Unit
12: Identity, Perception, Knowledge
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Lesson Plan: Major philosophical issues Connections between mind, brain, personality, face, names and labels. The ways 'labels' direct our perception and understanding. Whether the use of a particular label or name changes the reality the object or our perception of a person. How do we know who we are? Can something exist before we think of it? The importance of belonging and companionship. Feelings of isolation and separation. Treating people with dignity. Faces and facades. View Munch Kids Segments: A Load of Old Rubbish Converting rubbish into something useful depends on your imagination. The possibilities appear endless to the children who wonder 'What can't be useful?' The children explore the concept of rubbish looking for ways of categorising it. Is something rubbish because it is in a garbage bin - i.e. someone has considered it rubbish? One boy describes a bloody tissue as really being objectively rubbish - it can't be recycled, therefore it is useless. Another child refers to the way street people are stepped over by others who judge them to be rubbish. The MUNCH KIDS agree that humans don't deserve to be judged as rubbish and decide some things, like humans, are never rubbish -- dead or alive. Another meaning of rubbish that is discussed is something that is untrue or unbelievable. Things that appear to have no cause or reason are seen as rubbish. It can also be used to describe misplaced emotions. Quotes 'It's not what we do with it, it's sort of like, how we think of it.' 'I saw all these people on the streets and people were just stepping over them ... and stepping on their legs like they're a dead cat or something ... so they just judged them as like they were rubbish and dirt.' 'Poor people don't deserve to be judged as rubbish. Poor people are humans just like rich people.' Questions How do things change when we think about them differently? What changes about our perceptions of things when we give them different names? If we treat people as rubbish does that mean they become rubbish? Face The MUNCH KIDS wonder what features are required to label something 'a face'. David thinks the reality of things is tied to their function - e.g. a face enables us to see, hear, talk etc. Terence provides a new meaning for face - the front of things. The discussion moves between face, personality, mind, brain and body. The MUNCH KIDS wonder about the connection of mind/brain/personality and face. They query whether swapping faces would change personality or whether the whole head, or even the whole body, would need to be exchanged. Two notions of the face are discussed: as a facade or shield which hides the inner self, and a window which communicates between the inner self and the outer world. In each of these contexts the face is used to control interaction with others - either as a true or false control. Most of our understanding of others comes from making inferences based on what we observe. This can be manipulated, and the children recognise this fact. Quotes 'If I took my face off and put it on you, um ... would you be the same person?' 'There's personality in the whole body. Like the brain operates everything including the face.' '... sometimes the expression of their face tells the story of what had happened. You don't know the exact story but you know most of it.' 'I keep a smile on my face, but I am really angry inside.' Questions What is meant by the following words and expressions: on the face of it; digging below the surface; make-up; masking her true feelings; disguise; facade? How many of these words and phrases are derived from the notion of face? If you were able to wear another person's face who would you choose? Why? Discuss the relationship between wearing this face and your personality. Lost The MUNCH KIDS wonder whether you can be lost if someone knows where you are. They attempt to distinguish between feeling lost and being lost. Is this state a matter of perspective? The distinction between feeling lost and being lost is important - is it all in the mind? Being lost involves loss of orientation and being in a state of conscious isolation and separation. David, Vanessa and Samuel agree that feeling lost, even if someone else knows where you are, is a subjective experience. It is possible to feel isolated, lonely and friendless in a crowd. Some children find coping with social relations in the schoolground difficult. The importance of companions and friendships cannot be underestimated. On the other hand, a person can be alone without feeling lonely. Time spent on our own can be valued as time for reflecting or daydreaming. Quotes 'You don't have anyone near you, there's no-one around, there's no-one to go to and you are lost.' '... even if I knew my Mum and Dad knew where I was ... if I couldn't see them I'd feel that I'd be lost.' 'If you think you're lost then you're lost, it's not another person's mind.' 'It's your feeling in your heart and if you feel you are lost then you're lost.' Questions Can you be lost in familiar places? If being lost is a state of mind, can it occur in your When does something become lost? What about For something to be called lost, does there have to be Knowing and Identity Activity One: English What's in a name? Example: List types of names for people under the headings Positive and Negative. Include nouns such as dreamer and worker. Encourage the children to share their latest jargon and explore what it means and how it affects others.
Discuss these questions, comparing kinds of loss: 1. Is losing your mind the same as losing your bike? 2. What does the word 'lost' mean in the following phrases: Activity Three: English Ask the students to list all the things you can lose (not belongings!), e.g. trust, opportunity, balance, self-control, sense of place, voice, direction, a contest, your way. Provide opportunities for the children to examine the meaning of these expressions. Activity Four: The Arts Create two kinds of masks, one which depicts certain moods or feelings, and the other which disguises emotion. Ask the children to explain their choice and the feelings revealed or disguised. Others can be invited to interpret the masks. (A discussion about what this reveals would be instructive.) Draw five different interpretations of the word face and label them, e.g. the face of a clock, face the wall, etc. Knowing and Perception Activity One: English Explore the meaning of the following with your class: In Face, claymation figures demonstrate all kinds of expressions. As a class use modelling clay to make your own figures with faces showing different expressions. Groups can see how many kinds of faces they can make to express one emotion e.g. surprise. Activity Two: The Arts, English,Health/PE, SOSE Observation of everyday objects can tell us about each other. The class can remove their shoes and place one shoe in a pile at the front of the room and the other shoe out of sight. In turn, each student randomly selects a shoe from the pile, and after examining it, decides to whom it belongs and returns it. Shoes can be interesting objects to use for detailed still life drawing or model making. Encourage the children to include detail of line, style, 'personality' and/or function. Activity Three: SOSE, Technology Design a timeline for a piece of rubbish demonstrating changes which have taken place over its lifetime. Brainstorm ways in which rubbish can be used to create a new product, e.g. tyres into road surfaces. The new product must be useful to society. The class can set up their own parameters for the product. Knowing and Perception Activity Four: English SOSE Technology Freeze the frame of the boat in Rubbish. The following questions should
stimulate discussion: Refer to the following dialogue: Ask each child to bring an object from home which they classify as rubbish. The class then first designs a set of criteria for classifying the rubbish and then classifies the objects accordingly. Try changing the criteria and see if the items move from one section to another. What change has taken place? Design a machine that reuses rubbish in a constructive way.
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