THE PROM   A young man named Joe was looking forward to his final week in school. At the end of the week there would be a prom - a huge party where everyone would dress up really smart and dance in the school hall. Joe’s mum bought him a suit and his brother, Seb, showed him how to tie the tie properly. Seb also told him to star...

A two-minute play by Paul Bodin. (Words inside brackets are stage directions only.  They are not meant to be said out loud.) For information on how to use this play in the classroom, take a look at Pete's blog here: https://www.philosophy-foundation.org/blog/dialogues-in-philosophy-with-children   The Science ...

This is the ‘seminar’ session where you will present at least one position (argument) relating to selfhood. Use the Sibelius Model for doing so: in other words, present a stimulus, run a PhiE then look for an opportunity to present an argument. Once the argument has been presented and written up make sure the discussion focuses (so a...

From The If Machine by Peter Worley When doing The Ship of Theseus chapter from The If Machine make the puzzle visual by assembling a model of the ship on the floor with some identical pencils and a piece of paper for the sail. As you explain the process of gradual change replace each pencil with another pencil creating a pile of the discarde...

By Tim Beardmore-Gray This enquiry was written for the educational charity GROW. https://www.grow-up.co/ The story is based on the Swiss tale The Singing Fir Tree, as told by Sheryl Ann Karas. http://spiritoftrees.org/the-singing-fir-tree The text in brackets can be omitted or included depending on how open you’d like the compreh...

The Philosophy Aristotle on parts and wholes (see quote below). Socrates on knowing that you know nothing. Frank Jackson and ‘Mary and the Black and White Room’ Russell’s theory of descriptions Plato on particulars and universals Teaching Strategies Quote to use with class (if appropriate): ‘The whol...

The Talking Poem Hello, I’m a poem, A poem that talks to you But a poem that also Talks back A poem that says what it wants to Then says what it thinks you’ll Say back. “What do you mean?” I hear you say out loud. Well, something a little Like that! “Like what?” you shout out (Whether yo...

This poem is about conflict in our minds and the struggle between different ideas. We are encouraging children to think about the nature of thinking itself: how does one mind have two opposite thoughts, and how does it decide between them… and does it have to, or could it carry on believing two contradictory things? The Thought Fight ...

Stimulus Adapted from: Spiritual Story by Massud Farzan There was once a man who lived on the edge of a forest near a river. Every morning he saw a fox lying down by the river bank. The fox never got up and walked anywhere. How did it get food, the man wondered… why didn’t it just starve? Then one day, he had only walked a ...