Philosophy For Children P4C Introducing philosophical thinking into our children’s curriculum

Why Teach Philosophy? Philosophy is a method of thinking, reasoning and making sense of arguments and counter arguments. We want to know about our existence, our relationships and our place within society and the wider world. Philosophy is about asking important questions and trying to justify our answers.

Philosophical Teaching The P4C movement started in the 60’s with Matthew Lipman, a university professor from Columbia University. The aims of introducing P4C to very young children is to create a climate where independent thinking becomes the norm. We want our parents to be asking not just what did you do at school today but what did you hear? What did you talk about? What did you think about?

What will be doing in class and how can parents support P4C? Playing ‘linking’ games Reading stories Having mini enquiries Wonder Wall ‘Would you rather?’ questions. ‘What if?’ Philosophy Bear and diary

Choose an object – explain your choice Choose an object – explain your choice. A warm up activity to start making connections. We do this warm up to help children practice justifying their ideas, speaking in a group and making connections with their ideas and others peoples ideas.

Books are great starting point for a philosophical enquiry. In the story Sarah, Percy and Bill find they all alone. Where is mummy? They soon start to feel scared.

Fortune lines Fortune lines helped the children ask lots of questions about how the characters were feeling in ‘Owl Babies’. A useful activity to get children making connections. A fundamental part of P4C

Using toy owls to tell the story In the classroom … and outside I used the Owl Baby toys to bring the story to life. We had already read the story once the day before and this time the toys joined in. Playing with puppets helps children rehearse language and experiment with ideas. Puppets enable children to carry on with the story in their play

Thinking Time: ‘What makes us scared?’ The children really enjoyed this activity. It generated a lot of discussion and even when we’d finished the activity, some children wanted to carry on. Thinking Time: ‘What makes us scared?’

No one was sure, so this became our inquiry question. Question making Paired talk I compiled a list of all the things which scare us. In pairs we discussed what are the most scary things? Question airing Witches, zombies and ghosts were the most scary. I asked are they real? No one was sure, so this became our inquiry question. It was fascinating to hear the children discuss what they thought was real. See transcript.

Transcript Toby: They are not real, they are just in stories. Henry: I’ve been to every country and I’ve never seen one. Ms Fine: Do you have to see things for them to be real? Albert: Power Rangers are real. Lois: No its just a made up story. Henry: Only the news is real. Lola: I’m not afraid of anything I haven’t seen. Khubi: (Power Rangers) They are just in movies and stories. Max: I went to the museum and I saw a T-Rex and I didn’t know if it was real or electric? Ms Fine: So how can you be sure? Charlotte:You could ask your mum or dad. Max: My dad wasn’t there and mummy was scared aswell. Albert: I’ve seen that T-Rex. It is real and it is electric. We stopped here. For final thoughts: Lois: Real things are more scary then stories. Maisie: I’m afraid of everything.

What are the benefits of teaching P4C? Exercising creativity, problem solving and imagination. Improved communication skills, debating, listening and making connections. Developing critical thinking. Teaches moral citizenship, we take responsibility for our actions. Challenge thinking and stereotypes.