Doing without Socrates
The Socratic method, when used correctly, is an ingenious and dependable way of fostering collaborative dialogic argument in the classroom. Yet the Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) presents […]
Tag Archives: questioning
Straighten up and fly right: Making dialogue work
Does dialogue work to harmonise conflicting views, or does it simply entrench differences? According to extensive research in the psychology of polarised opinion, the answer is discouraging: when people of […]
Is philosophy dead?
You might have noticed: having a dig at philosophy seems to have become a sport among high profile scientists. Stephen Hawking famously declared: “philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept […]
How to use philosophy as a cricket bat
What is philosophy to you?* Philosophy is something we do to make sense of our lives and our experiences, and to build a coherent worldview. Open-mindedness, scepticism and intellectual rigour […]
Book review: Once Upon an If
The Philosophy Foundation has a track record of producing a kind of book that’s in short supply: truly innovative contemporary guides to teaching critical and creative thinking to children. Peter […]
On the point of life
I was tickled pink by this exchange between one girl’s mum (who hosted a Philosophy Club workshop at her home), and another girl’s dad (who arrived a little early to pick […]
Are they the aliens, or are we?
Most kids find The Philosophy Club unusual, because it’s rare for them to find other opportunities – either in school or home – to think and talk about deep questions […]
Ho ho ho! (Q.E.D.)
(Or, This Festive Season, Teach Your Children to Believe Responsibly) Currently circulating on social media is this letter from a couple of well-intentioned parents to their questioning son, who is […]
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 […]
