Philosophy for Children

What is Philosophy for Children? (P4C)

At St Charles One of our main aims this year is for all children in our school to have regular
P4C sessions to help develop their thinking skills, communication skills and social skills.

Thinking for yourself through thinking with others In Philosophy for Children (P4C) sessions, children are shown a starter for thinking, such as a story, a picture or a film clip. Prompted by this, children create questions together in small groups. They share their questions and vote on which question they would like to discuss as a class.

The teacher facilitates the discussion of the chosen question by helping children to develop
opinions and give supporting reasons; to analyse significant concepts and to search for
meaning as a group.

The main principles of a P4C discussion:

  • It’s OK to change your mind
  • It’s OK to disagree, as long as you are respectful
  • Everyone’s ideas are valued

4Cs Thinking

P4C is designed to develop thinking that is:

Caring – understanding others and being respectful of different opinions
Collaborative – finding solutions together
Creative – making connections and thinking of new ideas
Critical – understanding what we think and why

Here are some examples of P4C questions, created by the children, which we have
discussed in school:

  • Should you forgive others?
  • Is it better to do what you think is right or to follow the rules?
  • Is it worth risking your life for a friend?
  • Is the mind more powerful than reality?
  • Is a human life more valuable than a rat’s?
  • Can you have too much power?

Benefits of P4C

Research* shows that P4C helps children’s further development in 3 main areas:

Cognitive, speaking, listening and reasoning skills are developed, resulting in improved
literacy and numeracy outcomes.

Critical reasoning and dialogue

Children are able to give reasons for their opinions and discuss and explore difference and
diversity in a reasonable way.

Emotional and Social

Confidence, concentration and self-esteem are boosted. Children are more able to manage
their feelings appropriately and become more understanding towards others.

*see www.sapere.org.uk for more details on research

P4C sessions help us to examine these school values. For example, we can discuss ‘What
is unity?’ and related questions which children may have, such as:

  • Is life easier when you work in a team?
  • Should you always play with the same people?
  • Can friends be different from us?
  • Is unity a good thing?
  • Is it OK to be the odd one out?

Help at home

If you would like to support our work at home, simply having a short conversation with your
child that involves saying what you each think and why is beneficial and fun! You can talk
about the book they are reading, what is happening on the news or get them to tell you
about what they are discussing in their P4C sessions.

Some thinking games you could play

  • Odd one out
  • Choose 3 objects, pictures, family members, animals etc. – which is the odd one out and
    why?
  • Can you find reasons for each of them to be the odd one out?
  • Connections
  • Choose 10 objects at random. Can you see connections between two different objects, or
    three (or more)?
  • Good because…. bad because …. questions
  • Ask what could be good or bad about different situations, eg
    – If we could hear people’s thoughts
    – If writing was never invented
    – If nobody was allowed to own anything
    – If dinosaurs still roamed the land
    – If we could swap brains with our friend