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.

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?

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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?

Sportsmanship in P.E.

When only women are in Parliament.

It can work for

all subjects

Child Labour for mass

production in Technology