1. Philosophy for Children 1 (P4C)
All images in ppt are copyright free from Pixabay
Introduce m/s
Intro neighbour – name & one fact
© Rhiannon Love
University of Winchester

2. Intended Outcomes
To discuss the background and aims of Philosophy for Children (P4C)
To explore the distinctive nature of Communities of Enquiry as seen in P4C
To participate in a philosophical enquiry
The key understandings are: what P4C is, and what Communities of Enquiry are. The key experiential learning is participation in a Community of (Philosophical) Enquiry.

3. - Theory and background of P4C - Communities of Enquiry
Throw around cuddly toys to learn names – start with one cuddly toy throw and name the person you are throwing to, until the whole circle has had a go. Then restart but introduce a second and third toy – they need to keep the same order

4. Overview of P4C
P4C originated in the US in the early 1970’s, as a Thinking Skills programme devised by Matthew Lipman
Now in over 60 countries worldwide
Arrived in UK in early 1990’s after the BBC documentary, ‘Socrates for 6 year olds’, inspired the founding of SAPERE (Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education)
Note about Lipman finding his philosophy degree students in Columbia university where he was teaching in the late 60’ were unable to think creatively and independently, decided to explore the impact of introducing ‘Thinking Skills’ in Kindergarten.
BBC documentary, ‘Socrates for 6 year olds’, inspired founding of SAPERE - SHOW CLIP FROM 6.39 – EXPLAIN CHILDREN HAVE JUST BEEN ASKED WHAT HAPPENS IN P4C?
P4C was launched by SAPERE in UK in 1992 and now reaches over 2500 new teachers and 40 – new children a year in UK – they are the accreditation for this course. Schools can achieve bronze, silver or gold awards.

5. Aims of P4C
‘The aim of a thinking skills program such as P4C is to help children become more thoughtful, more reflective, more considerate and more reasonable individuals.’
Lipman, M. (1996) Philosophy in the Classroom, p. 15
“Consider (!) how much attention the curriculum gives to the development of the four qualities mentioned by Lipman: thoughtfulness, reflectiveness, consideration and reasonableness. Discuss with Partner
Reasonable – 2 fold – can reason and be reasoned with (so we often say to children do they want to change their mind)
creative thinking – coming up with ideas of your own;
critical thinking – thinking about and testing one’s own, and others’, reflective thinking;
–NB – In the philosophical community when we talk about Caring we mean - not just fluffy emotional, or about showing respect, but in the sense that things we talk about matter to us, valuing – rather like in a museum or art gallery we would care for some painting or artefacts
collaborative thinking: without the willingness to be reasoned with, not much collaboration can be achieved, either in thinking or in action!
In a nutshell – this is what we are aiming to promote thro P4C – the 4 C’s
“4 C’s” - Creative, Critical, Caring & Collaborative

6. Lipman’s summary of P4C
‘The approach that I have created in Philosophy for Children is not about prescribing any one philosophy to children, but about encouraging them to develop their own philosophy,, their own way of thinking about the world.
It is about giving the youngest of minds the opportunity to express ideas with confidence and in an environment where they feel safe to do so..’
- Matthew Lipman (2008) A Life Teaching Thinking
We are not trying to tell children what to think, but by example and experience we are helping them learn how to think (better)

7. Community of Enquiry - definition
A group of people used to thinking together with a view to increasing their understanding and appreciation of the world around them and of each other
SAPERE Level 1 Handbook,
Play stand up/sit down – saying a number as they do it – establishing a community
Many other groups use the term C of E - Scientific C of E etc this is what we mean by a philosophical c of e
In America it is C of I

8. The Community of Enquiry aims to:
Develop thinking skills
Develop an ability to work with concepts (big ideas/themes)
Create a space for children to explore questions, issues and topics that are important to them.

9. Features of a Community of Enquiry
Circle
Establishment of Ground Rules
Facilitator
Warm – up activity
Stimulus - for generating questions
Identifying the concepts/big ideas/themes
Selecting the Question - for the enquiry
Dialogue - not discussion or debate
Closing activity
Discuss how a circle can facilitate a different learning environment – trust, inclusive, all can see, no hierarchy etc
Group decide together on rules of conduct ie only one person speaks at a turn, respectful atmosphere, ok to challenge but done in kind manner etc
Teacher is a facilitator – guides the enquiry, does not lead, is not the expert
Warm –up – game etc to focus children’s thinking ie would you rather…?
Stimulus – this can be a book, an image, a short film clip etc anything that is conceptually rich
From this the children discuss their first reactions, possibly identifying concepts, then create in groups a question to discuss which is voted for and selected
Discuss difference between dialogue, discussion and debate and why the first is what we are after
Closing – summary of dialogue, last thoughts etc

10. Enquiry 1
Expln will demo lots of ways of – voting; choosing who to speak

11. Warm -up
Rope – do you consider yourself to be ‘More brave’ or ‘less brave’ – stand on line to indicate and explain reasoning – importance is not the answer but the reasons given – the other members of the group can move if they hear an opinion that is more ‘reasonable’ than theirs was.

12. Stimulus
Get group to discuss image in pairs, then fours, then create a question. Each member of the group has two votes and the most popular question is then used for the enquiry.
Any provocative image is suitable I use the image of the kitten looking in the mirror and seeing the lion

13. Typical Language to be encouraged
In my opinion …
I think … because …
I agree with… because…
I disagree with… because…
I would like to give an example / counter example
I would like to build on what …. said
I’m would like to ask … a question to…..
I’d like to raise a new point
I’d like to seek clarification
I’d like to refer back to…
I have spotted an assumption

14. Review of Enquiry
Did the enquiry ‘make me think deeply or even challenge my own thinking’?
Did my thinking ‘change in any way’? Did I think of other points of view?
Were we caring and respectful in the way we listened and responded to each other?
As a group did we try to connect our ideas, and build on each other’s suggestions?