Collaborative Inquiry through Philosophy for Children (P4C)
Cultivating thinking, questioning and discussion.
Paul Southwell, Nick Martin and Nicole JaggersRadford College, Canberra, Australia
Who are more likely to be rich?
Greedy people or people
who aren’t greedy?
Can you be….
Rich and poor at
the same time?
Is there…
Anything bad about
being rich?
Can you…
Deserve to be poor?
Radford College, Canberra
Authorised IB PYP World School
Early Goals of the Junior School
Philosophy is…
Love (philo)
of wisdom (Sophia)
Professor Matthew Lipman (1922 – 2010)
Intellectually energetic, curious, critical,
creative and reasonable.
Institute for the Advancement of
Philosophy for Children (IAPC)
Wrote many ‘novels’ to support P4C
P4C is now practiced in over 30 countries
A short history of P4C…From p4c.com
P4C at Radford
What does P4C look like?
1. Setting the scene: Community of Inquiry
2. Stimulus
3. Identifying and exploring concepts
4. Asking questions
5. The discussion
6. Reflection
Broad structure of P4C…
1. Community of Inquiry
Cooperation, care, respect, safety
Understanding, meaning, truth, values
2. Stimulus
Ask three questions
In a word…
Traffic Lights
3. Identifying and exploring concepts
What were you thinking about when you were listening to the story?
What things did you like about, or agree with, in the story?
What things did you not like, or disagree with, in the story?
Ask three questions…
“Miss Nancy is 96, that made me think about my Great Grandmother who is 96. It made me sad because she’s sick and might die”
DEATH
Why do people have to die? (Bridget)
What happens after you die? (Ilya)
Bridget…
“I didn’t like how no-one explained to Wilfrid what a memory was. It was like they were lying to him”
TRUTH
Should people always tell the truth? (Rafaela)
David…
Can you tell the story in one sentence?
“The caterpillar eats lots then becomes a beautiful butterfly”
Can you tell the story in one word?
“Beautiful”
In a word…
Traffic Lights
The Question Quadrant
4. Asking questions
The Question Quadrant
Goldilocks!
Sort in any way you like
Questions about stealing
Questions about eating
Story World
Agree
Argue
Our World
Using the Question Quadrant
Essential Agreements
Thinking Tools
Role of facilitator
5. The discussion
Be respectful of each others opinions and comments.
One person speaking at a time.
Be honest in your opinions.
Listen to other people.
Use eye contact.
Have a mature and sensible attitude.
Build on others’ ideas
Essential Agreement for P4C
Giving Reasons“…because…”
Giving examples“An example of that is…”
Seeking clarification“What do you mean by…”
Alternative view“What would someone who disagrees with you say?”
Distinctions“How can we distinguish between…”
Thinking Tools
Ensure focus is on thechildren
Keep discussion
moving
Provide depth with questions
Ensure everyone has a say
Not to give own
opinion
The Role of the Facilitator
Speaker in Australian House of Representatives
Summarising the discussion: One person
Small groups
Draw picture
Write in journal
Reflection: Focus rules…Did we allow one person to speak at a time?
Focus Tools…Did we use ‘because’ to give reasons?
6. Reflection
P4C in Action
AgreementWe build on each others’
ideas
ToolYou think…But I think…
Because…
Stimulus: Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that type
Eliciting a concept: One sentence, one word
Ask a question:Question Quadrant
Reflection: Last words…
Did we build on others’ ideas?
P4C is not a subject squeezed in ‘after lunch’
P4C is a way of bringing our units of inquiry to life by engaging students in meaningful discussion around issues and concepts of relevance and importance to understanding our Central Ideas.
P4C and PYP
Recent audit of our POI to ensure our central ideas are:
Provocative
Puzzling
Challenging
Require uncoverage
Tapping in to curiosity
Promoting reflection
Requiring higher order thinking
Central Ideas
How do you know who you are?
Can you be different to someone and yet the same?
Is death the end?
How do you know if you are living?
What does it mean to belong?
Is identity different to culture?
How do you know if you know something?
Can we live without values?
Who We Are
Year 6Self esteem and peer pressure
QUESTIONS POSED BY YEAR 6 STUDENTS BASED ON THE STIMUS:
Is it possible to not know who you are?How do we know our identity?Should it matter what people think about how you look?What makes us self conscious?Is what people think about us always correct?Can we ever know who we are?
Year 2Beautiful ? Not Beautiful
Growth, change and death is part of the natural cycle of being human.
Tuning in to the concepts of growth and change, Year 2 investigate the question:What is beauty?
Even if things are fluffy, it’s the heart that makes things beautiful. Even though you can’t see people’s they can still be beautiful, even poor people, they have the biggest hearts. Mia
If you are still able to love things, you are beautiful. Things that are alive and can love are beautiful. Minette
What is beauty?
It doesn’t matter what you look like it is how you care about people. My mum is beautiful not because of how she looks but because she is very caring. Caring makes you popular and that is more important than beauty because if you are beautiful and mean people won’t be amazed at your beauty. Just be nice then everyone would be your friend. John
What is beauty?
Recognising and valuing the similarities and differences between religious beliefs and traditions
Lead to a discussion on IDENTITY
Year 5
Identity
I think that everyone can’t just look at someone and assume they are sad, happy, weird or bad. You can only be them if you know what or how they are feeling. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Oliver
I think we judge people because of their personality. It’s like some people respect kind people. If someone is mean then don’t pay attention to them. Holly
Why do people treat people differently because of how they look?
Journaling the discussion
Inquiring into cultures and developing respectful relationships between peoplelead to a discussion on judging others.
Year 4
Do some people not likewho they are?
Some people don’t appreciate what they have got and don’t know they are loved. Kate
People see how you feel by looking and thinking what you might feel on the inside. Nicholas
I think some people want to change their actions but not always their personality. Georgia
Don’t change who you are even if you are convinced enough by someone. Ben
Year 4: Do some people not like who they are?
Sometimes you need to have a happy face because you are in public but you are really feeling angry on the inside. That means you would need a happy face for people to judge you the way you want them to. Jude
Scan image here drawn by Y4 student
Why do we judge people?
What is memory?
Would cultures exist without memories?
Is it better to change or stay the same?
Is war a matter of choice?
Whose story is this?
Why do people move?
Is history always right?
Where We Are In Place and Time
Memories, past, discrimination
Can we control how we feel?
Can you create without thought?
What is art?
Can a sound be painted?
If we didn’t have art, would it change anything?
What is the meaning of life?
Do we need to express ourselves?
How We Express Ourselves
Perfection, perspective, uniqueness
How do you know if you are living?
How do we know something exists?
Is it real or not real?
Has technology made our lives better?
Are all scientific discoveries good for society?
Is change inevitable?
How the World Works
properties
Should we all be paid the same for contributing to society?
Can you live in a community and still be alone?
Why do only some people choose to act?
Why do we want more than we need?
Is it ok to bend the truth?
Does money make us happy?
Does democracy equal equality?
How We Organise Ourselves
Fairness, democracy, freedom
What is loss?
Who is responsible?
Does everyone’s point of view matter?
Does my behaviour affect others?
Do all actions have consequences?
Should we share our resources with other countries?
What makes you connected to place?
Sharing the Planet
Sustainability, conflict, diversity
P4C creates engagement in our units of inquiry and opens up the minds of our students to everyday issues.
Students are encouraged to reason and consider consequences, which in turn leads to student initiated action in our units of inquiry.
Culminating in deep level of questioning and reasoning as part of EXHIBITION.
ACTION
The aim is that if we use p4c tools in discussions in the classroom, they will become automatic in the students and
will flow out of the classroom into everyday discussionsthey have
We are empowering our students with authentic thinking tools and skills for life!
Kid should walk out of the classroom puzzled- but not totally lost, so that philosophical thinking can continue
in the real world
Guiding the process, not the content
The class culture of thinking will spill out into other areas- It becomes a culture of dialogue.
Michael Walsh
Teaching children
HOW TO THINK
NOT
WHAT TO THINK!
P4C
ibapp4c.weebly.com
Where to for further info…
Dr Phillip Cam (Associate Professor in the School of History and Philosophy
at the University of New South Wales)
Mr Jason Buckley (ThePhilosophyMan.com)
Mr Michael Walsh (Head of History at Radford College and SOPHY Board
member)
Thank you…