Staff Training

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is practised in over 60 countries, and is becoming increasingly popular here.

Both primary and secondary schools are turning to it as a way to tackle SEAL, thinking skills, Citizenship, speaking and listening, pupil voice, SMSC… but it’s more than an initiative-busting tool.

I’m passionate about P4C because, if it had been on the curriculum at any point in my schooling, it would have been the highlight of my week.

Walking the talk of interactive learning

I like to practise what I preach, and to preach as little as possible, so you won’t find me delivering a long powerpoint lecture about the importance of dialogue. My style as a trainer is fast paced, energetic and interactive. Much of the time is spent on activities where you can enjoy doing some philosophy as “general-purpose adults” rather than teachers. After following some philosophical trails yourselves, you’ll be all the keener to bring this style of thinking to your classes.

Woven into the activities are short pauses for us to reflect as professionals and for me to “show my working”, so that the theory emerges through live, practical examples. Like a P4C enquiry, the courses are flexible to the emerging interests of the group, and we always consider how the activities chosen could be adapted for your context.

Training that refuses to go away

I place a lot of emphasis on the post-course support you receive. I get cross with “fireworks and fizzle” training that gets people excited but goes nowhere. So you’ll always receive at least six months of after-course support emails with resources I’ve written and ideas for creating your own. I also encourage course participants to “buddy-up” and share their experiences as they gain in confidence.

Make serious thinking irresistible fun

An intense, fast-paced training session of up to 1 ½ hours, usually following a pupil workshop. Enjoy tackling a variety of philosophical problems while acquiring a battery of flexible activities to deepen thinking, engage pupils and enrich dialogue across the curriculum. Includes an explanation of the shared “deep structure” of these activities to help you devise your own resources for exploring challenging concepts.

Juicier questions, deeper discussions

A twilight or half-day session. Includes an exploration of Thinkers’ Games and a full-length Philosophy for Children enquiry. All participants receive a copy of my minibook, “Pocket P4C – Getting Started with Philosophy for Children”. A maximum of 30 participants can experience an enquiry with a single trainer.

Inspiring INSET with long-term impact

A full day INSET, with Thinkers’ Games, a full length enquiry, choosing starting points for P4C within the curriculum and as a stand-alone session, advice on facilitation skills and a supported planning session on how to include P4C in your school.

Accredited training to national standards

For schools that are looking for substantial professional development and a whole-school approach to P4C, this is the nationally recognised course accredited by SAPERE.

Participants will experience a variety of approaches to enquiry, develop questioning strategies and acquire techniques for creating broad and deep engagement in philosophy sessions.

The course can be held on two successive days or as separate sessions with a period of supported practice in between.

I run Level 1 courses with a variety of partner organisations and schools around the country, and welcome enquiries from those interested in hosting such events. Courses are announced on the News page and in the P4C support email.

See The Philosophy Feast – Thinking Activities and Prospectus for INSET prices.

I am an accredited trainer with SAPERE, the charity that promotes P4C nationally. I have been commissioned by SAPERE to produce resources for their members and am also an active contributor to www.p4c.com, the leading website for p4c resources.

I had the privilege last year of attending the Advanced Seminar in P4C at the International Association for Philosophy for Children in New Jersey, and in June of this year I am presenting a paper, “Alien Adventures in Philosophy: P4C through interactive narratives”, at the conference of the North American Association for Community of Enquiry at Querétaro, Mexico.

Most importantly, I continue to practice P4C in the classroom most weeks through my workshops with primary and secondary children.

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