Philosophy4Children Blog

Philosophy4Children welcomed warmly in West Yorkshire.

2012-02-02T15:12:36.000-00:00

Although the weather was extremely cold Barbara and I received a very warm welcome at Ashlands School in Ilkley. The staff plied us with rolls, cake and cups of tea as well as lots of interest and enthusiasm for teaching philosophy. This is a school that really involves children in their own learning. This ethos is so important when delivering philosophy for children in the classroom. The staff are keen to become co-enquirers with the children and demonstrated a passionate desire to make this method of teaching and learning work. We had a brilliant time and we came away buzzing with new thoughts and ideas. These are our favourite sessions - where imagination, excitement and stimulating conversation abound. The next blog will have some quotes from the school - so watch this space!

Enthusiasm in London

2011-11-13T18:10:36.000-00:00

Barbara and I enjoyed an excellent day working with the staff of Mayville Primary School in Waltham Forest. There was a real buzz about the school and there was genuine enthusiasm for introducing philosophy4children in the classroom. The head teacher ended the day by giving the staff  passionate encouragement to begin working in this way with the children. She explained that it was important to give the children confidence in thinking for themselves and not following the gang culture that exists outside in the local area. We came away excited and encouraged by what we had seen and heard. One teacher said, "This session was fantastic. It's what we needed here!" We are both looking forward to finding out how the school progresses. It is really exciting!

Flying High!

2011-10-03T16:36:46.000-00:00

Thursday and Friday proved to be very busy when Philosophy4Children went international. We flew to Holland to take part in the Dutch International Schools Conference held at the International School in Hilversum. Keynote speakers on Friday were JoAnn Deak, educator and psychologist speaking on Differentiation by Stretching and Growing Children's Brains and Frank Furedi, professor of Sociology at the University of Kent who spoke on The Risks of the Pedagogy of Differentiation. There were over 1,000 delegates from across Holland - the atmosphere was buzzing! We ran two workshops, both were full to capacity, and had a great mix of teachers - both primary and secondary, philosophers, school governors and managers. We were impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of all those involved and, as always, Dot and I enjoyed ourselves immensely! 

A first for Philosophy4Children

2011-09-27T14:36:04.000-00:00

We were thrilled and delighted to be invited to write an article about philosophy for children in the new magazine Primary Teacher Update! Now the article is in print and in the very first edition of the magazine! If you want to have a look go to www.primaryteacherupdate.co.uk

This is a very new magazine that celebrates the very best in Primary Classroom Practice! We think that it is worth the £3.99 asking price. You can read about how to tackle head lice to helping parents to help their children at home to philosophy in the classroom and much much more......

I wasn't sure ... I am now!

2011-09-13T18:10:19.000-00:00

"I was not sure about the "wee" ones (year 3) being capable of embracing philosophy, but I am now!" This was one of the comments from a teacher following an INSET day in North Norfolk last week.

It is always exciting to see Philosophy4Children embraced with enthusiasm. This was certainly the case when we worked with staff at Beeston Hall School. Our training is experiential and gives everyone a chance to take part in a philosophical enquiry - to experience what the children will experience, what better way to learn!

Here are a few other comments following the session:

"It allows for deeper thinking and reflection for all..."

"I can see how it helps to develop a culture of no right / wrong way and of respecting others' opinions"

"It helped me to think more widely and I could see how it would help the children too. Not too much to listen to and plenty of time for input and thinking."

It was a pleasure to work with such an enthusiastic group of teachers. I'm sure children at Beeston Hall will have an exciting time with philosophy over the years to come!

Philosophy rules the waves!

2011-09-08T14:17:03.000-00:00

Barbara and I enjoyed a stimulating session at Beeston Hall School on Tuesday. Everyone took part with enthusiasm - even the "games" we had constructed to make everyone think! The feed-back was really positive. Watch this space for more about this very enjoyable morning spent next to the North Sea at West Runton with this inspiring team of educators! 

Where has Philosophy4Children been during the summer?

2011-09-02T13:58:40.000-00:00

It seems some time since we blogged. However, things have not stood still for Philosophy4Children. Our flight to Holland is booked and we will be off to work in Hilversum at the tDIS Teachers' Conference in September. We are taking a somewhat circuitous route via Einhoven. More to follow....

Coming up for air!

2011-05-12T21:20:04.000-00:00

Barbara and I have been working away at an article - Is philosophy what you think? - and then spent over 2,600 words explaining why it might not be. There are many misconceptions out there. We wanted to explore and explode some of these myths. The article may well appear in one of these blogs in the future - but for now I will leave you with one tantalising bit: What is the point of philosophy?

The point is to enable children to explore and deepen their thinking, to be exposed to other's ideas, to gain confidence and become independent learners. Done well, philosophy teaches children skills for life and learning: an ability to question beyond the obvious; to disagree respectfully, giving considered reasons. This impacts on all areas of the curriculum. As one five-year-old said, "philosophy is about everything we do". How very true.

No-one knows!!

2011-03-26T15:47:22.000-00:00

See what this group of Y3 and Y4 children have to say. They started with the question Why Do We Exist? This is a tiny piece of a fascinating enquriy!

Lydia: People say the first people were cave men, but they were just normal people – cave men are nothing to do with why we are alive.

Jack: I disagree with you Lydia. If cavemen aren't anything to do with us...

Lydia: What I mean is they weren't the first people in the world. No-one knows who was the first.

Kara: Well, most people think Adam and Eve were the first people on earth. But, no-one knows for sure.

Emily: But Kara, to know whether Adam and Eve were the first, we have to know how they were created.

Lydia: But how can we find out? Books weren't written then.

Kara: People in the future might be able to find out, but we never will.

Food for thought

2011-03-05T17:36:04.000-00:00

 "Many thanks for yesterday. I thought it went very well and has given us much food for thought." This is the response from our latest training session. On Monday Philsophy4Children returned to London to work with a great group of teachers in Eltham. We had a very stimulating philosophical enquiry using the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (ISBN 0-060256626). This book is excellent as it always raises a variety of issues. Monday was no exception. We explored whether humans are misusing the planet; what the nature of giving is; the existence (or not) of God; the concept of Mother Nature plus much more. Indeed, a lot of food for thought!

What will the children get from philosophy?

2011-02-23T18:36:55.000-00:00

Philosophy4Children travelled to Dudley, just outside Birmingham last week. The twilight session with staff from 3 local primary schools finished with a philosophical enquiry. I was asked by one of the teachers "Our thinking has gone really deep with this - what will the children get from philosophy?" The answer came the following morning when we worked with Year 2 and Year 6 to deliver demonstration lessons. The children were stunning, their thinking was just as deep and they explored (amonst other things) the meaning of love and the existence of God, they were much more able to think "outside the box" and were extremely keen to explore ideas and challenge each other. Here is some of the feedback we got "the session with the children was of particular interest as they were clearly more relaxed than the adults." " An extremely useful session. Good to see how children can develop, think and speak when given the chance... I expect it to aid me in my attitude towards the children as well as helping them. Of course I'll use it."

Thinking in Dulwich

2011-01-15T11:23:56.000-00:00

Philosophy4Children enjoyed an exciting and rewarding session at Dulwich College Preparatory School in London last Monday. The enthusiasm and commitment of all the staff was very encouraging. Their involvement in the experiential session was great! The genuine desire to pursue excellence is clearly seen - there is a real buzz about the school. We would also recommend their excellent breakfast! We would like to visit this school again!

Tailored to your needs

2010-12-04T11:41:54.000-00:00

 One of the most important aspects of the training we offer is that it is tailored exactly to the needs of each school we visit. We recently returned to a school we first worked with a couple of years ago and found them still passionate about philosophy. As there were several teachers new to the school we split into two groups - Dot lead one group through what philosophy is and, just as important, what it is not! The second group, who had been using philosophy for some time, looked at the role of facilitator and developing questioning techniques. Feedback from both groups was very positive "...lots of good ideas on questioning to extend children" and, from a teacher new to philosophy, "I would feel confident holding a philosophy session after this training session".

Partnership at Henley

2010-11-29T12:19:15.000-00:00

Visiting the Henley partnership schools proved interesting, if somewhat crowded. All fifty of us were packed into the ICT suite - kindly provided by the high school. However trying to have eye contact with all members of the group was a real challenge! The staff demonstrated that they are keen to extend and continue their work in listening skills with their pupils. Although we were a large group in a smallish space, we just about managed to split into two for the experiential workshops. It was difficult not to overhear, and become distracted by, what the others were saying - so a lesson for us in future is to make sure that the venue is big enough! We were warmly welcomed and one member of staff said of the session: "Yes it was very useful. I think my own philosophy for learning is very similar to the ethos of this session."

Philosophy on Radio 4

2010-11-01T10:22:26.000-00:00

How exciting to hear of the importance of primary school philosophy on Radio 4 Woman's Hour this week (27/10/10). A  philosophy student at Warwick University talked about how her interest in philosophy started as a child when she explored questions such as "why am I me and not someone else" with her friend - showing how natural this thinking in children and how important it is to encourage and develop it. The two guests on the programme, Dr Angie Hobbs and Professor Helen Beebee had both seen philosophy with primary children at work "Absolutely inspirational" was the verdict of Dr Hobbs after witnessing 8 and 9 year olds in a critical thinking skills session led by SAPERE exploring the difference between wants and needs. "Marvellous, philosophy really teaches you how to think about things for yourself" was the comment from Professor Beebeee.

Gifted and Talented workshop

2010-10-05T18:46:37.000-00:00

After working in a summer school for gifted and talented pupils in a Suffolk High School we received some encouraging feedback - particularly from the pupils. One year 6 girl said: "The philosophy session today was really interesting because it made me think more than usual about every-day life, about all the opportunities there are to stretch myself and think about something I haven't thought about before." One of the teachers said that it made the students stop and think more deeply about the topics we introduced and "it was interesting to see how they dealt with questions that have no right answers". The Assistant Headteacher was so impressed with the way in which the pupils had responded to the challenging questioning that she is considering how it can be successfully incorporated into the school curriculum. 

The school also rated the content as "excellent". For presentation the assistant headteacher  wrote: "Professional delivery in a manner that both encouraged and engaged our students." It was a very enjoyable experience for us too.

Thinking really hard

2010-09-10T12:14:20.000-00:00

It was very exciting to work with a school that has a strong mission to get all its children thinking really hard! The staff at Swaffham Infant School are a dedicated group who are keen to give their children time to listen, reflect and respond. During the first session we talked briefly about the history of P4C - particularly looking at examples of how easy it is to dismiss children's thoughts and ideas without really pursuing them. 

Later in our experiential session we talked about how modern living can have a negative impact on exploration. One member of staff wrote to us and said, 

"I just wanted to say a big thank you for the training you gave today at Swaffham Infant School. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and found the whole concept fascinating. I really do hope that all schools will start using philosophy for children, for all ages. I think it would benefit young people immensely. 
Thank you again for a truly interesting training session."

Feedback

2010-08-23T19:57:49.000-00:00

When we delivered p4c today we took along an observer, this is her feedback after watching the session.

"Excellent presentation. I gained an enormous insight into the way in which children think. It helped me to evaluate my own practice as a teacher and review preconceived ideas that I have. Very thought provoking."

Try Rdeainig Tihs

2010-08-23T19:51:53.000-00:00

"I cdnuol't  blveiee taht I cluod aclaltuy uesdnatrd  waht I was rdgnaeig. The phaonmnael pweor fo the hmuan mnid!" This was the starting point for our work today with two groups of gifted and talented young people (Y6, 7 and 8) at a summer school in Suffolk. This led to very animated thinking! One group explored the capacity of the human mind and what we mean when we speak of "self". The second group puzzled over what language is and the conventions we have and how they have developed. Dot and I had a great time and our thinking was definitely stretched!

Philosophy4Adults

2010-08-09T21:42:27.000-00:00

At Philosophy4Children we often work with groups of adults who are keen to explore how to use philosophy with children in their school. Last week we were delighted to work with quite a different group of adults who had no connection to a school at all. The Erasmus Foundation. in rural Suffolk, invited us to guide them through a philosophy session. They were interested to discover how philosophy could be integrated into their group and their meetings. We had a wonderful evening and were treated to a delightful supper into the bargain. We are beginning to see many possibilities of using philosophy beyond schools!