Frequently Asked Questions
Here you’ll find the answers to the questions I’m most often asked. If you have a question that I haven’t answered here, feel free to ask via the form at the bottom of this page.
If you have any trouble with seeing the answers on this page, please click here.
How long do pupil workshops last?
I usually stick to the length of your school day – so five to five and a half hours in total, following your usual pattern of breaks. For gifted pupils, particularly at secondary school, keeping one group together for the whole day has great benefits, but most workshops can be split between two groups doing a half day each.
For primary schools or Year 7, I can work with up to six classes during an Alien Adventures Launch day, in sessions of 50 – 80 minutes each however you want to split it.
How much does it cost?
Pupil workshops are £400 + VAT. If around trip of over 100 miles is needed, the extra mileage is charged at 25p/mile, and overnight stays are a flat rate of £50.
What’s the best size for a group?
At secondary, probably 15-24, 30 max. Momentum can be lacking in groups smaller than 10 if they are quiet and shy to begin with; up to 24 is probably optimal for giving each participant the chance to be heard in whole-group discussions.
At primary, an ordinary class group is fine. I used to offer to work with up to 40 pupils, but although schools were happy with the results I didn’t find the dialogue had the same depth.
How able do participants need to be?
This is going to sound like an advert for “pills for all ills”, but P4C does have something to offer across the range of ability and motivation. All the workshops were originally developed for G&T pupils, but I have worked with whole year groups as well in small secondary schools.
In primary, most of my work is mixed ability.
The general atmosphere of the workshops will appeal to all ability ranges: there is a fair bit of moving about, lots of humour, and P4C as a method is often successful in drawing out engaged and thoughtful responses from pupils who rarely contribute in other lessons.
At the top end of the ability range, the open-ended questions the complex links that can be made between different concepts provide a high level of challenge, and if you have some exceptionally gifted pupils I will enjoy pushing them to their limits.
Do staff need to be present?
You don’t have to have a staff member to help, any more than you would have a teacher shadow a supply teacher! If you can spare someone, or a rotating team of staff, I expect they will enjoy it and may pick up some techniques they can use in their own classroom – during moments when the pupils are working in groups, I’ll always “show my working” and explain the thinking behind the activities to staff who are interested.
As long as I know where the loos are and can get access to a cup of tea at lunch time, I’m self-sufficient.
Do you need an interactive whiteboard or other facilities?
Not usually. One of the alternatives for The Ethics Committee uses some short videos, but other than that things are deliberately no-tech so as not to distract from the most interesting visual aids in the room – each other.
What sort of room do you need?
Within any day, some activities require the whole group to sit in a circle, others ideally need an open space, preferably about 30 feet long by 15 feet wide. A drama studio is ideal as it saves moving furniture repeatedly, libraries are often good (though the booklover in me always feels guilty about invading the sacred space – let me know in advance so I can leave a book to apologise). A generously sized classroom is fine.
But PLEASE don’t schedule a pupil event in the school hall. All our presenters agree – the only time we’re less than happy with the way a day goes is when it’s in a big, echoey space like a hall or sports hall. Whether it’s the psychology of speaking out in a place with a high ceiling, or the association of halls with sitting still and listening, it just doesn’t get the best from the children. Even if you mark off some space in a corner, you can’t create the required intimacy – and it’s murder on the presenter’s voice as well. It’s better to move from place to place and use ordinary classrooms.
What’s the best time of year to book?
June gets very busy, and the first few weeks of a term tend to be quiet. I have lots of training courses and expeditions at the weekends, especially from April to October, so Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days of the week for pupil workshops. But if you get in early, whenever suits you.
Can you put together something different for our particular needs?
Usually, yes. The main skill in what we do is in creating the conditions for philosophical dialogue. Context, duration, age group are all flexible, and being asked to explore a different theme helps to spark off our creativity: you’ll know yourself how much easier it is to come up with new ideas when someone else gives you a starting point. So if, for example, you’re running a gifted summer school with a particular focus, we’ll see what we can do.
Are there events individual pupils can attend?
I work at residential courses offered by GIFT Ltd five or six times a year, and sometimes at open Summer Schools for other organisations. Details of open events will always be posted in the News section on this website.
What’s your take on “giftedness”?
I’m a little suspicious of the emerging “new orthodoxy” about the malleability of intelligence and the “myth of talent” as I can’t find enough voices that disagree with it to feel that it has been properly tested.
I can see from the richness of dialogue I get from mixed ability pupils at primary school that many children identified as gifted at secondary school are simply those who have not been “switched off” and who continue to permit themselves to grow intellectually; but the way some children with no previous experience of philosophy take to it with such fluency and insight makes me question whether talent can just be a matter of practice. I’m going to a Carol Dweck conference in June, so ask me again later.
Do you need to know any philosophy?
No. You may want to read some after the course piques your interest, but P4C is more about philosophy as an approach to thinking than about the specific issues you would study on a university course.
Do you run open courses?
I am lining up some open Level 1 courses with Excellence Hubs and other regional and county-based providers. Details will appear in the News section of this website.
How many can participate?
For teachers, 30 is the maximum that can experience an enquiry. For larger groups, I can draft in colleagues but the ideal is for some of your own staff to go on a Level 1 course beforehand so that we can run simultaneous enquiries and then some together for information and carousel sessions.
Do you still have questions?
Please ask me any questions you still have.
Click here to see a list of the schools I have worked with, and what they purchased.