P4C
P4C – Statement of Intent
National curriculum requirements for P4C
The National Curriculum statutory requirements for spoken language states that all pupils should learn to:
- listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers
- ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge
- use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary
- articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
- give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings
- maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments
- use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
- speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English
- participate in discussions and debates
- gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s)
- consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others
- select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.
P4C also promotes standards in writing by broadening the range of vocabulary available to the children and developing their ability to articulate and justify their ideas clearly to the reader. Reading skills are essential as part of P4C as children need to recall, infer and deduce information about a stimulus, the opinions of others and of their own thoughts.
Ethos – Why teach P4C?
At Prince of Wales, philosophy for children(P4C) is an approach to teaching and learning in which children take part in philosophical enquiry. It enhances thinking and communication skills, boosts confidence and self-esteem, improves behaviour and academic attainment.
Intent
P4C is a whole school approach and which we will endeavour to use across the curriculum in every subject. It can also be used with groups of children such as the School Parliament and eco councils.
As a school, we want to:
- inspire creativity, participation in children to work either as individuals or collaboratively ‘thinking’ through a range of P4C experiences.
- build a curriculum based on ‘Enquiry (Community of enquiry) – defined as: a group of children becoming used to thinking together with a view to increasing their understanding and appreciation of the world around them and of each other. Within this community, children develop four key types of thinking:
- Collaboration: thinking with others
- Caring: thinking of others
- Critical: making reasoned judgements
- Creative: creating new ideas
As well as promoting higher order thinking skills, P4C develops the pupils’ ability to articulate their thoughts using mature vocabulary in both speaking and in writing. This has a significant impact on their development as speakers, writers and global citizens. It teaches durable and transferrable thinking skills that have impact across the curriculum allowing pupils to make links between other curriculum areas. We aim for P4C to become an integral part of the school’s curriculum as well as a powerful tool in developing our pupils both academically and personally.
Objectives
The teaching of P4C will enable children to:
- listen to and value the opinions of others
- engage in dialogue – i.e., respond to, encourage and build on the ideas of others
- formulate and make connections between ideas as well as speculate on alternative explanations
- be independent and adaptable in their thinking
- ask philosophical questions*
- seek clarification, justification and supporting evidence
- evaluate the ideas and viewpoints of others