PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN

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PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN

• FJS Curriculum Evening

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Are these apples dead or alive?
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OUTLINE OF THE EVENING

• What is P4C?
• Why do P4C?
• What does P4C look like?
• Ground Rules
• How often do we do it?
• Demonstration

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• Is a broken down car parked?

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What is Philosophy?

• The origin of the word philosophy come the greek
  words philos and sophy, whose literal translation
  is the love of wisdom.
• It is trying to work out our own best answers to
  questions that human beings will always be
  wondering about.
• For the purposes of FJS we have defined
  philosophy for children as a community of enquiry
  to help us make good judgements about what to
  think and what to do.

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What If.

• The sun never set on Fordingbridge again?

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What If.

• There were 28 hours in a day?

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Why do Philosophy?

• To cultivate curiosity and give time to value and
  explore childrens questions
• To develop childrens thinking skills as useful
  life skills (important in the information
  revolution)
• To develop co-operative discussion and to teach
  children how to respectfully agree, disagree and
  challenge others ideas and opinions
• To encourage children to challenge and question
  rather than accept
• To help children come to well thought out
  judgements
• To enhance the quality of childrens speaking and
  listening skills
• To develop childrens self-confidence and
  self-esteem by valuing and building on their
  ideas. Philosophy has no right or wrong answer.
• To create the opportunity to engage in deep
  learning
• To stimulate higher levels of creativity
• Employers want creative thinkers who can think on
  their feet and adapt to a rapidly changing world.

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What is ½ of love?
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• In P4C the role of the teacher is not as a
  dispenser of information, but rather as a
  facilitator of learning.

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The typical structure of a P4C session is as
follows

• Warm-up activity (for examples see below)
• Presentation of a stimulus this could be a
  story (or part of), a poem, a picture or
  photograph, a song or an artefact. The teacher
  presents the stimulus so all children can see,
  hear and engage with it
• Paired discussion or individual reflection to
  decide on a question they would like to ask about
  the stimulus
• The teacher scribes each question on a flipchart
  or whiteboard and puts the childrens name by it
• The children vote on the most interesting
  question, preferably anonymously
• The teacher facilitates a philosophical
  discussion to explore that question

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How do you know whether you are dreaming or
awake?
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Ground Rules for P4C

• Give everyone a turn at speaking
• Dont interrupt when someone else is talking
• Give support and help them add things
• Dont say anything mean, stupid or unpleasant
• If people dont want to say anything they dont
  have to.
• Dont laugh unkindly at something someone has
  said
• Think before you ask a question

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Children are encouraged to use certain speaking
frames to promote thinking/ respect for others
views

• I think..because..
• I agree with.because.
• I disagree with..because..
• I would like to ask(name of child)
• I would like to add to what.(name of
  child)said..

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How often do we do P4C?

• Twice a half-term as pure P4C
• Once a half-term as a cross-curricular input

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Demonstration time