Can symbols define us?

Understanding Myself

Use symbols to represent different aspects of our identity–those aspects that define us and those we share. Reflect on whether using symbols may influence how we see ourselves.

Life skills covered in this lesson:

Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness is the ability to see ourselves clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection. It includes recognition of ourselves, our context, our personal qualities, our strengths and weaknesses, our values and beliefs, likes and dislikes, dreams and aspirations, etc., contributing towards our sense of identity. It is also the ability to recognise the contradiction between our aspirations, abilities and values. It is knowledge of our feelings and emotions and how they influence our decisions and behaviour.

Self-Awareness helps us recognise when we are stressed or under pressure. It allows us to see things from the perspective of others, practice self-control, work creatively and productively, and experience pride in ourselves and our work thus contributing to an overall sense of confidence and optimism.

Self-Awareness In Action

The person will be able to:

Understand their emotions.
Accurately label emotions and recognise how they are linked to behaviour.
Analyze how thoughts affect decision making and responsible behaviour.
Identify their personal strengths and weaknesses.
Develop personal skills and interests they desire to have.
Identify their values and beliefs.
Analyse how personal qualities and values influence choices and successes.
Accept themselves with a sense of optimism about personal abilities and skills.
Recognise the different roles they play in the context of age, gender, family, community and school/working place.
Recognise their rights and duties as individuals and their responsibility towards themselves and society.

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel, see things from their point of view and context, imagine ourselves in their place and respond appropriately. Empathy is relating to others with acceptance, understanding, and sensitivity to their diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, and taking action accordingly.

Empathy plays an important role in being a socially competent person with meaningful social relationships. The ability to empathise is important for promoting positive behaviours towards others, and facilitating social interactions and relationships, thus motivating altruistic behaviour. This skill also makes us challenge intolerance, bias and stereotyping when we see it.

Empathy In Action

The person will be able to:

Listen well, pay attention to non-verbal communication and pick up subtle cues.
Understand others’ perspectives and feelings.
Show sensitivity towards others.
Help other people based on their understanding of their needs and feelings.
Respect and relate well to everyone, regardless of their diverse backgrounds.
Alter the way they interact with others to fit with the others’ diverse needs and feelings.
Appreciate others for their strengths and accomplishments.
Provide constructive feedback to others to help them improve.
Put the needs of others first and look for ways to improve their situations.

Communication

Communication is the ability to express ourselves and respond to people, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our culture and situation. This includes listening attentively and respectfully; expressing our opinions and desires, needs and fears in an assertive manner; as well as being able to ask for advice and help in times of need. It is a way of connecting with others by conveying our ideas, facts, thoughts, feelings, and values.

Effective Communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish.

Communication In Action

The person is able to:

Listen actively without interrupting their peers, friends, teachers, family, etc.
Recognise when to listen or speak.
Express their thoughts clearly using verbal and para verbal cues.
Express themselves in a variety of ways.
Say ‘’no’’ in an assertive manner without being disrespectful.
Consider others’ opinions and feelings before responding.

Perspective Taking

Perspective Taking is the ability to imagine and understand a situation based on how it appears to others and their cognitive and emotional response to it. It is the ability to recognize their points of view, experiences and beliefs even when different from our own. This recognition creates the basis of mutual understanding, leading to new learning, reshaping our social interactions and developing new world views that are broader and more inclusive in nature.

Overall, Perspective Taking promotes social bonds, unlocks the potential of diversity in teams, leads to creative solutions and diminishes the possibility and impact of stereotyping.

Perspective Taking In Action

The person will be able to:

Practise active listening skills when their friends or group members are sharing their story or viewpoint.
Identify the need to seek out and include views, opinions and experiences of their classmates, teammates and groups in general.
Identify and acknowledge the experiences, feelings, and viewpoints of others even though they are different from their own.
Find ways of expressing their emotions in ways that others can understand and accept, especially in times of conflicts and differences of opinion.

Play Video

Download Activity Guide as:

PDF

Google Slides

Download Lesson Plan as:

PDF

Google Doc

Give feedback on this lesson

Screen size not supported

Unfortunately our platform is currently restricted to large display sizes. Please increase the window size or visit using a suitable device. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Visit Our Homepage

Cookie	Duration	Description
_hjFirstSeen	30 minutes	Hotjar sets this cookie to identify a new user’s first session. It stores the true/false value, indicating whether it was the first time Hotjar saw this user.
_hjRecordingEnabled	never	Hotjar sets this cookie when a Recording starts and is read when the recording module is initialized, to see if the user is already in a recording in a particular session.
_hjRecordingLastActivity	never	Hotjar sets this cookie when a user recording starts and when data is sent through the WebSocket.
_hjSession_*	30 minutes	Hotjar sets this cookie to ensure data from subsequent visits to the same site is attributed to the same user ID, which persists in the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site.
_hjSessionUser_*	1 year	Hotjar sets this cookie to ensure data from subsequent visits to the same site is attributed to the same user ID, which persists in the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_hjCookieTest	session	No description available.
_hjIncludedInSessionSample_3589320	2 minutes	Description is currently not available.

Understanding Myself

Can symbols define us?

Screen size not supported

BETA: Our learning platform is still in the testing phase - your feedback will help us to improve it.