One of the biggest challenges of doing Philosophy for Children is how to fit it into a crowded curriculum. A successful approach is to use philosophical enquiry to enhance thinking and learning in different subjects.
For example, I recently worked with a class who were learning about the Design & Technology objective: Understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown… (English National Curriculum KS2).
The pupils had already found out what seasonal food is. But doing a philosophical enquiry about it took their thinking to a deeper level, and gave them an opportunity to wonder how they might apply the learning in their own lives.
What if you want to eat strawberries in winter?
The question for the enquiry was Should everyone eat seasonally? Here are some of the points they made:
I think everyone should eat seasonally, because it’s nutritious and better for the environment.
I don’t think you have to always eat seasonally. What if you want mango, which doesn’t grow here? Or what if you want to eat strawberries in winter?
In my garden we grow cherries and strawberries.
I think we should try to eat seasonally, but to do it all the time might be difficult.
I also think we should try, but it might be difficult to get a balanced diet the whole way through the year.
I want you to clarify what you mean by a balanced diet…
I hope this illustrates how P4C can enhance learning within an area of the curriculum.
