Training in P4C at Edge Hill University

Philosophy for Children, Colleges and Communities

Teaching Teachers to Think for a Change

Caring Thinking

Critical Thinking

Creative Thinking

Collaborative Thinking

Personal Development

Pedagogical Development

Professional Development

Planetary Development

P4C Foundation Course Level 1: start practising P4C with your students

Tim Saunders is an accredited SAPERE trainer qualified to run the P4C Foundation Course Level 1. Whether you choose online or face-to-face, our Level 1 courses will enable you to start practising P4C in your classroom straight away. SAPERE face-to-face Level 1 takes place over two days and our online courses are delivered in three modules.

Aims of this course

To provide you with an introductory understanding of philosophical enquiry and dialogue in communities (especially with children) and to enable you to start practising P4C with your students straight away. This course will:

  • introduce the theory and practice of P4C
  • provide tools to develop your students’ questioning and thinking skills
  • connect P4C to the curriculum
  • demonstrate philosophical enquiry in practice
  • present P4C resources and sources of teaching materials

You will learn how to:

  • encourage philosophical questioning and dialogue
  • facilitate a P4C enquiry in your classroom
  • identify resources to stimulate rich discussions among your students

Who is this course for?

Teachers, teaching assistants, senior leaders and other staff across EYFS, primary and secondary phases, including SEN and AP settings. This course is also suitable for student teachers and for educators in settings such as museums and galleries.

No prior experience of P4C or philosophy is required.

How long is the training?

10-12 tutored hours. For face-to-face courses, this usually takes place over two full days. Online courses are usually taught over three four-hour modules across three weeks. Please check individual courses for details.

Course materials

You will receive free digital copies of our SAPERE Level 1 Course Handbook and the SAPERE Getting Started with P4C Guide.

Course outcome and next steps

Following this course you will be ready to start practising P4C with students.

Completion of the course will qualify you for a SAPERE P4C Initial Practitioner Certificate.

Once you have completed this course, been using P4C regularly for at least six months, and have facilitated at least six P4C enquiries, you may choose to progress to our Level 2A course.

How EduSynthesis builds on P4C by integrating the 4Cs of P4C (Philosophy for Children) with the 4Ps of P4T (Philosophy for Teachers)

The 4Cs of P4C

Building on Philosophy for Children to promote Communities of Inquiry

Caring  + Critical + Creative + Collaborative Thinking

Caring Thinking

The mode of thinking which is Appreciative, Active, Normative, Affective and Empathic. Caring thinking loves subject knowledge, responds to needs, establishes the conditions and forms the Ground of a community of Inquiry.

Critical Thinking

The mode of thinking which is sensitive to Context, reliant on Criteria such as relevance, consistency, sufficiency and focused on Self-correcting in order to improve the quality of thinking. Critical thinking provides clarification of concepts and key issues …and supports the Direction of a community of inquiry.

Creative Thinking

The mode of thinking which is Imaginative, Holistic, Inventive and Generative. Creative thinking is focused on possibilities, new ideas and provides the means or Instrument of progressing a community of inquiry towards its Goal

Collaborative Thinking

The mode of thinking which is Resonant, Participatory and Synergistic. Collaborative thinking sustains the other modes of thinking and functions to fulfil them as the Goal of a community of inquiry.

The 4Ps of P4T

Grounding Philosophy for Teachers in the development of practice

Personal + Pedagogical + Professional + Planetary Development

Personal Development

Personal development for teachers includes the following ways into philosophy: the practice of Mindfulness, becoming your best self as an expression of Personality, going deeper through the practice of Spirituality and appreciating philosophy as a Way of Life

Pedagogical Development

Pedagogical development includes the following ways into educational philosophy: practising the 4Cs  of P4C with children as well as one’s own academic development, the practice of Imaginative Teaching that is culturally intelligent and developmentally sensitive,  balancing classroom practice with four aspects of Positive learning and deepening the practice of curriculum design through mediating your own Curriculum philosophy

Professional Development

Professional development, understood as proactively developing the profession rather than the individual development of a professional, includes the following ways into educational philosophy: the basic participatory practice of appreciative strength-based Teamworking, the practice of Leadership in terms of personal leadership styles, mediating conflicting values in the development of Professional Culture and developing Transformative schools, colleges or universities

Planetary Development

Planetary development includes the following ways into philosophy of education: exploring your approach to life and the planet in terms of Worldview preference, the practice of Peace globally and locally, engaging in the practice of educative Politics in civil society and the practical quest for Ecological Civilisation in social philosophy

The Teaching Journey

Embracing educators of all kinds at all stages of the vocational journey

Student Teachers + Experienced Teachers + Educational Leaders + Activist Educators

Student Teachers

The journey of Student teachers will take you from the selfwork of Personal development to the craftwork of Pedagogical development as you meet the philosophical demands of initial teacher education and training

Experienced Teachers

The journey of Experienced teachers will take you from the craftwork of Pedagogical development to the network of Professional development as you mediate the philosophical demands of teaching in school or university and begin to take a lead in developing the profession

Educational Leaders

The journey of Educative leaders will take you from the network of Professional development to the worldwork of  Planetary development as you mediate the philosophical demands of organisational development in relation to the global needs of the world

Activist Educators

The journey of Activist Educators will take you from the worldwork of Planetary development through Worldview awareness, politics, peace and ecology back to the selfwork of Personal development as you mediate the philosophical demands of global transformation in relation to mentoring aspiring teachers

P4T Manifesto

1. Support and extend the work of SAPERE, (The Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education), the UK’s national charity for P4C: Philosophy for Children, Colleges and Communities

2. Adopt a dialogical metamodern reflexive praxis committed to passionate balance and contemplative activism mediating between Kinship, Traditional, Modern and Postmodern Worldviews in education

3. Advocate the 4Cs of P4C (Philosophy for Children) as a model of metathinking to the work of practitioner synthesis and integration of theory through caring, critical, creative and collaborative thinking

4. Apply the 4Ps of P4T (Philosophy for Teachers) to sustain teacher development as a lifelong vocation: integrating Personal, Pedagogical, Professional and Planetary scales of development

5. Promote the P4C community of inquiry method for academic and professional development in order for teachers to appreciate how face to face collegial inquiry and integrative reflective practice enhance one another

6. Expand the scope of teaching to include the worldwork of Activist Educators operating beyond the school or academy who enact Integrated Global Citizenship Education in civil society via elicitive conflict transformation, environmental activism, inter-religious dialogue and transpartisan politics

© 2024 EduSynthesis

Centre for Mindful Educational Leadership

Tim Saunders PhD

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