1. Philosophy For Children P4C Richmond Primary School Hinckley

2. What is P4C?
A curriculum developed by Professor Matthew Lipman in the 60s
Aim to encourage children (and adults) to be more reasonable – ready to reason and be reasoned with
An emphasis on the importance of questioning or enquiry in the development of reason

3. Community of Enquiry
This involves a group collaborating together to grow in understanding of
The material world
The personal and ethical world around them
Participants sit together so that each person can see and hear all of the others
Ground rules for working together are agreed

4. Ground Rules Listen carefully Avoid interrupting or dominating
Respect one another and don’t ridicule
Silence is accepted
Those who are reticent are encouraged
Etc………………………………………………

5. Stages
Warm up games
Provide and present a stimulus as a starting point for questions – text e.g poems, story, newspaper report; objects, music, pictures, sculptures, film
Thinking time – individually or with a partner
Formulate a question
Display questions
Make connections between questions
Pick out philosophical themes
Vote for a question
Person asking the chosen question explains why they asked the question
Discussion and debate
Agreed response to the question

6. Questions asked using the Building Song as a stimulus
1.If there is nothing there does that mean there is a big hole in the earth?
2.Is trust something that can be built?
3.What does nothing look like?
4.How do you know when you are building the wrong stuff
5.What does nothingness smell like?
6.Is nothing something?
7. Why is happy a feeling?
8. How can you build something when nothing is there?
9. What are they building?
10. What is nothing?

7. Questions contd
11.Can you trust your family? 12. Why is music slow and fast? 13. If you can’t see anything does that mean nothing is there? 14.How do you build something on nothing? 15. Is blackness nothing? 16. Why is love so important? 17. How old is nothing? 18. Is nothing something you can touch and feel? 19. Can you see trust in you? 20. Can you trust someone you don’t know?

8. Explanations given:
“You can always see something but when you’re dead you can’t see anything unless you believe in God.”
“There is always something there or something happening.”
“Nothing is a word that is used to explain that something that was there is now gone, but there will never be nothing at all.”