“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” (Malcolm S. Forbes) – Philosophy for Children?

Philosophy for Children (P4C)
Socrates said that “the unexamined life is not worth living” and anyone working or living with children will know that they are natural philosophers because they wonder.
At CDEC we aim to develop global learning, and it’s concepts, skills, knowledge and values, through many pedagogies and practical activities, but have found increasingly that the SAPERE (Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach is one of the most popular and successful ways to achieve this. I have recently completed my Level 1 training and have been trialling a few activities and enquiries in schools and feel compelled to share my learning.

The main premise is that children can think deeply, and that our role as classroom managers is to facilitate a philosophical discussion, deepening it to develop a critical enquiry in a community forum. There are lots of stages and processes to ensure the experience for the children develops and deepens each time, and so that it is a safe environment for children to express themselves. Over the weeks, months and years starting from a young age (F2/Y1) children can and do develop the ability to discuss, resolve, debate, articulate and think. I have also seen videos of P4C being used with KS4 children, so it is relevant for any age group.

P4C emphasises The 4 Cs – Caring, Collaborative, Critical and Creative thinking. Teachers tend to need to work on the collaborative and caring thinking skills with their class before moving onto critical and creative thinking. Using each other’s names is a very simple yet powerful way of helping to embed this way of working – say who you are passing the ball to, for example. The Four Cs should also be discussed explicitly with children – what sort of question/comment is this? And they will start to recognise and identify whether things said are critical, caring, collaborative or creative, or a combination of any of these.

There are lots of games and activities teachers use to prepare their pupils for enquiry-based philosophical discussion, known as Community Builders – games that focus on developing trust, fairness, listening, sharing, asking and answering questions, and creative thinking, for example.
Concept stretchers are another way to deepen children’s thinking or to stimulate an enquiry – where do you stand on this issue/idea/concept? To what extent do you think pets understand what you are saying, for example. There are also numerous Thinking Games around to help deepen children’s thinking and ideas. This preparation may take several sessions or longer before the children are ready to undertake a full enquiry.

Children need to learn how to generate philosophical questions – questions that are open ended and which explore a concept; there are many activities designed to help facilitate this. A variety of stimuli, especially stories, images, film clips and artefacts are used to stimulate the children’s thinking and questions. It can take a long time for children to really focus on philosophical concepts, and on developing philosophical ideas and questions rather than descriptive ones that will simply evolve into a discussion, a short answer or a list of attributes, for example, rather than a deeper thinking enquiry.

The Enquiry really is democracy in action – the children sit in a circle, talk within agreed rules and procedures and democratically choose the question for the enquiry from a choice of their own questions generated from the stimulus. They can all share their opening thoughts, there is an equal opportunity for speech and reflection, and they all have the opportunity to express their final thoughts as well. All are allowed to agree or disagree with someone else or the question.

The role of the facilitator is hugely important, and so far in my experience the hardest aspect of the whole P4C process. You need to ensure that everyone gets to speak who wants to, but you also need to judge when to intervene in the enquiry, and crucially what to ask to move the discussion on. The more you do it, the more appropriate your prompts become. You also need to allow for silence and keep an eye on those who tend to dominate and those who say very little, and engineer less/more opportunities as appropriate. A facilitator can also ask the children to define the terms used in the question, either at the start or once the enquiry has got going – it may be helpful at a different point in time. The aim should be to be the guide at the side not a sage on the stage (Roger Sutcliffe). When asking questions, giving 3 seconds increases the quality of children’s answer hugely (lots of research evidence to support this).
Here are some Socratic Questions which help focus children’s thinking:
• Questions that seek clarification
• Questions that probe reasons and evidence
• Questions that explore alternative views
• Questions that test implications and consequences
• Questions about the question/discussion

The session ends with a group reflection on how the enquiry went, the skills used, the process rather than the subject matter. Again many tools and activities are available to support this.
There are so many ways P4C can enrich, enhance and support learning across the curriculum. With the teachers on the Level 1 course the other week we were literally able to apply the principles of the process to any subject, and I have seen some fantastic written responses in RE, Science, English, Geography and History to name a few, all stimulated by a philosophical, critical enquiry approach to subject content. The scope for supporting global learning, speaking and listening, developing vocabulary and statistics is huge.

My only regret is that I did not have this strategy to hand when I was in the classroom; my next aim is to find a school willing to allow me to develop P4C over a long period of time! I think it is such a powerful, thought-provoking, stimulating and empowering approach to learning.

“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”

Socrates

What value(s) do you have in your work, your workplace, your life?

A recurring theme at work in different places with different groups of teachers and leaders has been Values. We all have values, our workplaces all have values, and we have been told to incorporate certain other values into our schools. How do we manage to find our way through all these values? What are values? What are our common values? What are your personal values? Do any of them match? How do we cope if they don’t? Does it matter?

On the TV the other night I watched a programme about Lego, the company, the brand, the product, the culture. The documentary followed two or three employees and dug deeper into the values of the organisation and how employees have to live, breathe and even consume the values in their daily work. Indoctrination? Religion? A high-ranking director preferred to call it a philosophy. I do a little work for the National Trust and their ‘core’ values are embedded in the culture of the site staff at all levels: we are to inspire people and love places, as well as think long term and serve a common purpose. And these values are visible in the culture, the way people greet each other, talk to each other, have a smile on their face. It’s very clear to me as a new employee what the organisation stands for, believes in, and values.

Last week I was working in a school exploring British Values with the staff. These are the four aspects of modern Britain the government has told teachers and school leaders to weave into the fabric of every school, and told OFSTED to comment and make a judgement upon. Today at a diocesan Deputies conference there was a lot of discussion around Christian Values. Every school has a Mission Statement, and often a strap line to encapsulate their values. Last week at another conference, Mick Waters, ex-head of QCA (amongst many other things), explored whether a school’s values are very visible to visitors in practice, apart from on display in the foyer. Some teachers I meet do not know what the stated British Values are; others confuse them with Britishness, or being British, or what Britain is, or what it looks like to people from other places. Others are struggling to match their own values with the current education agenda whereby economic outcomes are driving the focus on results at school level.

What are British Values?
Well you could make your own list. What do we believe in as a nation? What do we stand for? All our answers will differ to some extent although there would be some commonality. The government (more specifically Michael Gove in response to the Trojan enquiry etc) has told schools to promote these four ‘British’ Values in particular:
1. Democracy
2. The Rule of Law
3. Individual Liberty
4. Tolerance and respect for people of different religions and cultures
At CDEC our advice to schools has basically been to start with your own school values, analyse and unpick those and then see where they might match up with the required British values. We also encourage discussion and debate around what the British values might look like in practice in your school. We do some practical activities to explore our common heritage and Britishness as well. Many schools are already using democratic practices in their classrooms, and all schools have an Equality Policy. Historically we have, as a nation, taken these values across the world in our quest with other European countries to grab land and resources (colonialism). The Magna Carta, celebrating 800 years this week, is said to be the forerunner of the American Constitution and the foundation of democracy, the rule of law and human rights around the world.

Christian Values
Considerable debate ensued today when discussing whether the British values were in fact comparable with the Christian values that church schools often promote, even if under a different verb or in different language (trust, respect, love). Some argued that Christian values were in fact deeper, more fundamental and in fact more important. Nonetheless schools have to make sure their pupils are familiar with the British Values and what they mean in their school.

SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development)
Schools also have a statutory duty to provide opportunities for pupils’ SMSC development, and OFSTED also makes a judgement on how well a school meets this requirement. This is essentially how a school develops the whole child and puts its values into practice. Some have the arts at the centre of their curriculum, others the basic skills. Some put Global Citizenship at the centre, and others Christian or religious values (faith schools). Whatever drives the school will impact heavily on the SMSC opportunities the pupils experience. Many schools have a policy outlining where these opportunities will be delivered or created, within the curriculum and beyond into the whole school experience. It includes educational visits, assemblies, acts of collective worship, opportunities for reflection, global learning, Children’s Rights and Eco Schools, to name but a few examples. Most schools encourage the pupil voice through a school council. The church schools today also discussed the use of Ethos Groups, where children focus on the values of the school and help to explore, enhance, promote and investigate them in practice.

Global Learning and Values
In an earlier blog I outlined the key concepts that global learning aims to develop. These can be regarded as values, because they include justice, sustainability, rights, diversity, peace, and citizenship. One is even labelled Values and Perceptions. They can be comfortably paired with the four British Values, in fact many of the key concepts reflect all four values. At CDEC we prefer to talk about the British Values as Global Values, and Britishness as something slightly different. Before children learn about another country they need to know and understand their own place, culture, geography and history. At CDEC we promote these global values all the time in all our work. This is what we stand for and believe in. How about you?

What exactly IS Global Learning?

In my role as Global Education Officer what became clear to me early on regarding global learning was two things – (i) not everybody knows what you are talking about (true!), and (ii) there are a number of definitions of what global learning actually is. So in this blog I am going to explain the CDEC philosophy and what it looks like in practice.

The Global Learning Programme (GLP), partly funded by the Government, describes itself as a “….. programme which helps teachers to deliver effective teaching and learning about development and global issues at Key Stages 1 and 2……….[schools]…. will experience the exciting impact that knowledge and understanding of global learning can bring to pupils’ learning across the curriculum. It helps pupils make sense of the world in which they live and to understand their role within a global society. The GLP will also help schools develop an ethos promoting tolerance, fairness and respect.”
How this works in practice is that when schools sign up to the programme online, they are tasked with completing a global learning audit about curricular and other provision and then they receive £500 of e-credits, to spend on training and professional development. There are a number of training providers available, and CDEC in Chester is one of these. Other DECs are also offering support, as well as other providers. Schools then register on any courses or broker support from their chosen service provider directly. The school is also then partnered with an Expert Centre, another school, whowill organise a series of 8 CPD sessions over the next 4 terms. Again, DECs are often highly involved in supporting the development of the Expert Centre clusters and their global learning programmes.

As a teacher I think this is a big commitment for one person, a named global learning leader, attending every meeting and going on training and developing global learning back in their own school. It perhaps should be a shared role so that if someone left the school the work achieved does not stall. I also think the Headteacher or a Senior Leader at the least should be heavily involved, because the part I like most about the GLP statement above is that it helps “schools develop an ethos promoting tolerance, fairness and respect.”
This is what I think CDEC are particularly good at – working with Heads and Deputies, and whole staff teams, to develop an ethos which reflects the school’s desire to develop their pupils as global citizens, with values such as fairness, equality, tolerance and respect promoted at every opportunity, across the curriculum and beyond, in policy, in practice, in modelling by staff in what they say and do.

In an article written by Rob Unwin (Developing Global Schools in China: ‘East Meets West’: learning together, published 2014) he quotes Daisaku Ikeda as stating that the essential elements of global citizenship are:
– The wisdom to perceive the interconnectedness of all life and living
– The courage not to fear or deny difference but to respect and strive to understand people of different cultures, and to grow from encounters with them, and
– The compassion to maintain an imaginative empathy that reaches beyond one’s immediate surroundings and extends to those suffering in distant places.
(my highlighting)
We need to be careful here of thinking as global learning as promoting charity. The GLP has as one of its aims to help teachers, schools and learners alike shift from a notion of charity to one of mutual respect, support and social justice. Fundraising is not a bad idea of course, but encouraging children to ask why we need to fundraise at all, why people are hungry, or ill, or don’t have access to basic human rights, and finding answers, is global learning.
Unwin also refers to Oxfam’s ‘Curriculum for Global Citizenship’ framework (2006). This excellent booklet outlines the key knowledge and understanding, skills, and values and attitudes for global citizens. Unwin gives the values and attitudes 8 broad headings:
– Positive sense of identity
– Open to new ideas
– Sense of interdependence
– Desire to make a difference
– Commitment to rights and responsibilities
– Commitment to peace
– Commitment to justice
– Commitment to sustainability

Although similar, I prefer the 8 key strands of global learning as set out by the GLP:
• Global citizenship
• Social Justice
• Sustainable Development
• Conflict Resolution
• Human Rights
• Diversity
• Values and Perceptions
• Interdependence

All of our work at CDEC – Developing Global Learning promotes one, some, or all of these 8 strands. We do a lot work with schools for example on equality, which develops understanding of social justice, conflict resolution, human rights, diversity and values/perceptions. We provide practical activities which staff try and that they can use in the classroom, and we work on Children’s Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We would also spend some time working on racism, perceptions and homophobia.
We also focus on developing children’s skills in terms of how and what they learn: using Philosophy for Children for example, or stories, to encourage and develop critical thinking, collaboration and empathy. Children can often relate to other children so we use images and discussions to develop understanding and challenge perceptions. We use games and activities that encourage communication and debate. We aim to help develop children who want to take action.

That’s what I see global learning as and I will be expanding on different aspects over the next few blogs. I hope you have stuck with me here and want to know more.

It’s all very interesting – and important.

The Danger of A Single Story: a powerful and inspirational lesson

The Danger of a Single Story is a remarkable speech by Chimamanda Adichie, a best-selling and award-winning Nigerian author. She describes in about 20 minutes, how growing up as an avid reader in her middle-income family home she initially wrote stories about white girls and boys taking tea, playing out in the snow, talking about the weather and so on, because that was all she had read stories about. None of these stories were her story, her reality. Later at University in the USA she encountered ignorance and unintentional racism even from room-mates, who were amazed for example at how good her English was (English is the official language of Nigeria).
She then goes on to explain how a single story can misrepresent a place and a people, and that if it is retold and repeated often enough that story and its characters become the story of that place and its people, and in fact that place becomes that story. It creates stereotypes by not creating a complete story and picture.

Chimamanda also explains that power is what tells the story: the more power, the more stories you hear/see/read; so that we know that not all Americans are serial killers (like Hannibal Lecter, for example) or that not all Americans live in huge Hollywood mansions with a spare apartment in New York (my examples). This is because we, the world, have not been told a single story of America, we have been told thousands. In novels, history books, films, TV shows, on chat shows etc. Therein lies the power of many stories and being able to tell many stories.

Chimamanda concludes her speech by saying that a balance of stories is needed. She says that “stories matter…..but many stories matter more.”

We at CDEC – Developing Global Learning use Chimamanda’s speech as a stimulus for discussion about using several stories in the classroom when developing children’s understanding of places and cultures. We provide some really powerful examples of thought-provoking, beautiful stories that teachers can use the next day. We get teachers talking about perceptions, and how to start challenging them and dispelling stereotypes. And we often have teachers admitting to their own misconceptions and the need to understand and paint a bigger, broader, wider picture of a place, a culture, a people.

When I first heard this speech, I was mesmerised. Almost everyone is. I found it powerful and thought-provoking and it made me feel a little ashamed and angry. Chimamanda tells her story with dignity, humour and understated confidence. She knows she speaks the truth, and we the viewer also know it. Look her up. Follow her advice – tell many stories, not just one.

As Chimamanda says, “Stories can break, or repair, the dignity of people. When you reject the single story, you begin a kind of paradise.”

Refs:
http://chimamanda.com
http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en# http://www.cheshiredec.org.uk

Out of the classroom and into the world I go

After 25 years of classroom teaching, school leadership and advisory work I have branched out into the world of global learning. I can hear you now: what does that mean?

I work for a small, well established local charitable organisation in Chester called ‘CDEC – developing global learning’ which supports schools and communities locally – and has done successfully for 18 years.

CDEC is the leading provider of global education services in Cheshire, Halton, Warrington and Wirral, offering professional support and training to schools and teachers, universities and trainee teachers and other educational and early years’ settings.

Global learning helps to develop skills of enquiry and critical thinking, and the ability to engage with different perspectives. Global learning helps to promote an understanding of and respect for the lives and cultures of everyone, in order for us all to contribute and actively participate in the development of a fair, sustainable society that celebrates diversity and difference and our global interdependence

I am learning lots of new knowledge and ways of working with children. I have achieved accreditation at Level 1 in Philosophy for Children and the Global Teacher’s Award. I am working with a group of like-minded people who care about the future of our world. We have volunteers, students, administrative support, trustees and of course the Centre Manager, Founder and leader, Heather Swainston.

I work with schools to encourage children, staff, parents and governors to challenge perceptions, dispel stereotyping, develop global links and understanding, and support learning about and action for global issues at a local level and using critical thinking, enquiry and even philosophical approaches and strategies. I am trying to reach out to every school in the area and offer access to resources, advice, courses, training and bespoke workshops. I am either in the office or out meeting teachers, Senior Leaders or children, or representatives from similar organisations and community groups.

I have lots of interesting thoughts, reflections and learning to share: welcome to the Neil Sledge Global Learning Blog, I hope you get some ideas or inspiration from my regular posts, links and thoughts over the next few months as my professional life takes on a new perspective and direction.