Page - 19 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

INTRODUCTION TO THE PEACE CURRICULUM 19 • Friendship, social networks, gangs (subjectivity as essentially relational, multiple overlap- ping spheres of engagement) Cosmopolitanism as a frame of mind is taken into consideration in each Unit, because it is not only a leading idea but also a core element of the philosophical foundation. Cosmopolitanism as a frame of mind refers to Beck who notes that since we need a new cosmopolitan syntax of reality, we also need a new grammar of thought.11 This implies that we should help children to start thinking ac- cording to a new frame of mind. In modelling the community of philosophical inquiry among children, this frame of mind should emerge. Children can construct and reconstruct their ideas by collecting and exchanging their thoughts. This offers a way of reasoning and understanding that leads to open- ness to the new global dimension, but it is also a loyalty to the known, which means intentionally entering into the worlds of different people with different views, listening attentively to their stories, trying to figure out the world view from which they are coming, and how they might see you and your perspective as strange. We can offer children an imaginative journey to reconstruct their own worlds. How to prepare a session: Introduction to the handbook: This manual provides resources and educational-philosophical strategies which will facilitate working with the short stories that make up PEACE’s new program. Each story is aimed at groups of children of a certain age, ranging from the first years of primary school to secondary school. Each chapter in the manual focuses on the main topics and cognitive and socio-affective skills relevant to the story. When selecting and preparing the resources that might help you prepare the sessions, you need not limit discussion to the chap- ter attached to that episode. Since you will have one manual for all six stories, you may consult other chapters in search of other resources or suggestions. In order to facilitate this task, we in- clude an index which includes the topics and concepts you will be working on, and the cognitive and socio-affective skills your students must exercise. The first idea we must deal with when using this manual is that it is not just a list of exercises or activities for students to complete. The manual is full of suggestions and models that must be tailored to each different group. Thus, pre-session preparation is important when using these resources. One of the most common criticisms we receive about the Philosophy for Children project and the work of teach- ers involved in the project is that it is just a list of topics to be discussed in class. This idea is due to a profound lack of knowledge about the project and its objectives. The final goal is to help children think better, to develop complex and high-level thought, and to think in an autonomous and communitarian manner about their own reality and the world they live in. This is vital in to- day’s globalized era where there is a clear loss of identity. In order to help children reflect and develop complex thought, and in order to work with the content, procedures, and intellectual skills, the teacher must prepare the sessions. He or she must choose the exercises and the discussion plans he or she thinks will best help in getting the most out of the discussions and philosophical dialogues in each session. We include a brief reminder of how one may prepare the sessions by using the PEACE manual. Methodology in preparing a Philosophy for Children session What we now present is a “classic” preparation model for sessions, which may be altered with experience and the passing of time, so as to make it easily improved and more adaptable to varying circumstances. 1. The teacher or facilitator should prepare the session previously, reading the episode to be used during the session, reviewing issues that may arise, and relying on the manual 11 Ulrich Beck, The Cosmopolitan Vision, trans. by Ciaran Cronin. Cambridge, Polity Press, 2006.