A person with a different appearance can create fear, curiosity and even hostility amongst other people. In adult education divergence from the "norm" can be a frequent occurrence. This may become a problem in classes especially where adult education co-operates with classes from schools for young students.

Case

In your class, where there are both youngsters and adults, is a young man - Tobias 17 and he has a punk hairstyle. He also has a lot of tattoos on his arms. He shows them off by always wearing a t-shirt with short sleeves. When it is time for group work nobody wants to sit besides him or work with him. It is the same both for the young students and the older ones.

Tobias feels excluded from the group and this makes him resistant to participate in group activities. You want the group to prepare a presentation.

How can you help Tobias to be accepted in the group?

Reflections

• Do you know anything of his special interests?
• Is it possible to have him to tell the group anything about his outfit and style?
• Can you talk - in the group - why some kind of outfits frighten other people and why we talk about 'normality'?

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