World Philosophy Day: What about the kids?
We know that children benefit in diverse and important ways from engaging in philosophical questioning and dialogue. So why do so few primary schools in Australia dedicate class time to […]
Tag Archives: p4c
Can you kill a goat by staring at it?
This year’s $1 million TED Prize was awarded to a novel educational project that encourages small groups of children to work together, using the internet to answer big questions that […]
Big Questions for intergalactic philosophers
Later this week, 52 novice philosophers will find themselves in an imaginary universe of zero-gravity waterslide parks, Brussel sprout ice cream, dragon appointments and a spectacular array of perplexing questions. […]
On Questioning and Silence: Subversive Activity (Part 2)
Some of the educational reforms considered radical in the late ‘60s have come to be accepted – even institutionalised – in our current school system (as we saw in Part […]
Helping kids develop moral judgement
Unless children can think ethically, they won’t be able to behave ethically in a way that’s resilient to outside pressures. This is the last of three posts in which I […]
Do children need moral guidelines?
How should a facilitator respond when students express controversial opinions in Ethics? Here I share my email conversation with a friend who volunteers as a facilitator in the NSW Primary […]
Responding to radical opinions in Ethics
A friend recently asked me a question about teaching ethics. She volunteers as a facilitator of children’s dialogue in the NSW Primary Ethics program, and her question triggered an email […]
What Philosophy is not
I was taken aback to discover an opinion piece in The New Yorker denouncing the teaching of philosophy in schools as ‘a terrible idea’. The author, Richard Brody, reflects bitterly […]
A grassroots philosophy hub
Kids can benefit from joining a philosophical community as soon as they begin to question the world around them and their place in it. That’s what I suggest in my […]
Playground Philosopher
Have you visited Playground Philosopher? It’s our other blog, exploring the philosophy in picture books. It presents gorgeous illustrations, questions to stimulate lively dialogue among children (or adults!), playful activities […]
