PHSE & P4C
Philosophy For Children
Philosophy for Children is designed to develop thinking and reasoning skills and to enhance self esteem. It help teachers to build a ‘community of enquiry; where participants create and enquire into their own questions, and ‘learn how to learn’ in the process.
P4C develops four key types of thinking:
- Collaborative - thinking with others
- Caring - thinking of others
- Critical - making reasoned judgements
- Creative - creating new ideas
P4C typically takes the form of a Community of Inquiry, which is characterised by:
- Sitting in a circle ready to think, talk and engage with each other
- Sharing a source of puzzlement or intrigue (e.g. picture, story, music, news, etc)
- Examining the source and creating relevant questions
- Persisting in the search for knowledge and understanding
- Giving reasons for opinions and distinguishing good reasons from bad ones
- Fostering mutual cooperation, trust, tolerance, fair-mindedness and a heightened degree of sensitivity to fellow inquirers
- Rich feedback that promotes thinking that is self-correcting and reflective
There is substantial evidence that regular involvement in a community of enquiry leads to the following outcomes for children:
· Independent thinking
· Higher order thinking skills
· Excitement, motivation and engagement with learning
· Increased reading comprehension, particularly in less able reader
· Increased maths and science achievement
· Increased co-operative skills
· Increased self-esteem, particularly in children with lower self esteem
· Improvements in behaviour
Better relationships with peers, teacher and parents
