Page - 41 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

ELLA (MANUAL) 41 It is often important to have background information in order to understand a situa- tion. This way, one can have the whole picture. Sometimes it is necessary to have cross- cultural competence to understand people from different countries. This is especially important if you want to understand relationships. Discussion Plan: Understanding 1. Can you understand a person without putting yourself in the other’s persons place? 2. If people do not speak the same language, how can they understand each other? 3. If you could not speak someone’s language, how could you try to make yourself understandable? 4. What kind of things could you do without understanding? 5. Can a person know something without understanding it? 6. What is the difference between understanding an animal and a person? 7. Can you understand where the light goes when it is dark? 8. Can you perceive something without understanding it? 9. What is the difference between understanding a game and understanding a cat? 10. Do you understand electricity? What does that mean? Exercise: Thinking about understanding A. How have you used the word “understanding”? B. Think about your own experiences and how they express different ways of un- derstanding. C. Think – what do you mean, when you say you “understand” a) A story e) A rule b) A person f) A proverb c) A painting g) A cat d) A joke h) A meaning i) A child Leading Idea 3: Imagination Ella wants to imagine what it would be like to come to a new class. So she wants to put herself in another’s place. She asks herself how she would feel and think – she wants to imagine it and she tries to experience and see things from a different perspective. That means developing empathy as a basic skill. Fantasy is also an activity of the imagination. Children are able to move back and forth between reality and fantasy, so children have a vivid imagination and great flexibility. This is something that should be recognized. Adults can learn from children to reconstruct in fresh different and innovative ways; to re-assemble imaginatively. Of course there are many different aspects when we say “We are using our imagination.” We imagine when we daydream, when we pretend, when we fantasize and when we act. You can also refer to the manual to Ella episode 4 and the manual to www.whatsyour- name.you, episode 1.