question: “Life is _____”?

✦ Why do you do what you do?

✦ What core beliefs really guide your life and make you feel and act the way you do?

✦ Think about what you think is important (values) and work backwards, ask-ing yourself what belief makes you value that.

Take this step slowly. Don’t try to do this the night before. You might also need some quiet to do this well. It is best to do this alone, too. Use the circle diagram we had in class for the human psyche, working downward from behaviors. Have a pen in your hand as you do this and write down what you come up with. Just try to write down your beliefs/worldview and go back later and check that these really are worldview statements, not value statements or anything higher.

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Step 2:

Next, once you have come up with a few handfuls of worldview beliefs, your task is to present these visually using one of the four formats described below. Templates for the first two are provided and can also be found on my blog. Given the more personal na-ture of this project, this part of your work will only be seen by you and me, unless you grant me permission to use it as an example in some form in the future. We will not necessarily be presenting these to the class, and you will have the option to not have your work displayed if you would rather not.

Thought Bubble Format:

Use one of the two gendered template provided for this format. Begin by placing a picture of your head (ideally col-ored) on the male or female body on the template. Color in the clothing as well. Pick your ten best belief/worldview statements and write these neatly into the thought bubbles on the template. Write these in the first person: “I believe,” “I think,” etc.

Geometric Images Format:

Use the geometric template provided for this one. Start by placing your name in the center. Then pick your seven most deeply held worldview beliefs. For each of these you are to place the statement and a representative picture in one of the spaces on the template. You can hand-draw these if you draw well. You should consider adding color to your drawings. You can also use your computer for this

one. The easiest way would be to find pictures and add the statements to the picture and then cut these out to fit the spot and paste them on.

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Wordle Format:

Use Wordle.com to produce a word cloud of your beliefs. If you have never used Wordle.com you might not want to try it out on this project. You will have to have a minimum of twenty-five worldview statements and you have to show how deeply

you believe each statement by making your deepest held beliefs larger than others and less deeply held beliefs smaller. I suggest using the Advanced mode to do this most ef-fectively and efficiently. You may have to use the Help menu on the website to do this well. Your finished product must be printed in color. The largest words of all will be “_Your name_ believes.”

Original Image Collage Format:

If you are particularly artistic you might want to create your own design entirely. I ask that you make this a collage of some sort. You should use images only, not words. The two examples provided are meant to spur your creativity, but they were not created for this project nor intended to display worldview statements. Your col-lage can be very orderly or somewhat random. Of course, each image needs to clearly represent what it is you be-lieve, still please write your

belief statements in proper form on the back of the collage for each image in your collage. I suggest you use photo-graphs or images from the Internet instead of drawing by hand. Your collage must have no less than six images.

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Grading:! !

This project is worth 35 points and will be graded using the following rubric:

Due Date:

Your project is due at the beginning of your period on Thursday, August 30th.

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