I had brought with me a planned stimulus for my P4C session, but just as my group were getting ready, an insect walked across the carpet and their teacher quickly intervened to stop one of them squashing it! The children were suddenly so engaged that I saw an opportunity to change course and use the insect as the stimulus instead. Here’s a fascinating excerpt from the resulting dialogue:
Is it ok to kill an insect?
No! It’s one of god’s creatures.
No – they don’t do anything. They’re just trying to live their life.
You can’t kill one because it’s a living thing.
You should put it outside.
It’s not ok to kill them – it’s sad.
Flies are annoying, and ants.
I disagree. I don’t like killing creatures – I like saving them!
It’s ok to kill flies and ants. They’re annoying!
(Me) Hmm… I was just finding Mateo a bit annoying because he was playing with that noisy car. Is it ok for me to kill him?
No! Because he’s human.
(Me) Are humans more important than insects?
Yes, because people are more important than bugs because they are bigger.
(Me) So are bigger things more important?
Yes.
(Me) OK everyone, stand up. Make a line from the smallest to the tallest. Ok, Josh you’re smaller than Leila. Can you two stand there please, so we can see you. Let’s have a think. Is Leila more important than Josh?
No – he’s been born like that [pointing at Josh].
Josh is more important – we need to care about him because he’s smaller and if he falls over he might cry.
I think they’re equal. They both do stuff. They’re both humans. They can both talk.
It can be risky to change a planned lesson at short notice but as this excerpt shows, it is sometimes worth it.
