Philosophy for children

[thegreeensky]

this is nice.. hope other schools would have this subject as early as this too...

[makeiteasyable]

nice ... this is be great if all school has it.

[Blueeyesnoir]

I wish we could have this in UK schools!

[OnlyChild74]

I hope to teach my children to question things, not for the sake of questioning but for a greater understanding. I often say, "I don't think innately I'm any smarter than anyone else but I am more curious." Teaching kids HOW to think is even more important than WHAT to think.

[TravelScooterLondon]

Very interesting; one would have thought that these type of practicle tips 2:23 would have been obtaind at Sunday School, but where I went in Sydney not much was obtained by my co-Sunday School collegues, who would "beat me up" on the way home from a meet.

I was not usually caught becuse I knew more abandoned building places to hide that they did.

.

Still, something to counter the affect of my having had a lone-parent would have been great, when I was developing.

Cheers.

from,

del-boy.

[TheRedHutt]

Ugh. I had to turn it off after I heard, "... our philosophy rules, like we have to respect each other's opinions and understand there's more than one answer."

[grimslider75]

@TheRedHutt

i know right...

[happyhippy1111]

INDIA!!! MY BROTHER!!! HAHAHAHAHA cool

[1888junkteam]

excellent work!

[Swervester]

hehehehe, im in the covosation. but not the video! go year 6!!!!

[theweirdofamily23]

LOL its mr. smith! He used to be kinda mean (to me) but now he is cool! er! mr S if you are reading this its nico! i'll probably see you at school!

[loumanlou2]

bah hah i know you

[kawaiiayshunx01]

LOLOLL INDIA! hehehe

[SuperBluehaze]

Dr Philip Cam was my teacher at uni and I did a number of reading courses with him on Goodman. He has a real passion for philosophy, and he is a great person. Philosophy is a training in how to think. Philosophy trains one for nothing, but if one can think critically, then one can do just about anything.

[Twilightfanpireful]

Ohmigod thats me bro,

GO ME!

[choco1ate123]

This was my class

we were the best

[belfnelfmania]

are you smitty cent? its skyla

[killergerms101]

who r u, i was in Mr. S's class last year 2!!

We DEFINITELY were the BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111 :D

[theweirdofamily23]

no way man we are totally the best. 6M in 2009 with ms. Mitchell and we are the bomb! do you hear me?! the B-O-M-B!

[killergerms101]

ummm no way!! 6S 2008!!!! the very best! :)

[belfnelfmania]

mr smith said that we were better than 6S XD

[belfnelfmania]

NO WAY Mr.Smith 5S 2009 is the best in the school thank you very much! lol wait, i might know you O_O whats your name?

[theweirdofamily23]

I'll give you a hint, but you wont be able to guess who i am. im the american. OMG IT MUST BE SO HARD TO FIGURE OUT!

[gifool]

I also study philosophy at uni, I think it's fantastic that the kids get to explore philosophical conepts in the classroom and philosophy isn't viewed as esoteric drivel. I wish I had a class like that when I was in primary/high school. I can speak from experience in saying that I thought about philosphical topics at a young age but had nowhere to go to ground them or learn them more formally. I think children's capabilities are often underestimated. Good luck with the program!

[TheHoneyKomb]

OMG! That is my class! im in this video! WHHO! Last years philosophy lessons were very regular and very fun. My teacher chose lots of very intersting subjects for us to talk about! I loved it! I wish we did more of it in high school. LOVE IT!

[belfnelfmania]

:) im in mr.smiths class now :)

[bryza01]

However you obviously have an idea of quicky philosophy can run off onto other topics. It's not easily contained. I'm also studying Psych and Philosophy @ Uni. ;-)

[bryza01]

Excellent point, I did mis-interpret your previous comment! I think the limits of what is to be studied would need to be well defined. An opt-in system would be great, especially for chilren at that age. Perhaps limiting it to concepts such as "fairness in the playground" and the exploration of other perspectives would be more than sufficient philosophy for that age.

[natthetubanut]

I think the main point is to be extremely careful as to what the MAIN aim of the program is so our children don't all turn out as hypochondriacs!

[bryza01]

I would think the main aim is to promote children to think critically. Notice how they are working on what "Fair" means to them, and then to consider whether there maybe anymore important perspectives to consider. Philosophy is not about "horrors of the world" it's often just about simplifying and clarifying our own ideas and thoughts. Something we all engage in, the question is how effectively do we actually do it?

[natthetubanut]

I meant my main point, not the point of the program. and I wasn't sure what the program was doing to address my previous comments and concerns. yes agree with you - but I don't know about you, but I take philosophy at university so I have an idea of what it's like... I still stand by my position and would like to read the 'core values' or 'aims' of the program myself and go over the ethical details. as I said before, maybe it should be an 'opt-in' project for concerned parents of students who -

[natthetubanut]

...- who think that this questioning, values and ethics etc (which COULD be extended to 'the big q's such as god, meaning of life, art, equality etc) would somehow diminish their child's own self-worth, their own religion or culture they believe let alone they tHINK is 'right'. i take psychology as well and if you want me to show you studies i can, my point is that children need a highly stable environment for learning ASWELL as creativity etc. if the program aims to promote tolerance etc -

[natthetubanut]

.-all they need do is look outside their window! australia is highly multi-cultural and all they need do is look at the different cultures & backgrounds of people in their own classroom! another aspect may be that the program may entail 'age' limits or restrictions on how young to star them in the program. once children have a solid grounding of morality according to 'Western' philosophy (in this context in australia) then PERHAPS they can explore these issues & their surroundings & questioning.

[peacetrees]

My kid would love this...

[Chick6517]

LOL subscribed! A much eaiser way to beat it is to get into the closet on next to the first aid kits. It has 1 point of entry and with four people

[rishellz]

I would have liked this class in my primary school

[bobyps]

0:24 looks like the woman's speaking lol

[sesmoreres]

Great work has been done with those kids, a greater future is coming!

[IntelligentCreature]

this is awesome....this will surely not only raise test scores...but it will prepare them in reality when they leave their educational careers....

and engagement is happening!!!! Sweet!!!

[LoudRoarStudios]

LRS

[SpitballSparky]

I'm no expert, but isn't some of this stuff a little deep and burdening for kids?

[djancak]

"I'm no expert, but isn't some of this stuff a little deep and burdening for kids?"

what do you mean by "deep and burdening"?

[natthetubanut]

'deep and burdening' - I'm guessing from the other persons comments that children will learn to think more (whether analytically or logically) about other issues which would not be classified as appropriate given their mental capacity at their age and expose them to the horrors of the world and the negative views of the world to by questioning multiple sides of an issue. from worrying about financial issues in the family home to people in poverty and genocide! (as an extreme) in reality 2day

[SuperJesus316]

No. Studies has shown that we underestimate the mental capacities of teens and preteens. Furthermore, this style of teaching prepares them to handle much more technical subjects because they learn to intake information in a much more analytical way.

[MurderedAnimalFood]

Its interesting to see this implemented, because its fairly uncommon. My main questions are, in what way will the learning and thought process be structured, what are the limits. I think its a slippery slope, when you teach philosophy to such moldable minds, because I have a hard time trusting that sociopolitical pov's will not be forced upon the children whether subtlely or else. Are the children REALLY free to form their own philosphies? doubtful. A great experience though.

[djancak]

"philosophy" is a poor word to use, because it has multiple definitions. it looks to me that this class is about critical thinking.

[teacherninja1]

Wonderful! Where can I find out more?  I want to try this with my students...

[unsw]

Prof. Cam at UNSW is the best place to start.