Academics at the University of Winchester are helping teachers in Switzerland bring philosophy into the primary school classroom.
A party of academics from Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich (Zurich University of Teacher Education) and teachers from the Zurich canton visited Winchester recently to seek expert advice about Philosophy for Children (P4C).
Despite its name, P4C isn’t about teaching under-elevens about Plato or Kant, it is a way of getting children to think more deeply about subjects and in doing so develop creativity, critical thinking and collaborative skills and become more caring.
Although Philosophy for Children (P4C) is not part of the UK curriculum it has been adopted by many primary schools in this country.
At the University of Winchester P4C has been part of the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes for 13 years.
Student teachers learn about P4C during their training and Primary Education students gain an Introduction to P4C certificate from the charity Thoughtful (formerly SAPERE - the Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education).
In Zurich P4C is now part of the curriculum but has gained little traction as few teachers have received any training or teaching resources and Switzerland had no equivalent organisation to Thoughtful (SAPERE) to support teachers.
The visitors from Switzerland met with Dr Rhiannon Love, Senior Lecturer (Primary Religious Education & Philosophy for Children), Emma Goto, Senior Lecturer in Education (ITE) and Sian Hosmer, head of Crofton Hammond Infant School, a partner school of the University.
Rhiannon and Emma were able to share their experiences and expertise in P4C.
They also took the Swiss party to visit Crofton Hammond, where they observed P4C sessions in action across different year groups.
Rhiannon said the visit was a great success and the Swiss visitors were impressed by what they saw.
Rhiannon shared that it was “really wonderful” to be approached by Zurich to support Swiss teachers in this way, and that it was testament to the work that has been done embedding P4C into Initial Teacher Education at Winchester, as one of the leading universities working in this field.
Rhiannon explained that P4C can be used in tandem with any subject and gives children a sense of ownership as they choose the topic or question to discuss.
“P4C is about giving children a voice and the space and opportunity to enter into a dialogue about a question that is important to them,” said Rhiannon.
In addition to honing pupils’ critical thinking skills, taking part in P4C led to an increase in self-esteem, confidence, empathy and helped children to appreciate and respect alternative points of view.
Working with their Swiss counterparts, Rhiannan, Emma and Sian hope to be able to develop a an easy-to-use P4C toolkit for teachers.
Dr Beatrice Kümin Rüegg said “What a thrilling beginning for our project! The intensive joint exchange on P4C at the University of Winchester and the firsthand insight into a local school and the hospitality of the Winchester Team give us tremendous momentum for the next two years.”
Kamla Zogg, head of the primary school in the Zurich canton added “It was a magical moment to watch very young children engaging in philosophical discussions. The very well-structured methods that foster this sort of rich dialogue even in large groups of thirty children fascinated the Swiss participants. The quality of the professional exchange leaves us very grateful to be a part of this excellently organised collaboration.”
The Winchester academics plan to visit Zurich in November to assess the progress of P4C in the schools there.
Pictured top (from left to right) Prof. Dr. Christian Mathis – Professor of History Education, Zurich University of Teacher Education; Emma Goto, Senior Lecturer in Education (ITE), Dr Rhiannon Love, Senior Lecturer (Primary Religious Education & Philosophy for Children), Dr. Beatrice Kümin Rüegg – Senior Lecturer, Zurich University of Teacher Education, Kamla Zogg – Headteacher, Widmer Primary School, Switzerland, Christoph Schmid – KS2 teacher, Widmer Primary School, Switzerland and Monika Maire - KS1 teacher, Widmer Primary School.
Back to media centre