268 Chapter 8 good communication and, within this communication, intentional pedagogical delaying and connecting. PI4 moves the conversation back to the four attitudes, proposing a pedagogical process that shifts from ‘working for’ via ‘working with’ to ‘being with’ as the pedagogical goal. To prepare students for managing this process, he found particularly helpful what he saw in the project as deliberate exposure to high levels of diversity to elicit an attitude of readiness to act, like the Good Samaritan from the devotion. According to PI1, exposure has more to do with ‘being’ than with ‘working’, and it starts with paying good attention to others. PI4 adds presence, while PI2 thinks of presence without judgement. Again, the conversation switches to the topic of epistemology, as already analysed in Chapter 7. PI1 relates how DCU students initially resisted an assignment to visit a mosque, exhibiting an attitude that had both defensive and offensive elements but lacked a tranquil being. PO1 thinks that being a real self in the first place supports this kind of tranquil being and makes the person more relaxed when handling differences. According to PO3, the homogeneous composition of the DCU student groups is a challenge, as much of society’s diversity is relatively new for most of the students. At multi-ethnic schools, students learn to handle these differences much earlier. For PI2, this underlines the need for good student guidance. PI1 asks how, because this really pertains to the core of the formational process. PO3 answers that it happens throughout the day, although it specifically emerges from the Christian identity and its consequences for behaviour. In this context, it is important to open oneself up in the sense of being vulnerable. PI1 and PI2 ask whether vulnerability should be seen as a key quality, which PO3 confirms, stating the importance of deliberately creating spaces for students to come forth with their vulnerability. PO2 adds that much of the initial attitude of hesitation or defence is motivated by a fear of vulnerability. PO4 is convinced that this is part of the normal development phase that, specifically, the youngest trainee teachers are going through. PI1 sees a need for the development of more nuanced thinking, although PO4 responds that there is a much deeper need to develop an interest in the world behind the words that the other brings to the table. PI3 confirms that conversations wherein students practice real listening skills help them to engage with this world. PI1 adds that, in the new curriculum, there is a first attempt to let the youngest students practice interviews with people who are fundamentally different to them, in combination with lessons on community formation. PI4 again stresses the importance of exposing students to levels of diversity that are challenging to them, with the intention of enabling them to learn how complexity can add to their personal growth. If that lesson is learned, while not every prejudice
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