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The Brief Thief

Investigating the ways we come to know through picture books

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Gender And Sexuality Education Philosophy with Children Reflections on Pedagogy

RHEA KUTHOORE

Sept 05, 2023 · 6 min read

Goal

An exploration of how we come to know ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Is there such a thing as an inner voice and what has it been influenced by? What other ways have you come to know about the difference between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’? If you could come up with criteria to differentiate ‘right’ from ‘wrong’, what would it be?

Pre-stimulus

1. Have you ever been in a situation wherein you have really wanted to do something and could just not hold yourself back? What was it and why did you hold back?
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2. Have you ever stopped yourself because you are afraid of getting caught?

Responses

C1: Yes, I really wanted to take revenge on my classmate but I could not.
Me: Why?
C1: Because he is absent today!
C2: I really wanted to get this painting right.
Me: What happened then?
C2: I kept making mistakes.
C3: I really wanted to go after my friend for making fun of me.
Me: But then?
C3: I was afraid he would find out that it was me and come after me!
AHA!

Stimulus

We played the ‘Ring of Gyges’ game — “All of you are given a blanket, which makes you invisible to the world. You can see everyone (including non-human species) when you wear this blanket but no one can see you (including non-human species). What would you do or not do?”

Responses

1. Eat 10 chocolates instead of one
2. Will hit people
3. I will not buy a ticket in the train
4. I will walk freely at night (me)
5. I will go underwater and see all the animals without fear (teacher)
6. I will dance freely and roam everywhere freely (teacher)
7. I will steal
8. I will eat everything possible there is to eat
9. I will see all the ghosts
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From these responses, we see that many of the children have shared that, without the fear of being watched or punished, they would do what they otherwise have been told as being ‘wrong’. Hence, it is worth exploring what they indeed feel is the difference between right and wrong and where it comes from.

Resource

‘The brief thief’ is a short picture book about a lizard, Leon, who takes a poo in the wild only to realize that there is nothing around for him to clean his bum with. He spots an underwear on the tree and decides to use it. Soon after, he begins to hear a voice. This voice (calling itself Leon’s conscience), begins to question Leon’s actions. Finally, Leon, feeling as though he had done something wrong, decides to wash the underwear and hang it back on the tree. Finally, we learn that the voice was indeed a Rabbit’s voice and that maybe the underwear belonged to it. This book is helpful in asking several questions about ‘our inner voice’ and morality.

Click here for the PDF

During reading: Questions & Responses

1. Do you have suggestions for Leon after he took his poo?
Responses: grass, stone, leaf

2. What do you think this new voice is?
Responses: the small bugs on the ground, ghost, orchid
Thinking skill: observation

3. If no one is around, could there be another possibility from where the voice is coming?
Response: no

4. Do you hear a little voice in your head, telling you things? When and why?

5. There were few suggestions for who this underwear belonged to. Are there any other possible alternatives?
Response: monkey, dropped from an airplane
Thinking skill: exploring other possibilities

6. Did león have reason enough to listen to the voice?
Response: yes

7. Should we always follow our conscience?

8. Could the rabbit be stealing the underwear, what about their conscience?
Response: no, because there are exactly two holes in the underwear. These two holes are space for the eyes, as made by the rabbit.
Thinking skill: deductive reasoning

9. What would happen if we didn’t have this “inner voice”?

10. Do we need ideas of right and wrong?

11. When have you felt something wrong has happened with you and why?

12. For those who do not feel hurt by hurting others, why do you think so? Was it because they were wronged?

Conversations

What would you do when you do not have water in the toilet? A funny conversation about our hacks when we do not have water.

If it were you, would you use the underwear? The children mentioned reasons for whether they would use the underwear. Reasons: it could be someone else’s used underwear

When would it be okay to take the underwear? If someone has disposed of it, would it be okay to use it? If someone is desperate, then would it be okay?

Here, the conversation became about when it is ‘okay’ to take someone else’s things.

C1: We must never take what does not belong to us because they will come and take back from us.
Thinking skill: Giving reasons

Me: But isn't the world so unequal? Some people have so much and some have so less. So, if there is a poor person desperate for food and they steal some food from the street, why is that not okay?
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C1: Because someone has worked hard to make that food.

Me: But are there not people who work hard and get paid too less? What if they do not have the money to afford food? Do you know of people who work very hard and get paid very less?

C1: Yes, I think my dad does not get paid as much as he should.

C2: The barber near my house does not get paid enough either.

In class learning

If you could come up with your own criteria to differentiate right from wrong, what would it be? From our conversations, we realized that our criteria might have to come from something besides being watched/punished and it has to be more nuanced than ‘it is not okay to take from others.’

RHEA KUTHOORE is an educator who is passionate about facilitating philosophical and feminist thinking amongst young people.

Thinking Rhizomatically

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