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This is the main index resource of the Philosophy4Children Blog feed. It was last updated Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:57:49 GMT. Description: Latest news from Philosophy4Children.
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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."
"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!
At Philosophy4Children we often works 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!
A very exciting, and excitable, group of teachers met at Woodside Infant and Nursery School in Hethersett last week. They have been pioneers in using philosophy for children in the classroom and wanted to see how that could move their children on into even deeper thinking. Philosophy4Children were able to help! We looked at the art of questioning itself and considered the tools that the facilitator needs to do this successfully. We also considered the nature of the questions themselves - how children's open imaginative questions can move into the philosophical. We looked at the way in which children's questions can cover all aspects of philosophical thought. Their questions range from the ethical (right and wrong) right through the social and political (rights and laws) spectrum to the epistemological (does science give us the right answers?) through to aesthetics and logic. We had a good session and staff seemed fired up to move on to the next level!!
Philosophy4Children spent a very enjoyable day delivering training to Rockland and Surlingham Schools. The schools have recently formed a partnership. The head teacher and her staff are wanting to work together and are keen to embed Philosophy4Children into their curriculum. Everyone took part enthusiastically and, after a technical hiccup at the start, the day went smoothly. Some staff have experience in this method of teaching, and for some it was a new approach. We began by asking three questions:
Why do children come to school?
What does it mean to learn?
Do we need to teach in order for children to learn?
This started some lively discussions before we went into learning mode ourselves. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the group and from comments at the end it seems to have been a very productive day.
Move forward button on our calendar to June to find out more about the exciting conference taking place at Barnham Broom with the School of Creativity. The day will be led by well-known speakers Chris Watkins and Luke Abbott. Not only will there be opportunities to learn about the inquiry curriculum, but also a chance to speak to children from a school who are using the Mantle of the Expert approach to learning. Should be an exciting and rewarding day.
Delegates should sign up for the conference by emailing office@surlingham.norfolk.sch.uk
Following the staff training we did at the school in Norwich, we returned a week later to carry out demonstration philosophy4children lessons throughout the school. Dot and I were delighted to find that some teachers, during the week between our visits, had run a philosophical enquiry with their classes!
We had a great day in the eight classes (Years 3 to 6). Children, teachers and support staff were all very enthusiastic, here are some of the staff comments:
"It allowed me to see a teachable structure with a class, how time needs to be given for pupils to formulate their answers, how children respond to each other and their ideas."
"Excellent modelling of flow of a session. It allowed me to pay attention to the class and listen to their ideas."
"Clear expectations set out to the children. I liked the content and the re-focusing techniques and questions"
"It helped children to think about their behaviour and how they should talk to each other."
It has been a vey busy start to the term for Philosophy4Children with more and more schools asking for training in how to use and develop philosophy with their children. Monday saw us working in a large junior school in Norwich with a very enthusiastic staff group. We are looking forward vey much to going back next week and spending the whole day working with the children.
On a snowy morning in North Norfolk we had an excellent session working with a large group of enthusiastic primary school teachers and teaching assistants. Once we had the technology working everything went well! The focus of the training was looking at the way in which Philosophy4Children can be utilised to improve children's writing. It was excellent to revisit this work, as it formed part of the action research that Barbara and I had undertaken for the Thinking Schools, Thinking Children project initiated by Norfolk Local Education Authority. The staff were not short of ideas which ranged from diary writing to hot seating and play scripts.
At the meeting of The Association of Philosophy for Children last week, at Hanford Hall Primary School in Ipswich, it was agreed that we should organise a conference for children from Norfolk and Suffolk schools who had been using philosophy in the classroom! One suggestion is to hold it in Norwich! This would give a real boost to the children and schools who had previously taken part in the Thinking Schools, Thinking Children initiative held in Norfolk in 2000. Suffolk schools are excited about the project and are going ahead with a Newsletter, as well as starting a website. Watch this space!
Barbara and Dot had a fascinating evening with a group from TeachFirst in Piccadilly discussing Challenging Issues. Our secondary colleagues were exploring ideas relating to academic argumentation. Katherine Richardson shared some of her recent research with the group. She demonstrated that the method of using clear argumentation in the development of reasoning in the classroom has a strong impact on children's ability to become engaged with their learning. This is a subject that is dear to the heart of Philosophy4Children. As she spoke the correlation with the work that we do with our primary colleagues was very apparent. The group willingly became involved with an experiential session with us (shortened from two hours to about twenty minutes) and had a very positive discussion about "Willy the Champ" by Anthony Browne.
The discussion was relayed to Twitter users through @Teachfirst.
Having submitted our first assembly draft to the publishing
company, the feedback was very encouraging. We have been
asked to put forward a more formal proposal for consideration
at their next editorial meeting. If this is accepted our work
will begin in ernest!
In the meantime, Dot has tried one of our assemblies in a
Norfolk primary school and it went down very well with the
children. Dot saw lots of evidence of deep thinking amongst
the children and possibilities for further development.
This enthusiastic feedback has been supplied by the head teacher of a school that we worked with recently. He has given us permission to use it in our blog!
"Every KS1 class has had structured P4C since the training and I think staff and children are learning a lot! As ever, the better we seem able to deliver (whether the story works better or engages the children) the better the children respond. I had my best session last week where the children (Y1-2 class) were really engaged.
"The children were a Y2 class and two comments amazed me.
"One child said… ‘I think I agree with Sarah now…’ which was brilliant. We briefly stopped and discussed what it means if you say that (the now being so significant). I was thrilled as it suggests an open minded approach – it was also a boy who took on a girl's viewpoint which I thought was interesting.
"Another child later said something along the lines of ‘I’ve been thinking about what James said and I agree with him’ which again shows that children can reflect! This is after six sessions – I can’t wait to find out what it will be like for Y2 next year after having had a year doing it in Y1."
We are absolutely delighted and look forward to seeing just how far the children will have progressed in their thinking by next year too!
A wonderful afternoon was held at the Holiday Inn at Ipswich today, when teachers, head teachers, advisers and inspectors attended the launch of the newly formed Association of Philosophy for Children. Many of the Suffolk teachers had visited the Buranda school in Australia and had come back enthused with the ideas of teaching philosophy. There were many teachers who had wonderful examples of how children had been transformed through the teaching of philosophy in their schools. Inspirational talks were also given by Roger Sutcliff, from SAPERE, and Gary Nethercott from Suffolk. How could anyone teach without using philosophy4children?
The committee, made up mainly of dedicated teachers from Suffolk, along with one or two heads from Norfolk and also Philosophy4Children, has produced a folder for teachers to use in the classroom. A must for all!!
We had a wonderful afternoon at Lodge Lane Infant School introducing Philosophy4Children to the children and staff. The children were brilliant for a first attempt - even getting into the nature/nurture debate....pretty sophisticated for a class of year two children! The staff were very enthusiastic and are keen to get started. We look forward to seeing the results later in the year.
Barbara and Dot, with Tim, are working hard to find the best way to promote philosophical thinking into assembly.
We are definitely having to think very hard to see how this will work successfully. However, we are loving the challenge and trust the publishers will like our ideas!!
Philosophy in Assemby? This is a new area being considered by a publishing company who have approached us to work with them. We had an initial meeting yesterday. This is a new area of work for Philosophy4Children, which could prove to be challenging and very exciting. More news as, and when, this develops!
The meeting of the local group of the Eastern Region Leadership, led by Wendy Garrard from the National College of School Leadership, was a great success yesterday. Head teachers from Norwich spoke about the visionary work that is taking place in many of our Norfolk schools. Two schools have been successful in their bid to become Enquiry Schools in which children use the philosophy4children approach to teaching and learning. Creativity and enjoyment were key words and schools who use this approach and have been recently Ofsteded were identified as outstanding! It was encouraging for all present to see that innovation and a real desire for children to be at the centre of what happens in school is alive and well and happening in Norfolk! Wendy was impressed and is reporting her findings back to the National College. Thanks Sue(Eagle) for organising this meeting and getting us all together.
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
ISBN 0-06-025665-6
Published by HarperCollins
This is a beautifully illustrated book with simple line drawings and a thought provoking, moving story - ideal for philosophy.
The questions children usually bring up revolve around the meaning of love, the purpose of giving and what happiness means. These are questions children throughout the school will ask.
In fact, with it's universal themes, this is a book that Dot and I often use very effectively when working with adults too.
No half term break for Philosophy4Children! Dot and I have had a busy half term planning for our next events.
June starts with a full day in a Great Yarmouth school. We are looking forward to this very much. Both of us find the most rewarding part of our work is when we are able to introduce philosophy directly to children, so a whole morning working with children throughout the school will be a delight. The afternoon will be spent reviewing and planning the next steps with their teachers.
The following day we have an introductory session with headteachers in the south Norfolk, north Suffolk area. By the end of this session participants should have the skills to deliver a philosophical enquiry with their children. As a backup to the session, there is a pack to buy.