Seite - 115 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

CHRIsTIAN (MANUAL) 115 person defends his beliefs by means of arguments and tries to behave according to his ideas without hurting others. Assertiveness is not easy to develop because it requires the person both to not be aggressive and to not get passively carried away by what other people say. It requires a balanced understanding of oneself, argumentative capacity, courage, and social skills like openness, respect, interest in diversity, and an open mind. Discussion Plan: knowing yourself 25 In Philosophical Inquiry, we frequently practice metacognition. We urge students to think about their own thoughts. Part of this task is aimed at getting to know yourself while trying not to be too soft or too hard on yourself, your features, or your behav- ior. This discussion plan can help address this problem. 1. If you saw someone who looked very much like you, would you think that per- son is you? 2. Could your friends mistake you for another person? 3. Why are you sure that you are you? 4. Do you know yourself better than other people know you? 5. Do you know your teeth better than your dentist? 6. Do you know your eyes better than your optician? 7. Do you know how your shoes fit you better than anyone else? 8. Are you the only person who knows your thoughts? 9. Is it possible for someone else to express your thoughts better than yourself? 10. When you do something, do you always know why you do it? 11. Do you sometimes ask yourself why you did something after you have done it? 12. Do you sometimes want things you would prefer not to want? 13. Is it possible that you may never get some of the things you expect to get, or achieve some of the goals you expect to achieve? 14. Will you possibly get some of the things you dare not even think of getting? Exercise: Weak points and strong points To reach a good standard of assertiveness, we must be conscious of our strong points and weak points. We should try to reach equilibrium between our strong and weak points, guaranteeing a balanced behavior, while using our strong points to improve our weak ones. Give each student a blank sheet of paper and ask them to write 50 good things about themselves on one side and 50 bad things about themselves on the other side. Allocat- ing 5 or 10 minutes for both should be enough time. Students normally find it harder to write good things than bad things. We could ask them if they have written down that they can read, write, add up, make their beds, etc. This could lead to a discussion about our abilities and valuing things that we think are irrelevant but which took a long time to master. 25 Based on the manual Philosophical Inquiry, Matthew Lipman, Fred Oscanyan, and Ann Margaret Sharp Philosophical Inquiry. Instructional Manual to Accompany HARRY STOTTLEMEIER’S DISCOVERY. Boston, University Press of America-IAPC, 1985, chapter IV.