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Pupils' lessons in philosophy are different class
By Mike Russell TEN and 11-year-olds are gathered round in a circle discussing today's big question: "If everyone was the same, would the world be a better place?"
After pondering the matter, Michael offers this: "If we were all the same, then everyone would be your friend. But at the same time, no one would be your friend."
Daisy adds: "If we were all the same, we wouldn't truly be human - it's our faults and differences that make us."
Welcome to philosophy class at Dobcroft Junior School.
Every pupil at the Millhouses primary takes part in sessions like this at least once a term as part of a project called Philosophy4Children.
There are various jumping off points for the discussions - there could be a short story, a poem, even a picture.
The children then split into groups of three or four and come up with a question based on what they've heard or seen.
The questions are written on the board and pupils then vote on which one they think will produce the most interesting debate.
It's a challenging riposte to critics who say lessons in primary schools these days are too obsessed with literacy and numeracy.
"The pupils aren't actually looking at the works of the great philosophers - but they do learn to discuss things in a philosophical way," explains deputy head Sue Hopkinson, who introduced the sessions to the school's citizenship curriculum.
"The important thing is that the children get to choose what they want to discuss - they are in control."
This may be true, but the various starting points - or stimuli - are designed to point the children towards a particular topic.
Today's could have led to a conventional discussion on bullying and its causes, but the question the children have decided on has much wider implications. Some take it literally, imagining a world full of clones where everyone is literally identical. But other pupils take a different tack, exploring the value of different outlooks and beliefs.
Others realise that without human differences, seemingly eternal problems such as racism would cease to exist.
"The sessions teach the children to think deeply, and that is a skill which is useful across other areas of the curriculum," Sue says.
Topic areas tend to be global rather than local, and have included issues such as poverty, warfare, vegetarianism and self-image.
One successful jumping off point was a letter from a World War I soldier describing the famous Christmas Day truce in 1914 and the no man's land football match.
"At first some pupils just voice their parents' opinions, but then they listen and may change their minds later," Sue said.
At the end of every session each child has to say what they now think about the question and whether they have changed their views.
"Sometimes we keep on the discussions in the playground afterwards. And at home you discuss stuff with your mum and dad," said 10-year-old Charlotte.
Not that such discussions are always welcome. "I try to talk about stuff on the news with my dad, but he just ends up shouting," says Harry. Sue was introduced to Philosophy4Children - originally an Oxfam project - by the Development Education Centre in South Yorkshire, which sent her on a training course at Oxford Brookes University.
Since then nine other members of staff at Dobcroft have been trained too.
Teacher Janine Farrah said many adults didn't have the skills to stand up and argue what they believed in.
"But these kids do it politely and respectfully and in an atmosphere of freedom," she said.
Sue believes philosophy should have a place in every school, even at infant level.
"Children can just take part at their own level, bringing their own experiences to bear. The pupils here love it and it's certainly changed my outlook on teaching as a whole," she added.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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