Page - 96 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

96 REfLECTIvE COsMOPOLITANIsM Leading Idea 2: Putting yourself in the other’s place and empathy Putting oneself in the other’s place, being capable of looking at reality from different perspec- tives, and developing one’s empathy are probably the best ways to not only get to know what others believe and value, but also to feel, understand, appreciate, and value others’ beliefs. Having good empathy undoubtedly improves your understanding of other people´s reality and problems, and allows you to better appreciate both their behavior and its caus- es. “To sense one’s and others’ feelings we must pay attention to non-verbal language: looks, gestures, postures…” In the story, Raul and Bochdan show the greatest empathic capacity and they appear to have a better understanding of the reality around them. This probably helps them with their innovative ideas when alternatives to problems are re- quired. In episode 2, Bochdan even puts himself in the place of the Ecuadorians and their right to play on the courts. As Carl Rogers states, empathy is the capacity to feel and think as if one were the other, without actually being the other. In order to do that, we must develop some specific skills and abilities, such as listening, interpreting, managing feelings, taking different per- spectives into consideration, etc. From the cosmopolitan approach we want to work on, the capacity to put oneself in another’s place, as well as to develop empathy, are basic skills or abilities that allow us to reach beyond the local sphere, and to be open to other realities or ways of life that we may encounter by looking at reality from a global perspective. You can find further resources on the concept of “empathy” in the manual to Tina and Amir, episode 2, leading idea 2 on “Empathy”, discussion plans and exercises. Activity/Exercise: Putting oneself in the place of the Other and working on empathy Explanation Duration 20 (LG=Large Group, G5=Groups of five, F=Facilitator, I=Individual) G2: Participants organize in groups of 2 (couples), one in front of the other. One of the two will act like a mirror, doing what the other is do- ing without touching. They have to look at each other at all times, and maintain eye contact. The one who guides can move from one place to another in the room. After two minutes we change, and the one who guides will now be the mirror. LG: When we finish, we all talk about what we imagine the other person was feeling while he or she was acting as the mirror. Is the feeling shared by others? Did we feel the same? Now each person will write a situation they have experienced or seen on a card (empty cards are given by the facilitator). They don’t write their names on the cards. The facilitator shuffles the cards, and begins reading them one by one. After each card, the group tries to describe what the person involved 20 Given times in this exercise are estimates for a group of 20. Teachers should adapt the time to their class size. 10 minutes 20 minutes