Will's philosophy in a nutshell
BF Skinner once noted that:
"Education is what survives when we have forgotten all that we learned."
(New Scientist, 1964)
It's a shocking quote. What survived your education as a child? More potently, what will survive in your pupils as a result of your teaching? And how long for? If you met an ex-pupil ten years from now, what would you like them to remember about your teaching or lessons?
Of course, we'd be impressed if the ex-pupil could still recall some information that we taught them. The five pillars of Islam, in order and in Arabic, for example, or the chemical formula for salt. Marvellous! But is that really what we aim for as teachers? Good factual recall? Perhaps most teachers would place more importance on their pupils' ability to love the subject they studied, to find it meaningful, exciting and evolving. For them to say: "I really loved those lessons, and I'm still interested in it!"
But such a reaction will never be achieved through the transmission of facts alone. Indeed, the key to enduring education and passion are the underlying skills and dispositions that help pupils gain their knowledge, understanding, and enthusiasm in the first place.
Furthermore, skills and dispositions are becoming increasingly recognised as key skills for life; the proper focus of education. They can help in our relationships, our role as citizens, our work, our further education and in our interests. Universities and employers, in particular, continue to cry out for new blood that can think creatively, caringly, collaboratively and critically. The information, after all, can always be found on the internet, in books, or transmitted through in-house training. It is the desire to learn efficiently, creatively and together that seems to be so rare, and yet this desire is so badly needed to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
So how can educators develop these crucial skills and dispositions within an education system that puts immense emphasis on the testing of content and knowledge?
The Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach to learning and teaching allows teachers of any age, ability or subject to develop thinking and communication skills alongside syllabus demands. Research has demonstrated over the last 30 years (and in over 60 countries) that results, behaviour, self-esteem have improved dramatically when this approach is employed in relatively small doses throughout the academic year (see www.sapere.org.uk for more links and information).
Consequently, I advocate 'Thinking Education': education that is driven by a desire for meaningfulness, engagement, and durability. It should be a process that involves and develops both the teacher's and the learner's motivations, emotions, thinking and communication skills. Without them, the process of education shrivels from the healthy grape it should be to an unpalatable raisin. It should act, therefore, as an antidote to this observation:
"Education is to learning as tour groups are to adventure."
RS Wurman
Philosophy for Children can support this goal with hundreds of practical techniques, a sound pedagogy, clear structures, and refreshing ideas. Its aim? The development of wisdom, reasonableness, and collaboration in education. As a happy bonus of this approach, achievement, exam results, behaviour and self-esteem also improve!
Why not give it a go?