Philosophy 4 Children at Casllwchwr Primary School

Philosophy 4 Children at Casllwchwr Primary School R.Smith Feb 2010

What is Philosophy for Children (P4C)? Philosophy is simply a method of thinking, reasoning and making sense of arguments and counter-arguments. We are all philosophers at heart. We will philosophise at various times in our lives and perhaps more so as we are growing up. We ask questions about the things that happen to us - what? how? and why? At Casllwchwr Primary School we want to teach our children the philosophical skills and tools to unlock their curiosity. By exploring interesting, enjoyable, and imaginative stimuli, such as stories and poems, our pupils will learn the skills necessary to develop their thinking towards the big issues that relate directly to their past, present and future...

Aims… • Pupils enjoy a P4C session once a week as part of our Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) provision. • Through these sessions we aim to: • Challenge our children with thought provoking questions. • Create a climate for learning where our children feel comfortable to ask difficult questions knowing that nobody will judge them. • Encourage our children to build healthy relationships with each other. • Increase motivation to learn. • Help our children to understand that there are no right or wrong answers and that there are some questions to which there is no answer. • Develop communication skills. • Build our children's self-esteem. • Encourage self-review and reflection on beliefs and ideas.

Key Skills of P4C • Asking questions • Active listening • Giving reasons • Making Connections • Promotion of thinking skills

W How does P4C fit into the Key Skills Framework? Cognitive skills (remember) Creative and Critical Thinking skills Application (problem solve) Comprehension (understand) Recall Interpretation Analyse (break down information by cause or motive) Hypothesis Evaluate (present and defend opinions making judgements) Synthesise (create new knowledge by combining other knowledge) Classify Generalise Infer

Banksy The Bomb Girl

Looking at questioning… ‘Look and see questions’ Closed Is it a girl? What is she holding? ‘Imagination’ questions Open Is this a scary picture? ‘Ask an expert questions’ Factual Who did the picture? What is a bomb? Questions for thinking Philosophical What does it mean to be scared? There may be many possibilities There is one right answer

Some examples of stimuli… Pictures Picture books Music Objects Internet sites Stories Poems Games Walks/outdoors Newspapers Magazines Films Drama/role play Comments Toys Conversations Current affairs/events

I wonder if leaves get dizzy when the wind blows them around? You’d have to be careful if you had a magic wand because you might lose control with it. If I had a magic carpet you could fly all over and it would save Mummy using her car Reception

I wonder if trees talk to each other when nobody is there? Would they talk in English or Welsh? …or tree? I wouldn’t like chocolate rain because my Mum would get cross. We’re only allowed chocolate on treat days and it would make my teeth rotten if we had it every day. Year One

I’m not sure I’d like it to rain Chocolate rain because even though it would be nice to start with, if it was cold it would go hard and would hurt you when it fell on you. I chose this card because it reminds me of my Mum’s teddy bear which is very old. If you could touch the stars and the moon, I wonder if you would burn your fingers. Year Two

The mouse was brave even though he was small and I think this shows that you don’t need to be big and strong to be brave I think the Crocodile’s mum and dad must have been selfish and then he caught it off them. Year Three

Does Andy love Woody? Why does he treat him like that? I don’t think Andy loves Woody because you don’t treat somebody you love in that way. …so does Woody love Andy? Year Four

I think of lying as being a double yellow line. If you get away with it well done, if you don’t you know there’ll be consequences Wondering is worse because you think weird things will happen. It’s like using your imagination… Is wondering worse than knowing? Year Five

Endless money makes you want more and this can make you greedy I chose this card because I think he looks a bit different. Some people might think scary but I think he looks interesting and it shows that you shouldn’t always judge a book by it’s cover. Every change that happens changes the way you think even though you might not know it at the time. Year Six

Philosophy 4 Children at Casllwchwr Primary School