Author Archives: Barbara Vidion

  1. Couldn’t be bettered!

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    Barbara thinking hard with help of Year 1 children

     

    What a great way to spend a morning! We were back in the classroom with years R to 2 demonstrating activities which encourage young children to engage with deep thinking. We had a lovely time with children discussing and offering their ideas, they very quickly grasped the importance of using the word BECAUSE to explain their reasoning. We were made very welcome by the staff in this North Norfolk school and had a good discussion over lunch about this way of working and exploring ways to push the children on further.

    Here is some of the feedback from this session:

    “Couldn’t be bettered… for me it was immensely useful.”

    “I found the session fascinating – the level of thinking of the children surprised me.”

    “It was good to see children offering their ideas, especially some of the quieter children.”

  2. Many ways of working…

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    Our training is always tailored to the needs of each school we visit.

    If your school has a particular focus we will include this in our planning. We will fit the training around the time you have available. This last week has demonstrated this last point well – we spent a whole day in one school, spent the afternoon in another where we are delivering basic training in three sessions spread over a term and a third school in which we covered the basics in two hours!

    So, whatever the needs of your school are we will endeavour to meet them in the training we deliver.

    One of the comments from this week: “It was fun and lively. Felt involved but not put on the spot. I was made to feel secure to have some input.”

     

  3. A busy start to 2013

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    New terms and Inset days are always busy times for us – we get booked up well in advance!

    Yesterday was no exception. We spent the day working with staff  in a school in Kingswinford, near Birmingham, introducing philosophy to the staff, looking at the skills it develops and ways to implement it with different ages. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and this is some of the feedback

    Presentation: Very good. It was clear and at a pace that gave me time to think and reflect myself – something we have precious little time to do!

    Content: Excellent content. We were given the background and a really clear structure to use with our class. It was packed with ideas which had been used, great to see results that had been tried and tested.

    Was the session useful? It was very useful and I found some great techniques and areas to develop when in the classroom.  I will be able to use what I have learnt today in my own lessons, encouraging the children to be confident in their own opinions and respectful of others.

  4. The most effective day I’ve spent training…

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    We recently led a conference for the Norfolk Association of Primary Head Teachers in the beautiful location of Mangreen Hall just outside Norwich. There was a great mix of headteachers, teachers and ex heads. We had a really interesting day looking at the history of philosophy in schools, philosophy in the context of school life and the demands of the curriculum plus, of course, a philosophical enquiry. Lots of positive feedback, here are three comments:

    “Inspirational ideas from inspirational ladies”.

    “Very clear and facilitative, grounded in experience and a good balance of active participation and thinking / listening”

    “It’s great to have first hand experiences of all the things we talked about. I feel much clearer about P4C. I think the most effective day I’ve spent training out of school.”

  5. What will the children be put through?

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    Following our trip to Gateshead we travelled to London to work with a school in Islington. The staff were very welcoming and we had a great morning exploring philosophical ideas. Feed back was very positive – in response to our question “Was the session useful, if so how?” here are three replies:

    “Yes indeed, you gave us plenty of information but also plenty of time to think for ourselves and understand the value of this for the children.”

    “Yes, it resulted in some really deep self reflection of my teaching (and self!) which has helped me to focus on areas for self development. Very interesting ideas and strategies for dealing with possible situations.”

    “It was very useful because it formed a coherent whole, linking theory to practice as well as demonstrating how a session actually works, so that we can see what the children will be put through.”

  6. Free Thinking!

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    We were delighted to work with The BBC at the weekend. The Free Thinking Festival at The Sage in Gateshead took place over three days with inspiring and thought provoking speakers such as authors Philippa Gregory and Amos Oz, presenters Andrew Marr and Samira Ahmed, academics from Oxford, Cambridge and Essex universities – an amazing three days of debate, new ideas and challenging thoughts. On Saturday Philosophy4Children ran two family sessions which we thoroughly enjoyed and the feedback from participants shows they enjoyed it as well. “The two leaders were clear and welcoming… they made us feel safe so that we could share our ideas and thoughts.”  Another response was “Thought provoking, delivered well in an inclusive of all manner, stimulating!”  and “A brilliant starting point for my seven year old daughter, thank you.”  Highlights of the Free Thinking Festival are being broadcast at 10pm each evening this week – do try to listen!

  7. I disagree with myself now!

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    When children are engaged in a philosophical enquiry you will often hear words like “I think I disagree with myself now.” This demonstrates they have been through a process where they have had an idea, shared it, listened to other’s thoughts and have been persuaded someone else’s idea has value. Children are so much more open to changing their minds than many adults are – one example where we, as teachers, can learn from our children.

  8. That’s philosophy for you!

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    ” It was very reassuring to know that both presenters had taught philosophy in their role as teachers. The benefit of this came across in their presentation.” This comment is from one teacher at the last school we visited.

    The training we deliver in schools is experiential and intended to challenge the thinking of those taking part. This comment from the last training session expresses this: “I thought the presentation was very informative and entertaining. The content was interesting and thought provoking – which I wasn’t expecting”

    Well, that’s philosophy for you!

  9. What is happiness?

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    What is happiness? Can happiness be sustained for long periods of time? Do we need to experience unhappiness in order to feel happy? What is the difference between being happy and being contented? Such a lot of questions arose during our visit to a school in Thames Ditton today!

    The training we delivered today was an introductory session which centres on a philosophical enquiry, this enables teachers to have first hand experience of how an enquiry works as well as seeing and discussing how philosophy can best fit into their school and classrooms. The enquiry didn’t finish for us when we left the school – Dot and I were discussing the nature of happiness on the journey home too!

  10. What a challenge!

    Posted on by Barbara Vidion in News Comments Off on What a challenge!

    Our brief in a South Norfolk school last week was to introduce philosophy for those members of staff new to this way of working and to move those on who were familiar with using philosophy with children – all in an hour and a half! With a super group of 12 teachers we covered the basics and had a fascinating (but short) philosophical enquiry. We then moved on to look at developing questioning with children and ways of find the philosophical issues in their questions – which may not at first appear to be very philosophical. The feedback at the end of the session showed that we had met our challenge! “A very good introduction to how to run a philosophy session, good ideas and practical demonstration” was the comment from one teacher new to P4C. And from one of the experienced staff members “Extremely useful reminder of the sequence and ways of moving on.”