Tips for facilitating philosophical discussions in the classroom
by Lisa Naylor, P4C Specialist at Gallions Primary School, London
Start each session with a warm-up game: A good game for
groups new to P4C [Philosopy for/with Children; see p7 for more
information] is Ask the Bag a Question: put a familiar object in the
middle of the circle (a bag, pair of shoes, a chair, a pencil, a globe,
etc.) and everybody takes it in turns to ask the object a question.
Set clear ground rules: Ask the children what they need to have a good
discussion. They might include: Don’t talk when someone else is talking, look at the person talking and
listen until they finish.
Encourage the children to pose open-ended ‘thinking’ or ‘wondering’ questions in response to the
stimulus: I usually start by encouraging children to consider the main themes running through the stimulus
and then ask them to draw out the big ideas from the themes.
Trust that over time, children will learn to think in a less literal and more philosophical way: Children
new to P4C may at first respond very literally in a philosophical enquiry. Encourage children to probe deeper
and over time, they will learn to think in a more philosophical way.
Encourage the children to respond to each other: Asking if they agree or disagree with previous
speakers and probing for examples or reasons are good ways of helping children sharpen their capacity to
think critically and build on each other’s thoughts during the enquiry.
Facilitate the enquiry Some useful things to say to facilitate the enquiry could include:
✴ Do you agree or disagree with what you have just heard?
✴ Can you clarify what you mean?
✴ What I think you are saying is… Is that right?
✴ Can you give an example to support your argument?
Allow time for a final round: Allow everybody in the circle to share a
final brief point, either adding to what has been said during the
enquiry or commenting on how the session went. Encourage children
who have made little or no contribution to the session to share,
without rushing to finish the lesson.