More positive aspects of philosophy
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Original Greek: Philo (loving) + Sophia (wisdom)
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Did one of your family or teachers have a
philosophy (of life) that you admired?
Do you have a philosophy of sport, or of cooking,
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and of education?
1
Wise Up
“Wisdom begins in wonder.”
Socrates
(470-399 B.C.)
“Good learning begins with questions, not answers”
Professor Guy Claxton
2
Process and Content
“He who learns, but does not think,
is lost.
He who thinks, but does not learn,
is in great danger.”
Confucius
(551 – 479 bc)
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Aims of P4C
“The aim of a thinking skills program such as P4C
to help (children) become
more thoughtful, more reflective,
more considerate and more reasonable individuals.”
Matthew Lipman
(1924 - )
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Overview of P4/wC
Originated in New Jersey, early 70’s, as a Thinking Skills programme
 Now taken up equally to promote Social and Emotional Skills
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Practised in about 5,000 schools in USA
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Now being developed in over 60 countries,
some specifically to promote democratic values (e.g. Bulgaria, S. Korea)
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Established in UK in early 90’s after BBC documentary,
‘Socrates for 6 year olds’, inspired founding of SAPERE
About 10,000 teachers now through basic training (min. 10 hours)
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Typical timetabling: 1 hour per week,
shown in Scotland to improve performance in key aspects of learning
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(Also used for adult recreation – PiPs and POP –
hence ‘Philosophy for Communities’)
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Clackmannanshire Head Teachers’
perceptions of positive change
18 Primary schools, 1 hour ‘Philosophy’ a week, 1 Year
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Improved Questioning and Reasoning skills
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Improved Reading and Understanding skills
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Improved Listening skills
Improved Communication skills
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Improved Behaviour
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Community of Philosophical Enquiry –
Basic Practices and Principles
• sitting in a circle or horseshoe
(equality of status)
• turntaking, voting, wrong to ‘put down’, right to ‘pass’, etc.
(fairness of process and respect for persons)
• practice of questioning and responding
(spirit of enquiry and engagement with learning)
• reflecting, esp. seeking and giving reasons
(ideal of reasonableness)
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8
Concepts for enquiry
COMMON
= of everyday concern
CENTRAL
…to the way people think
CONTESTABLE
= not easy to agree about
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Big Ideas Chart
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
S
L
T
M
U
N
V
O
W
P
X
Q
Y
R
Z
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The 4 C’s of P4C
Thinking mode
CRITICAL
Thinking focus
ABOUT THINKING
CREATIVE
FOR YOURSELF
CARING
COLLABORATIVE
OF OTHERS
WITH OTHERS
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Philosophy’s enduring principle
“Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued”
Socrates (470 - 399 B.C.)
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QCDA endorses Socrates
‘The unexamined life is not worth living’
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Still thinking?
“Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind
with an open one.”
Malcom S. Forbes (1919 - 1990)
“The release of atom power has changed everything except
our way of thinking...
the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.
If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.”
- Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)
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SAPERE
(Society for Advancing Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education)
Website: www.sapere.org.uk
roger@dialogueworks.co.uk
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