Philosophy For children

Philosophy For Children

  

 

 

Philosophy For Children

Philosophy for children was formally introduced by Professor Matthew Lipman in 1972. He used to teach philosophy at Columbia University in New York. Reasearch suggests that Lipman believed that children were naturally curious and had a sense to question and wonder. (Unknown Author ,2008) Lipman was inspired to create this approach because he and many others agreed that there was not enough thinking in schools.

 

P4C was launched in the Uk by SAPERE in 1992 and it now reaches over 40,000 children  a year in the UK.  According to SAPERE (2014) P4C is a powerful educational approach which is centred on philosophical enquiry where trained teachers encourage children to think critically and reason within a group.  The approach has been developed to implement a curriculum for philosophical enquiry for children from the age of nursery to college level.

 

 

 

 

What are the Benefits of the P4C Approach?

 

 

• The Approach increases motivation to learn.
• Increases confidence within pupils and improves their self-esteem.
• It creates opportunities for pupils to think critically and reflect on each other's answers.
• Pupils respect each other's views and understanding of opinions.
• There is no correct answer so pupils are more willing to converse. Which then enhances communication skills.
• Develops creative thinking.
• Allows room for empathy and reasoning.
• Increased enquiry skills, reasoning skills and translation skills.

How it is taught in the curriculum

A lesson in philosophy should consist of two one hour sessions a week within the curriculum. A group of children or adults including the teacher will sit within a circle. The teacher then might read a story or an article to base the structure of the topic or question. The children/adults may then pick what they found interesting or disturbing about that reading to decide the topic as a group. They will then think about the question and give reasons for and against, stating their judgments or beliefs. This then creates the opportunity for pupils to think deeply about the question and about other peoples opinions.(Fisher, 2013)

 

 

 

 

 Role of the Teacher

Many teachers include P4C into English or Social Education subjects of the primary curriculum. This is to enhance children's listening and speaking skills. It is said to increase children's confidence while they are able to engage more deeply in text and enhance their reading and writing.( SAPERE, 2012). The role of the teacher is to provide the children with a topic of conversation this has to be an open-ended question or topic which then allows the children to think critically, converse with peers and share their different view points on that question or topic. There is a mutual respect between the pupil and the teacher. The teacher will not interrupt or judge a child's answer.

References

Unknown author.(2008) History of P4C.
http://p4c.com/history-p4c
(Accsessed: 2008).


SAPERE.(2012) P4C and the Curriculum.
http://www.sapere.org.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=139
(Accessed: 2012).


SAPERE.(2014) Introduction to PAC & SAPERE.
http://www.sapere.org.uk/
(Accessed:2014).

Fisher,R. (2103) Teaching Thinking: Philosophy for children. London: pp. 1-13.