Visiting Philosophers in your classroom
The children have become more reflective learners. This can be seen in how they approach all areas of the curriculum.
Jaspreet Hunjan
Y3 Teacher, Ilderton Primary School
Philosophical enquiry develops speaking and listening skills, vital for literacy and emotional development, it helps children who find it difficult to access other subjects, and it encourages critical and creative thinking, essential in the 21st Century. It also offers a place in the school curriculum for critical and collaborative reflection in contrast to the outcome-based learning children all-too-often encounter throughout their schooling.
We work as 'Visiting Philosophers' in schools running sessions and workshops in two ways:
- Visiting Philosophers come to your school on a weekly basis to run regular sessions with your students.
- Visiting Philosophers come to your school for one-off workshops and introducation sessions for students, or Pilot Programmes which run over 10 weeks.
We can also provide your school with a Resident Philosopher who works with children and trains your staff, developing curriculum enquiries and embedding philosophy into your school.
Weekly Philosophy Sessions
Most schools choose to work with us on a regular basis and we run sessions in school time with the teacher present. These sessions can be aligned to the curriculum or topics, or will follow our own philosophy curriculum depending on the needs of the school and students.
Hour long weekly philosophical enquiry sessions led by a trained and accredited philosophy teacher with children from Nursery all the way up to A Level. Termly or yearly bookings taken - contact us.
Our weekly sessions have shown to have an impact on thinking and social skills, particularly for disadvantaged children. For more on the impact of our work visit our Validation & Research page.
Critical Thinking and Metacognition
We have undertaken research in collaboration with a number of primary schools over two years to developed a programme for KS2 children and above that improves critical thinking and metacognitive skills by 62%.
You can read the research in Childhood and Philosophy, or see a short 2-minute film about the results on this page. If you are interested in further research and validation of The Philosophy Foundation's work, visit our validation &research page
Contact us if you want to develop critical thinking and metacognition with your pupils.
10-14 Week Pilot Projects
We can offer you a 10 week pilot programme if you'd like to see the philosophy in action. We can also offer themed project work based on our books such as:
- The If Odyssey - 12-14 weeks of enquiry using Homer's classic tale to explore philosophical ideas.
- The Numberverse - 10 week pilot that will help children (and teachers) explore maths through enquiry. It will deepen understanding in maths and create a collaborative, problem solving classroom.
If you are interested in a short course, a day long workshop or a tailored prgramme please contact us.
