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Dot Lenton
on 2 February 2012 at 15:12
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!
Dot Lenton
on 13 November 2011 at 18:10
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!
Barbara Vidion
on 3 October 2011 at 16:36
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!
Dot Lenton
on 27 September 2011 at 14:36
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......
Barbara Vidion
on 13 September 2011 at 18:10
"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!
Dot Lenton
on 8 September 2011 at 14:17
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!
Dot Lenton
on 2 September 2011 at 13:58
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....
Dot Lenton
on 12 May 2011 at 21:20
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.
Barbara Vidion
on 26 March 2011 at 15:47
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.
Barbara Vidion
on 5 March 2011 at 17:36
"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!
Barbara Vidion
on 23 February 2011 at 18:36
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."
Dot Lenton
on 15 January 2011 at 11:23
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!
Dot Lenton
on 4 December 2010 at 11:41
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".
Dot Lenton
on 29 November 2010 at 12:19
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."
Barbara Vidion
on 1 November 2010 at 10:22
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.
Dot Lenton
on 5 October 2010 at 18:46
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.
Dot Lenton
on 10 September 2010 at 12:14
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."
Barbara Vidion
on 23 August 2010 at 19:57
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."
Barbara Vidion
on 23 August 2010 at 19:51
"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!
Barbara Vidion
on 9 August 2010 at 21:42
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!