Author Archives: Barbara Vidion

  1. Understanding how the children feel.

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Understanding how the children feel.

    Our method of training teachers in using philosophy for children is very practical. Staff gain experience of the games and activities which are used to get children thinking, they also take part in an enquiry. This gives an invaluable insight into how a p4c session feels and this was picked up by several of the staff at the Norfolk school we have been working with recently:

    ” Really good to have a go at an investigation to understand how the children might feel.”

    “Excellent! Very useful to go through a P4C lesson as the children would in order to feel what they do.”

    “To feel how the children will feel is important.”

  2. Warm and friendly – professional and efficient.

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Warm and friendly – professional and efficient.

    “Warm and friendly – yet professional and efficient.”

    This is one of the many comments about our presentation style following an Inset training session near Bristol at the start of the term. Here are some more:

    “The leaders were very knowledgeable and clearly talking from experience.”

    “Very knowlegeable. Explained concepts and potential pitfalls well.”

    “Super, practical activities, lots of resouces and time for questions.”

    “Very clear and interesting. Lots of variation – group work, discussion, film clips.”

     

  3. Very impressed…

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Very impressed…

    Here is some feedback from a recent training session carried out with teachers and support staff:

    “Very impressed with both presentation and content. Very interesting to listen to and lots of useful tips and advice re starting this in school.”

    “It gave good insight into how philosophy works and why we should use it in the curriculum.”

    “Great ideas for allowing the children to expand their thoughts, increase their self esteem and mutual respect. Thank you.”

  4. The cameras are rolling!

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on The cameras are rolling!

    The cameras were rolling last week when we spent the morning fully immersed in philosophy with a Y4 class in a Norfolk school. The session was being filmed as part of an action research project we are working on with the headteacher, class teacher and support staff. We had a great time and the children did too, here is some feed back from the class teacher:

    ” Thank you both for last week. The children enjoyed the session… Had a mum catch me at the gate tonight to tell me how enthusiastic her daughter has been after last week – this is one of the quietest girls in the class!”

  5. Children’s thoughts

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Children’s thoughts

    What do children think of philosophy and the thinking it provokes? Here are some quotes:

    “Philosophy really helps because we wonder about different things, then we hear other opinions and that helps me work things out for myself” this from Frankie Y5.

    Lewis aged 9 offered this: “I think God made a few things and they are the questions we can’t answer – or does everything have an answer?”

    And from Y1, Jonathan said “Thinking is one of the main things in our life – if we didn’t think we wouldn’t be able to do anything”!

  6. Dig deep!

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Dig deep!

    The training we deliver is very practical – lots of opportunities to experience activities you can use in your classroom, all designed to get children thinking. Here are some comments from the last school we worked with:

    “Lots of practical ideas to use in the classroom… a mix of activities, theory and modelling.”

    “Lots of opportunity to participate / discuss rather than just listening”

     

     

  7. Starting the term in Stowmarket

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Starting the term in Stowmarket

    It is great to start a new term working with a big group of enthusiastic and thoughtful philosophers! That is exactly what happened on the training day in Stowmarket, Suffolk at the start of year. Two schools joined together for a training day, with a range of experience from those new to philosophy to some with many years of using this approach. For us, the enquiry is always the highlight of training days – Monday was no exception – one enquiry explored the nature of love and what unconditional love means, the second discussed the issue of family and the nature of “family”.

    “A very informative day. The ideas and active sessions supported our background knowledge and inspired us to dig deeper in our practice”

    “Well organised. Excellent content – took us through the whole process of a philosophy lesson and the thought processes behind it.”

    “Good, clear presentation with  many useful tips and suggestions. Very interesting, made me think!”

  8. Thoughts for the New Year…

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on Thoughts for the New Year…

    In preparation for a new term, here are a couple of quotes attributed to Socrates to get you thinking:

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

    “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”

    And, our favourite, this one from Confucius:

    “If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children.”

    Happy New Year!

     

  9. What is the answer?

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on What is the answer?

    Are you interested in exploring philosophy for children?

    Do you enjoy thinking outside the box?

    Do you want to deepen your teaching practice?

    Do you want to enriching children’s learning?

    Is the answer to all these YES?

    Then come to our residential weekend!

    Friday 10 January 6pm to Sunday 12 January 3pm, Ringsfield Hall, Suffolk

  10. World Philosophy Day

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on World Philosophy Day
      Thursday 21 November is World Philosophy Day – a day to enjoy with your class, exploring ideas and thoughts. And, if you have never done philosophy with children before, this is a perfect time to give it a go!
      Set up in 2005 by UNESCO, World Philosophy Day has been going from strength to strength.  This quote is from UNESCO:
      “Faced with the complexity of today’s world, philosophical reflection is above all a call to humility, to take a step back and engage in reasoned dialogue, to build together the solutions to challenges that are beyond our control. This is the best way to educate enlightened citizens, equipped to fight stupidity and prejudice. The greater the difficulties encountered the greater the need for philosophy to make sense of questions of peace and sustainable development.”

    Irina Bokova
    UNESCO Director-General