Page - 116 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

116 REfLECTIvE COsMOPOLITANIsM Episode 9: Birthday celebration and the ablution rite Leading Idea1: Rites, customs and ceremonies Human beings have deep-rooted customs. Generally speaking, a custom is a social prac- tice or behavioral pattern that is well rooted in society and which many people follow. This practice sometimes becomes law, and even if it does not, it sometimes has the same value. So whoever does not go along with these patterns runs the risk of being excluded or criticized. They sometimes become so important that we call them “traditions”. Customs vary from one society to another and from one group to another. When you go to another town or country, it is easy to see they have different customs regard- ing clothes, food, timetables, etc. Customs also vary depending on which social class or group you belong to. Customs also change with time. What once was a deep-rooted custom may change as new customs appear with the same force as previous ones. Customs are normally use- ful in facilitating human behavior and reinforcing symbols of identity within the group. One of the reasons for changing a custom is that it is no longer useful. We could regard rites and ceremonies as customs that hold a higher symbolic mean- ing than habits, which are behaviors that are repeated over time (and therefore can be taken as customs), but from a very practical approach, just following the principle of mak- ing things easier by repetition. The difficulty of changing customs, rites, ceremonies, and habits is related to how deep its application is rooted in the people, and how strong its symbolic meaning is. These two elements are interesting points to discuss with students. We suggest you address these topics using the exercises you will find in the manual to www.whatisyourname.you, episode 3, leading idea 4, exercise “Loyalty towards tradi- tions” and discussion plan “Culture and traditions”. Discussion Plan: Reflexions about customs26 1. Imagine you move to a society where people do not have the custom of wearing clothes. Would you continue to wear clothes? Can you think of any situation where wearing clothes is not useful? 2. When you want the teacher’s attention, is it customary to raise your hand? Is it a custom to stand up when the teacher enters the room? 3. Is knocking on the door before entering a custom? 4. When a fight breaks out in the playground, is it customary to try to stop the fight? Or is forming a circle to watch the fight a custom? 5. If you see someone who has fallen and hurt himself, is it a custom to help that person or do you call somebody else to help? 6. If a group of children see two big children stealing something from a smaller child, is it customary for that group to intervene and make them give it back? 7. Are customs always good? 26 Based on the manual Philosophical Inquiry, Matthew Lipman, F. Oscanyan, and Ann Margaret Sharp, Philosophical Inquiry. Instructional Manual to Accompany HARRY STOTTLEMEIER’S DISCOVERY. Boston, University Press of America-IAPC, 1985, chapter IX.