Invisible Socrates Socratic Teaching and the Absent Teacher Annie Webster Assessment for ‘First Steps in to Learning and Teaching’ February 2015 Oxford Brookes University Online Courses

Philosophy for Kids The Course Training provided by ‘The Philosophy Foundation’* Course was a supplement to Philosophy and Religion Classes (no formal assessment) Provided 5 classes each to two year groups (Year 7 and 9) 1 hour per session students per class Relevance to HE Discussion format is used in some Philosophy Courses (eg. Ancient Greek Course at Brookes) Style could help with Q&A in presentation assignments Even essay assignments… * P4C – is a similar group

The Class: The 2 Square Discussion Format Facilitator (teacher) freedom to move around Behavior management Setting the Question Facilitator sets a question- this in itself is an art! Designed to stimulate philosophical questions Focus on children (eg. stories, pictures, games) But University level can use famous texts Worley 2011, 2012 The Philosophy Foundation Stage 1 Handbook January 2015

How many? Explored their different intuitions and why they had them What is the correct way to answer the question? What is a number? Where is number? Why 0?

Deeper Philosophical Questions: Are numbers real or made up? Are they out in the world (externalism), or inside our heads (internalism)? Are these just representations What are symbols? If humans didn’t exist, would numbers exist? 2 二. ii Achieved this through: Limited input from facilitator. Only guidance, and set questions at right time. Discussion between children (eg internalist vs externalist views) Allowing them to use the board

Learning outcomes, Evaluation, and Reflection: The Invisible Socrates I think these can be analysed in 3 ways: –The Philosophy (as subject) –The Socratic Method –The Absent Teacher

The Philosophy (as a subject) The Socratic MethodThe Absent Teacher Learning outcomes -Grasping of various philosophical theories and paradoxes. -Improve critical thinking skills -Recognizing philosophical problems -Create own arguments-Willing to say ‘stupid things’ -Building confidence in using abstract and new ideas Evaluation -Use of relevant examples -Clear arguments -Recongising relevant previous discussions -Less prompting from facilitator -Depth of discussion (group and individual) -Quiet students speak more -Loud student listen more -Mutual respect Reflection -Hard to place in wider context (philosopher’s names, names of theories) -HE: Train students to ‘demonstrate knowledge and understanding’ in their arguments -Useful in many subjects -HE: ‘development of logical and relevant arguments, drawing appropriate conclusions’ -Practice help selection and design of argument structures in presentations and essay writing -What isn’t good about this?? References Brookes Assignment Coversheet Chesters 2012 Furedy and Furedy 1983 Brookes Assignment Coversheet 2011 Kneeling 2012 Worley, February 2012

Further Reflection Overall Students learn from each other – good in a culture a teacher isn’t a part of Individual and formal assessment is difficult – makes method difficult to implement in formal education, despite its obivous uses for learning Everyone enjoys it! It is nice change from the normal everyday class or lecture! Practical changes for future sessions Struggled to be truly absent! Should practice not getting involved in a discussion and giving away my opinions. This can undermine the original purpose of these sessions for students to practice independent, critical, and philosophical thinking. Give more time in thinking and reading about a question myself before the class. This will help me direct the class better and measure how ’deep’ the discussion goes.

References Chesters, Sarah Davey (2012) The Socratic Classroom: Reflective Thinking Through Collaborative Enquiry, Sense Publishers. Rotterdam. Furedy, Christine and Furedy, John J. (1983) “Ways to promote critical thinking in higher education.” The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia NEWS, Vol. 5, no. 1:3-4 in Higher Education Kneeling. D (2011) Invisible Teaching: 101 Ways To Create Energy, Openness And Focus In The Classroom. Crown House Pub Limited Worley. P (2011) The if Machine: Philosophical Enquiry in the Classroom. London: Continuum Worley.P (2012) The Philosophy Shop: Ideas, Activities and Questions to Get People, Young and Old, Thinking Philosophically. Crown House Publishing The Philosophy Foundation Stage 1 Handbook January 2015 Worley. P (February 2012) The absent teacher: preparing children for the real world on innovate my school.com. Accessed February 2016: articles/item/145-the-absent-teacher-preparing-children-for-the-real-world.htmlhttp:// articles/item/145-the-absent-teacher-preparing-children-for-the-real-world.html Websites: The Philosophy Foundation Website: Philosophy 4 kids website: