Page - 107 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

CHRIsTIAN (MANUAL) 107 determine their identity. It implies dealing with differences from a natural perspective, and knowing how to differentiate without judging, giving a certain value simply to the fact that we are different or similar (this means not saying “everything from outside is better because from inside it is always worse”, or vice versa). Discrimination implies an election based on differences, giving a certain weight to those differences. We are constantly making decisions or judgments based on the differences or simi- larities between the options we have. When discriminating, the choice is usually made by considering general characteristics of the groups where the options belong (paying no attention to individual characteristics). From a cosmopolitan framework, it is very prob- lematic to discriminate for reasons of ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, culture or political ideas in contexts or situations where these characteristics have nothing to do with the choice being made. We can find an example in Christian, when a girl is not allowed to play soccer on the team simply because of her gender, without considering the more im- portant criteria of her ability to play soccer. Here, the other students assume that girls are worse players than boys, and they apply this generalization to the girl herself. In this situ- ation, the other students assume that being a girl is a relevant criteria to decide whether or not girls belong on the team. Linked to the idea of need and justice that we have already seen in previous chapters, some countries have established what is called positive discrimination for certain minori- ties, who for historical reasons are in disadvantaged situations, and therefore need more support or better opportunities. The following discussion plans and exercises aim to help students to reflect about differences, similarities, their relation to identity, and finally, about the idea of positive dis- crimination. You can find further resources on the concept of “difference” in the manual to Ella, epi- sode 4, leading idea 6, discussion plan “Differences” and in the manual to Tina and Amir, episode 6, leading idea 3, exercises and discussion plans on “Perceiving differences”. Exercise: Similarities and differences Analyze the relevance of the similarities and differences between the following sen- tences, imagining general contexts and searching for criteria that would make these similarities or differences relevant. It is not only very important to know how to establish similarities and differences, but also to know which is more relevant, and to determine the relevance of the similarities or the differences for the purpose of the comparison. For example, a computer and a hair dryer both run on electricity, but this is usually not relevant for comparing them, unless we need to use both and we only have one plug. The same applies to differences; for example, if one film is 90 minutes long and another 110 minutes long, the difference in duration is not sig- nificant for comparison, unless, for example, we are watching from a laptop that has only 95 minutes of remaining battery power. 1. Whiteboards and blackboards are different because whiteboards have many parts while blackboards have hardly any parts. 2. A compass and the North Star are similar because they both tell us where the North is. 3. Identical twins are similar because they wear the same clothes. 4. Books and newspapers are similar because both require we know how to read if we want to use them.