P4C- Philosophy for Kids

By: Amy Leask

Here we are a decade into the 21^st century, and the list of thinking skills that learners need to develop in order to thrive seems to be getting longer. These skills play into a student’s academic success, but also their personal growth, and in the not-so-distant future, their careers. Critical thinking, inquiry, social-emotional learning, and other 21^st century skills may be key to getting learners future-ready, but they’re also some of the most challenging to teach, assess, and evaluate.

Enter P4C, or philosophy for kids! Philosophy is, admittedly, not part of the regular curriculum in Ontario schools, but with a little planning and practice, it can become part of the regular drumbeat of classroom activities. Practicing it with young learners is a straightforward and effective way to bolster thinking skills.

What is philosophy, anyway?

For anyone who has never given philosophy a try, it’s basically the practice of asking big questions. The type of questions covered by philosophy are often of the “why” variety, and they’re the type of questions that don’t’ have only one answer. Philosophy leads us to ask questions about ourselves, our relationships with other humans, the nature of reality, right and wrong, truth and knowledge, beauty and, much more. Philosophy is also a way of thinking and runs on a set of rules for being rational.

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