This document discusses using Philosophy for Children (P4C) in the classroom. It provides examples of questions students generated in response to different prompts or discussion topics. P4C aims to develop a "community of inquiry" where students engage respectfully in thoughtful discussion to explore meaningful questions. It can be used across subjects to promote critical thinking skills. Effective facilitation includes establishing discussion norms, selecting an open-ended student-generated question, and allowing students to build on each other's ideas without intervention from the teacher. P4C benefits students by empowering their voices and perspectives while also providing teachers insights into students' understanding.

1. An award winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine.
The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards an Uni
ted Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.
The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat it.
No one knows what happened to the
child, including the photographer Kevin
Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.
Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.
TASK:
What questions would
you ask about this
picture? Discuss with
your partner.

2. Philosophy for Children (P4C)
This was given to my year 11 class- questions
they came up with were…
• Where does suffering come from?
• Why does God allow suffering?
• How can God exist when suffering exists?

3. The Purpose of P4C
A central concept of philosophy for children work has been that of
the ‘community of inquiry’, which may be defined as a reflective
approach to classroom discussion built up over time with a single
group of learners.
The ‘community’ embodies co-operation, care, respect and safety;
and the ‘inquiry’ reaches for understanding, meaning, truth and
values supported by reasons. As a community of inquiry develops
over time, the children's questions get deeper and more thoughtful.
Their discussions are disciplined and focused, yet, at the same time
imaginative. They care about what others say but don't accept easy
answers. A community of inquiry combines critical, creative, caring
and collaborative thinking.
http://p4c.com/about-p4c

4. How it works in the classroom
• Give the students something
to think about
– Clip/ picture/ article/ song/
statement
• Get the group to come up
with an open question- get
them to put it on the board
• Vote on a question to start
• Let them discuss
8MC

5. The Rules
• Only the person holding
‘moo moo’ can speak
• Put your hand up if you
have a point to make
• Everyone contributes
– Exit cards
– Counters (for classes that
have overpowering voices)
– Pass to someone who hasn’t
spoken
– Get them to summarise their
view at the end
• The idea is that we don’t
get involved
• Unless…
– We want to because its an
interesting discussion
– They completely go off task
– Or we want to stretch their
thinking

6. Questions our students have come up
with and the stimulus they had
7CT
Where is his soul going?
Is his soul going to heaven or hell?
Do you think your soul stays with you
forever?
If someone cut you open would you be
able to see and touch your soul?
Is the soul trying to escape the mind?
Is he asleep? Is this real?
Is there such a thing as reincarnation?

7. Questions our students have come up
with and the stimulus they had
Year 12 Philosophy
Can we trust our senses?
How do we know what reality is?
Does Plato’s theory of forms
make sense?
‘We need the material world to
understand the form of the
good’
We had finished
studying Plato and
I asked them to
come up with
open questions to
discuss- no
stimulus
This resulted in a discussion on
what influences our understanding
of the world and whether there are
objective truths

8. The Benefits
Students
• They enjoy it- they always
want P4C/ circle time
• It is up to them, they
control it and run it
• They get to share their
views
• They get to learn from each
other
• Benefits students that
struggle with writing
Us
• Gives you an idea of how
they have understood the
topic
• Helps you identify shy/
confident speakers-
observer
• Works on debating skills
• Little planning/ resources

9. Further Information
• http://p4c.com/about-p4c
• Shared area for a filmed P4C with 8AA
• Speak to anyone in the P&E department
Any questions?

10. Sportsmanship in P.E.
When only women are in Parliament.
It can
work for
all
subjects
Child Labour for
mass
production in
Technology