philosophy for children, nz
DESCRIPTION
Slides used by James Nottingham on 28th July 2011 at the Learning Network NZ conferenceTRANSCRIPT
An Introduction to Philosophy for Children
James Nottingham www.p4c.comwww.jamesnottingham.co.uk
The aim of a thinking skills programme
such as P4C is not to turn children into
philosophers but to help them become more thoughtful,
more reflective, more considerate and more
reason-able individuals
P4C – Created by Matthew Lipman
P4C programme by Lipman
Elfie (5 – 7) General Reasoning and Enquiry Kio and Gus (5 – 10) Exploring Nature Pixie (5 – 10) General Reasoning and Enquiry Harry (9 – 12) General Reasoning and Enquiry Lisa (12 – 15) Ethical Suki (13 – 16) Expression, Writing, Poetry Mark (14 – 17) Sociological
• Children gained on average 6 standard points on a measure of cognitive abilities after 16 months of weekly P4C
• Pupils increased their level of participation in classroom discussion by half as much again following 6 months of weekly P4C
• Incidents of children supporting their views with reasons, doubled over a 6 month period
• Teachers doubled their use of open-ended questions over a 6 month period
• Pupils and teachers perceived significant gains in communication, confidence, concentration, participation and social behaviour following 6 months of P4C
Impact of P4C – research findings
1.Sit in a circle
2.Share a story, text or other stimulus
3.Ask (philosophical) questions
4.Choose the best question
5. Identify the key concept
6. Listen to other perspectives
7. Apply critical and creative thinking
8. Consider progress
55 99
Typical P4C Format
14
Developed during World War II, MBTI is a personality indicator designed to identify personal preferences
In a similar way to left or right-handedness, the MBTI principle is that individuals also find certain ways of thinking and acting easier than others
Sensing
Introversion
Judging
Thinking
Intuition
Extroversion
Perceiving
Feeling
Evidence Gut feeling
Think to talk Talk to think
Definite Possible
Logic/Reason Empathy
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
1. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing
6. By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher
4. It is not living that matters, but living rightly
3. Wisdom begins in wonder
2. The unexamined life is not worth living
5. True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us
Quotes from Socrates (469 – 399 BC)