Different,disparate, unconventional, unfamiliar, uncommon, rare, dissimilar,unusual, special, unique; all words sharing the same meaning.Differencecan be detected throughout our whole social stratification, in ourimmediate... [ view full abstract ]
Different,disparate, unconventional, unfamiliar, uncommon, rare, dissimilar,unusual, special, unique; all words sharing the same meaning.
Differencecan be detected throughout our whole social stratification, in ourimmediate surroundings and everyday life. It is defined by ourlanguage and morals, customs and culture, ideology and religion,values and distinct capabilities.
Nohuman being identical to another, yet each one of us constantlysharing the same need, the recognition of our uniqueness.
Sodothechildren.Everysinglechildwishestobetreatedassuch;unique.Childrenlong for adults’ requisite ascertainment of their special, distinctcapabilities, for their appreciation and respect towards theirdifferentiated needs.
Thus,the ultimate aim of the educationalist is to educate the children insuch a way, so that to inspire empathy, urge creative cooperation,teach them how to understand and embrace ‘different’.
Ourmain aspiration is to replace fear with knowledge, peculiarity withacceptance and rejection with love.
Theaforesaid consensus was our guideline in the 2015 – 2016 trainingcourse, during which we did not only adopt an interdisciplinaryapproach to the matter, but an experiential one as well. The projecttitle was: “Everybody is different, yet we are all the same”. 80children aged from 4 to 5 years old took part in it and were giventhe chance of discussing and interacting with the other children –facing their fears – through active, experiential learning.
Modernteaching methods which emphasize on broad acceptance and interactionlead to the conclusion that the ‘difference’ issue ought to beconsidered as a sustainable one. The appropriate attitude towardsdifference does not imply taking on the same attitude towardseveryone, but an equal attitude towards the personalized needs ofevery single person!
Powerlies in dissimilarities rather than similarities!
