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 ...

Resource: DVD of The Time Machine (1960) starring Rod Taylor directed by George Pal (PG rating) The Time Machine was written by HG Wells during the victorian era Scenes to show to the class 6 minutes 40 seconds – 13 minutes: Explanation scene (the fourth dimension) Scene 7-8 up to 29 minutes and 30 seconds (when he arri...

Designed by Andy West Philosophy Addressed Should intolerant opinions be tolerated? (If yes, then what would happen? If no, then by what criterion do we censor?) What is the difference between disagreeing with someone and being intolerant of them? Is tolerance an absolute good? Preliminaries You may need to pre-teach the meanin...

Preparation Before you read the lesson plan do some thinking of your own. Have you ever tried to answer this question before: 'What is a number?' To help you with this, imagine you are speaking to an alien who is exactly like a human in terms of language and understanding but he/she/it lacks a concept of 'number' so the alien ...

Story Many years ago, in Northern Italy, lived a king. He lived in a palace with his son, the Prince. Every week the king and his son would walk out of the castle, down the hill, through the trees to a lake. They would swim for hours and then, when they had swum enough; they would walk back to the castle with water dripping off the end of the...