Philosophy for Children - P4C at Bosbury

Philosophy for Schools is all about encouraging young people to think, through the approach of Philosophy for Children (P4C).  But then, we’re all thinking all the time, surely? 

Just try this experiment. Find a really quiet place, make yourself comfortable, close your eyes, count to ten and try not to think for a whole minute.  Did you manage it?  Or did you find yourself thinking all kinds of things? 

 
So – is there ever a time when you’re not thinking? 

What about when you sleep – do you stop thinking then?  And if you do think you stop thinking when you’re asleep, then what are dreams?  Ah, I hear you say, you don’t dream all night, so maybe you’re not thinking in the in-between bits.  But our brain is still working, surely?  So does this ‘working’ that our brain does count as thinking?  Or is ‘thinking’ something different, and if so, in what way?

I guess, if you’ve got this far, that you’re thinking about thinking, which is just what Philosophy for Schools encourages children to do.  When we really think about something, we’re trying to make sense of it, and isn’t that really what education should be all about?  We have a big, wide world that’s changing faster than ever, so how can we possibly give our children all the knowledge they’ll need by the time they’ve left education?  What we can do, though, is give them the tools to think better when they’re faced with new and possibly challenging situations.

Thankfully, this has well-documented benefits across the whole curriculum.  Children who engage in regular philosophical enquiry, for example, often do better generally.  When it’s done within subject areas however, it becomes a very powerful way to promote understanding. 

We believe that empowering the children to think in a philosophical way will greatly enrich them as learners and as people, it will also help drive academic success. All the teachers at Bosbury are certified philosophy (P4C) teachers and integrate the approach into the day to day curriculum.

Philosophy for children is introduced in reception and runs through to year 6.

Have a go at home.

The clip below is from Cbeebies 'What's the big idea?' a great show to engage children with philosophy at an early age.

Watch the clip with your child and ask them what they think afterwards.

If you would like to know about our approach to Philosophy at Bosbury feel free to ask us more.