Michelle Sowey: Co-founder and Managing Director

Michelle is a philosopher and educational designer who works in schools and communities to translate the theory of collaborative philosophical inquiry into practice. Through The Philosophy Club’s workshops and blog, she promotes the widespread critical engagement with ideas that is vital for meaningful citizenship. Michelle prepares young people to engage in deliberative democracy by encouraging them to value reasons and evidence, to pursue shared understanding with their peers, and to communicate across ideological divides with care, empathy, intellectual humility and a spirit of conviviality.

As a content creator, workshop facilitator and teacher trainer, Michelle helps people to develop philosophical dispositions and skills in inquiry, reasoning, reflection and dialogic argument. She was awarded the inaugural Prize for Innovation in Inclusive Curricula by the Australasian Association of Philosophy in recognition of her success in making philosophical dialogue accessible to a broad range of participants. She holds a University Medal in Philosophy from UNSW, and is completing a Master of Education at UNE.

Michelle has been an affiliate of the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations, a team member of the Centre for Critical and Creative Thinking, a member of the Australasian Association of Philosophy’s committee for Philosophy in the Community, and a member of the Association for Academic Language and Learning committee for professional development. She regularly writes and reviews academic and popular work in the field of philosophy education. Her essay Renewing democracy with collaborative reasoning was published in Meanjin. Her paper Unveiling and Packaging: A Model of Presenting Philosophy in Schools appears in the journal Human Affairs. Her papers Against directive teaching in the moral Community of Inquiry: A response to Michael Hand (co-authored with Grace Lockrobin of Thinking Space) and Strengthening dialogical argument: What teachers can learn from authentic examples of student dialogue appear in the Journal of Philosophy in Schools. Selected other publications include The NAPLAN Persuasive Writing Test Subverts Critical Thinking in John Menadue – Pearls and Irritations; Can You Kill a Goat By Staring At It? A critical look at minimally invasive education on The Philosophy Foundation blog; and Philosophy for Children: A reflective approach to human rights education in Right Now: Human Rights in Australia.

Michelle is also Principal Consultant at Michelle Sowey—academic editing services, where she copyedits and proofreads academic manuscripts across the humanities, arts and social sciences.

Her resume is available here.

You can view a lists of her publications as well as her invited presentations, facilitation sessions and residencies. You can also view a Visual Showcase displaying elements from her bespoke philosophical inquiry workshops.

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David Urbinder: Co-founder and Development Consultant.

Educator and designer David Urbinder created The Philosophy Club’s innovative curriculum materials during our early years of operation, providing rich and challenging learning experiences to engage children in critical thinking, creative problem-solving, collaboration and reflection.

David was involved in The Philosophy Club’s development initially through curriculum and resource development, and subsequently as a facilitator and development manager. David is passionate about the capacity of philosophical dialogue to empower a new generation by promoting more rational and independent thinking.

Drawing on his background in education and psychology, David has helped shape The Philosophy Club’s unique curricula of activities and discussion plans. Using skills he developed in media and design, David has created a range of multimedia ‘idea catalysts’ in the form of original films, scripts, stories, soundtracks and theatrical activities, all designed to provoke children’s deep and whimsical thinking.