Philosophy for Children

Background

Julie works with a 'pyramid' of Suffolk schools consisting of one high, two middle and ten primary schools.

She learned about P4C by visiting the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children in New Jersey. She also visited schools in the area and set up a telephone mentoring link with the founder of P4C, Professor Matthew Lipman.

The training and coaching that teachers receive on the programme, together with a solid basis in the theory of the approach, enables them to develop children’s thinking skills, which they believe to have a direct impact on achievement.

Developing thinking skills

P4C is a process whereby children are taught how to reason in a structured way, developing a vocabulary for thinking and concept development. Julie’s interest began in the subject after attending a lecture.

Having a clear and rational way of thinking enables the children to learn how to work with confidence in a community of enquiry. This resonated with Julie as a way of giving children a true voice in shaping their own learning.

Implementation

A project called 'Developing Children's Thinking' was set up, starting with a conference of the schools in the pyramid.  The project was supported by Sean O'Neill, a local headteacher, and was subsequently funded by a primary strategy learning network. The visit to New Jersey gave tremendous impetus to the learning network.

Schools in the Suffolk project have implemented a range of thinking strategies and tools, the most popular being P4C. Teaching assistants (TAs) trained alongside teachers in two weekend courses at Julie’s school. The first course was attended by 15 teachers and five TAs, the second by eight teachers and two TAs.

Philosophy lessons became part of Julie’s weekly curriculum in her mixed Year 3 and 4 class. They were linked to speaking, listening and reading, although P4C can be linked to any subject area. The lesson begins with a stimulus: something mysterious that raises "I wonder…" questions and sparks discussion. Examples of such stimuli include the books Not Now Bernard by David McKee and Sophie's Masterpiece by Eileen Spinelli.

Evaluation and impact

Dialogues were taped and then transcribed to assess the quality of thought and talk, and how these changed over time.

Early observations include:

• children starting to use analogies such as: "A relationship is like a piece of paper - you can tear it apart and stick it back with sellotape"
• a greater ability to think conceptually, such as this comment from a Year 4 child in a discussion about time: "I know how I can be in the future. When I put up my hand and I know what I’m going to say, that’s the future."

The children appear more confident and results in reading comprehension have improved. For example, one young boy’s reading age went from seven to nine over two terms, with the progress being maintained, despite his having been originally diagnosed as dyslexic. Increased confidence helps the children to approach text without fear, and they engage more deeply with the text as they interrogate it more easily.

Read the children’s responses (PDF, 151KB).

Read an Evaluation of a further Philosophy for Children project (PDF, 107KB).

You may also like to read a related Research of the Month from September 2006: Effective Talk in the Primary Classroom.

What are the issues for CPD leaders?

"It has changed my teaching style; I am 'the guide on the side' rather than 'the sage on the stage.'"

How can we learn from this example? Working within a community of enquiry is a very democratic approach. The teacher becomes the facilitator. This can be uncomfortable for some teachers as they need to move from instruction mode to enabling mode. The training and results motivate the teachers to try a new style and experience success.

Why did it work?

These aspects helped:

• targeted use of funding
• county and national support
• solid theoretical base
• headteachers’ confidence that it will make a difference to the children’s enjoyment and achievement
• commitment of staff
• proven results and children’s feedback.

In fact, Julie’s approach to initiating and following through a new scheme accords well with the six ‘core dimensions’ of the GTC’s Teacher Learning Academy. These are grounded in the characteristics of professional development that have been shown to impact positively on pupil’s learning.  Through the TLA, teachers can gain national recognition of the work they are doing. To find out more visit the TLA section.

Funding for international partnership work

Julie’s initial visit was made possible thanks to the British Council World Links scheme as she was able to visit a school for five days and also make key contacts with education personnel in the Livingston District.

Seventeen teachers and two TAs from eight schools in the Leiston Pyramid visited schools in Livingston New Jersey. Funding for this came through School Determined Teachers’ International Professional Development.

For a comprehensive guide to grants available for international partnership work, visit the British Council’s international funding website.

For further details of P4C and the Suffolk projects please contact Julie Winyard: julieawin@btopenworld.com