The story ‘And is that the end of your tale?’ asked Sindbad the porter. ‘If it were, it would be one of the most fantastical tales yet told,’ said Sindbad the sailor, ‘but fate and fortune had not finished with me yet. I was returned safely home again but it was not long before I was aboard another ship seeki...

The story There was once a man called Sindbad – Sindbad the porter, for he carried other people’s belongings on his back for a living. It was trying work and on this particular day he was feeling particularly sorry for himself as he carried a particularly heavy load. But then he stopped in his tracks at the sound of music floating...

The story ‘What happened?’ asked Sindbad the porter, ‘How did you come to be sitting here telling me this tale?’ Sindbad the sailor said: ‘Well, fate gave once more. I was eventually picked up by a ship. Shortly after, I was shipwrecked alone on a desolate island with nothing but berries to sustain me. I wa...

By Tim Beardmore-Gray This enquiry was written for the educational charity GROW. https://www.grow-up.co/ The story is based on the Swiss tale The Singing Fir Tree, as told by Sheryl Ann Karas. http://spiritoftrees.org/the-singing-fir-tree The text in brackets can be omitted or included depending on how open you’d like the compreh...

The Philosophy Aristotle on parts and wholes (see quote below). Socrates on knowing that you know nothing. Frank Jackson and ‘Mary and the Black and White Room’ Russell’s theory of descriptions Plato on particulars and universals Teaching Strategies Quote to use with class (if appropriate): ‘The whol...

Stimulus Frog, Pig and Duck lived by the pond. They loved the pond and they often swan together, went fishing together and talked to eachother. They liked to think of themselves as the a team. One day a stranger arrived. It was a rat and it came to live at the edge of the pond. Pig discovered him and saw that his whiskers we long and his f...

This session was created by Caroline Schaffalitzky de Muckadell, from the University of Southern Denmark.  She is part of the project Filosofi i Skolen, which The Philosophy Foundation is partnered with. Philosophy A central question in moral philosophy concerns what makes something morally wrong. Is it if the act harms others? If it ...

The Talking Poem Hello, I’m a poem, A poem that talks to you But a poem that also Talks back A poem that says what it wants to Then says what it thinks you’ll Say back. “What do you mean?” I hear you say out loud. Well, something a little Like that! “Like what?” you shout out (Whether yo...

This poem is about conflict in our minds and the struggle between different ideas. We are encouraging children to think about the nature of thinking itself: how does one mind have two opposite thoughts, and how does it decide between them… and does it have to, or could it carry on believing two contradictory things? The Thought Fight ...