Philosothon Project

PHILOSOTHON PROJECT

NT PilotProject Proposal

2018 – 2020

INTRODUCTION

The Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations (FAPSA) has recently endorsed a new initiative for the teaching of philosophy in schools in Australasia. Funding has been provided by the Templeton Trust to help establish and develop Philosothons particularly in remote and regional schools and at schools catering for students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
A Philosothon is an extension of the philosophy for children program whereby students from different schools engage in a Community of Inquiry in order to investigate a complex ethical or philosophical problem in a collaborative manner. Philosothons promote critical analysis, creative thinking, clear conceptual expression and collaboration skills.

The Philosothon Project co-ordinator is Mr Matthew Wills, Head of Philosophy, Values and Religion at Hale School in Western Australia.

Philosophy for Children(P4C) is now taught in all Australian jurisdictions except the NT and meets national curriculum requirements for learning outcomes in the areas of critical thinking, analysis and clarity of expression. It is geared to encourage students to identify bad arguments, to be able to follow and expand upon sound arguments and to develop the self-confidence to participate in personal and public discussions of complex issues without recourse to verbal abuse, intimidation or arguments ad hominem (although, we do sometimes let slide the occasional snippet of flattery or humour) .

Research has shown that the development of these critical thinking skills often flows through into learning outcomes in other school subjects as diverse as English expression, Mathematics and the physical sciences.Amongst students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the P4C program has also seen significant improvements in student attendance rates and aspiration levels across genders and cultural divides.

Philosothons are an exciting development in the P4C program allowing students to meet students from other schools, constructively discuss issues in a controlled format and broaden their educational horizons in the process. A description of the Philosothon format is attached for further information. The funding categories for schools, teachers and students, arising from the Templeton grant, are set out below, together with the possible amounts available to successful applicants under each category. It should be noted that there may be scope to adjust these criteria to better fit the Territory picture and hence support the key elements of an agreed project outline.

NT PROJECT OUTLINE

Scope:This project proposal recognizes that the design and delivery of a Philosophy for Childrenprogram to schools in remote and regional areas of the NT will quite likely face a range of cultural, pedagogic and logistical issues which will need to be addressed carefully and progressively. In this context, the proposal envisions a pilot or trial processwhereby at least two, and not more than four schools are enlisted in the initial program. Under the funding provisions for the Philosothon project,schools such as Centralian College, Tennant Creek High and Katherine High would meet the eligibility criteria for regional schools, as would the Yipirinye School in Alice Springs. This is by no means an exhaustive list of possible participants – much depends upon finding schools and teachers who are willing to devote both time and energy to engage in the Project itself. There is, for example, also potential provision for the establishment of a new Philosothon by a host school in the greater Darwin area.

Methodology:The pilot project would be seeking teachers of year 8 through to year 11to undertake the initial training, to establish a philosophy class, and to set aside one period per week for each class to participate in philosophical discussion. Teachers may come from any teaching background or discipline and need only a willingness to participate in the program itself. The separate and recurrent class model allows students to collectively grasp the basics of the Community of Inquiry learning model and provides students with a focus to think about future discussion items or to revisit previous discussions if they wish. The contents of these discussions are usually chosen by the students themselves often in the context of stimuli provided by the teacher – depending on the age group, these stimuli may take the form of quotations, propositions, stories or scenarios which provoke discussion amongst the students around open-ended questions often related to metaphysics, epistemology and/or ethical or aesthetic value statements. A story about superheroes,,for example, may lead to interesting questions about the use of extreme force to solve difficult social problems, or whether it is justified to lie about your true identity in order to achieve good outcomes?

Philosothons:Subject to commencement dates, we would be hopeful that inter-school forums could begin 2019. This would involve the selection of a student team from each class to enter into philosophical discussion with equivalent year students at other schools. Ideally, in a four school format, two communities of inquiry for each year would be established and 2 students from each school would be allocated to each group.

External Assessments:These inter-school discussions ae assessed against set criteria by FAPSA endorsed judges (often academic Philosophers or experienced P4C teachers) who may be either physically present at the schools or linked in by electronic means. The judges assess each student according to their capacity to display critical thinking, analysis and expression. Extra points are awarded for constructive comments or for expansion upon points made by other teams. Winning teams over a round-robin format would receive Territory-wide recognition and would be invited to attend the National Championships in 2019.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

We would recommend the formation of a Management Committee to oversee the Pilot Project, to provide direction and advice on any adjustments to the Pilot program as it unfolds, and to make any additional comments and/or recommendations arising from the Final Report of the Project Manager. We suggest that the Management Committee consist of:

• Senior Indigenous Educator
• Senior Skills Development officer
• Project Manager
• Department of Education representative

Several elements of the Pilot program will require preliminary discussion and an on-going focus by the Management Committee. These include:

a)The nature and dynamics of the pedagogy involved in a Community of Inquiry and its applicability in NT settings – especially where indigenous students would constitute a significant proportion of the participants.

b)The suitability and utility of existing P4C materials for indigenous students in regional and remote communities.

c)The extent to which In-service training and support can be effectively provided to teachers by the on-line technologies and processes currently available to teachers (and students).

The Management Committee would meet on an as required basis, usually via telephone hook-ups and skype based video links where possible.

Final Report: A Report containing a full account of the project outcomes would be prepared by the Project Manager for consideration by the Department at the conclusion of the program.

TIMEFRAME:

The Project Co-ordinator has tentatively set aside Sept 14th 2018 as a launch date for the presentation of the Philosothon Project to teachers and educators in Darwin. The presentation would be part of a national tour by Matthew at that time with a focus upon the topic of Ethical Discussion and Understanding – an area always of considerable interest to students and teachers in Australian schools. The presentation would serve to familiarize teachers with the concept of teaching philosophy in schools, the key elements of the P4C program, and the existence of the NT Pilot Project. A copy of the email advertising the event is attached to this proposal.

Prior to that date, however, (and subject to project approval) we would welcome the circulation of a flyer to all NT secondary schools announcing the impending commencement of an NT pilot program in the first half of 2019. The flyer could call for expressions of interest from teachers to attend the Presentation on 14th Sept 2018 and/or the subsequent two-day introductory training workshop in April.

The exact dates and location of the training workshop are clearly dependent upon the number and geographic location of the teachers who want to be trained and the level of support to be provided by their schools. If the Certificate Level 1 Training can be provided in April 2019 then the actual teaching program could reasonably commence in Term 2of 2019.

TRAINING AND SUPPORT SERVICES

All teachers involved in the project will require some initial training in both the pedagogical method and the subject matter of Philosophical discussion in schools. They will also require a level of in-service support to ensure that they can both enjoy and contribute to the experience.

Introductory Training Workshop:FAPSA offers an accredited Introduction to P4C at the Certificate Level 1. This introductory training can be delivered over a 2 day period – either during school hours or over the course of a single, intensive weekend. The Department may wish to consider which option best suits the Schools and teachers in questiontaking into account any relief requirements, travel and accommodation. Many teachers undertake the group training and then complete the individual written competency assessments at a later date.

A certificated Teacher Educator (usually with a formal degree in Philosophy) is required to oversee/deliver this training. There has been some discussion about the feasibility of delivering this training via skype or using an on-line format. This may be possible in the future. However, at the start-up stage of this project there are very real advantages in a face-to-face delivery process for the introductory course – both in terms of establishing personal contact and support networks and in the effective delivery of quality training to a high initial standard.

The Course fee for each participating teacher is set at $250 per person which covers the costs of catering, materials, clerical/administrative support and registration. Please note that funding may be available for applicants seeking assistance with the travel and accommodation costs associated with attendance at the nominated training venue (see Funding Categories below). It is hoped that the Department would reimburse the cost of airfares and travel expensesincurred by the Teacher Educator(s)in order to conduct the Workshop.

In-service support and assistance:It is proposed that Teacher Educators would be available to offer a Skype based (or equivalent) in-house support and training service for all teachers involved in the project. At least one on-line session would be scheduled each term where both pedagogic and subject matters can be discussed and addressed. The Project Team would be open to further discussion about the nature, extent and costs of the in-service model which would best suit the needs of the schools and teachers in the Pilot program. It may be, for example, that teachers may wish to choose whether to hold individual or joint sessions with educators. Similarly, the costs arising from video links, session demands and support services will need to be further discussed with either a standard fee charged or a process agreed for cost recovery.

FUNDING CATEGORIES / GRANTS
New Regional Philosothons: Subsidies are available for schools to help regional and remote schools cover the costs associated with starting up their own local Philosothon. This will involve other schools in their area. Click here for an application form.
New Philosothons will be supported in cities that do not currently have one, including the ACT, New Zealand, the Northern Territory, Singapore, South Australia, and Tasmania. Click here for an application form
Northern Territory Grant applications- These are travel grants to enable teachers to participate in professional development opportunities related to the Philosothon Project. Some priority will be given to indigenous teachers and or teachers of indigenous students. Please fill in the online application form and we notify you ASAP if your application was successful.Click here for an application form

Travel subsidies: Subsidies will be provided to enable students/staff from remote locations to travel and participate in regional and National Philosothons. Click here for an application form.
Judges/facilitators subsidy- Money is available to schools to pay judges/facilitators an Honorarium to cover travel costs etc. Click here for an application form
Teacher training subsidy- Money is available to schools to pay judges/facilitators an Honorarium to cover travel costs etc. Click here for an application form
Training for Phd Students: Training and professional development will be organised to allow students to be trained in the Community of Inquiry pedagogy which, in turn, enables them to act as facilitators in
Philosothons. Click here for an application form
Resource development: Teachers and academics will be recruited to consult on and develop age appropriate resources to be used as stimulus material for Philosothons. A website will be developed to house these resources and enable access for all participants. Click here for an application form.
It should be noted that the funding available for teachers, students and schools (as set out above) is intended to only partially offset the expenses incurred by the participants in the setting up and conduct of Philosothons. It is not provided on an automatically recurrent basis and is only accessible by successful application to the Project Co-Ordinator.

Please note that Teacher Educators would be providing most of their time and energy free of charge to the Teachers and Schools involved in the project. The costs outlined above are effectively incidental costs incurred by the Philosothon Project and the Educators in the delivery of the program.

PHILOSOTHON FORMAT

A Philosothon is a form of discussion which sees students engaging in a Community of Inquiry, seeking to investigate a complex ethical or philosophical problem in a collaborative manner. Unlike debates, the views of students are not necessarily pitted one against the other, and students may change their mind or refine their thinking on issues as the dialogue unfolds. In this way, Philosothons promote critical and creative thinking and collaboration skills.

In a Philosothon, students are divided into discussion groups. The recommended size of a group is around 7-8 students, although this may vary depending upon the number of schools involved. In the context of a 4 school event, for example, the facilitators may wish to divide the students into discussion groups for each year with two students from each school in each group. The number of topics to be included in a Philosothon depends upon the length of time available for the event, but it is usual to have 3 or 4 topics. Discussion of each topic should run for 15-20 minutes, with appropriate breaks.

Each discussion group has a Facilitator. The role of a facilitator is to assist students to conduct the discussion, intervening where necessary to spur the discussion along and help students to observe the guidelines. Facilitators are to ensure that all students have a fair opportunity to take part in the discussion. They can ask questions of the group, but they should not air their own views on the topic being discussed. Facilitators must be experienced in the process of conducting this kind of discussion and ideally should be classroom teachers with at least a Level 1 certificate from FAPSA.

Judges sit outside the discussion circle and grade student performance. Judges must be either academic philosophers, or FAPSA Level 2 trained personnel, experienced philosophy teachers, or other people with academic qualifications in philosophy. Below you will find performance criteria and a marking schedule for student performance.

At a Philosothon, it is traditional to make awards for the best individual and overall school performance. While this introduces an element of competition, it should be emphasised that a Philosothon is not a debate and the performance criteria are based upon the extent to which students excel in engaging in collaborative philosophical inquiry.

Each student is assessed on a scale of 1 to 5 for their performance over several inquiries against the following criteria: promotes Inquiry process; understands concepts used; justifies and reasons; and develops own and others ideas.

A mark out of 20 is then awarded to each student and that score is added to the school/class total. Trophies, Medals and Certificates of Participation are often awarded at the end of each event.

PHILOSOTHON COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY MARKING KEY

The marking key below will be used for the Philosothon. It is a marking key developed by Professor Stephan Millet to assess student participation and performance in the community of inquiry in the classroom:

PROJECT TEAM MEMBERSHIP

The project team responsible for the preparation of this project proposal and for the delivery of project administration, training, and teacher support services comprises:

Mr Matthew Wills – Project Co-ordinator (Head of Philosophy, Values and Religion, Hale School, Perth, WA (e) philosothon@yahoo.com | Ph: +61 (0)400 029 660 |

Dr Tim Sprod – Senior Teacher Educator (former International Baccalaureate Coordinator at The Friends School in Hobart and author of books including “Discussions in Science” and “Philosophical Discussion in Moral Education”)Ph. 0468 361 183

Mr Rob Hitchcock – Teacher Educator – (former Secretary North Australian Workers Union,co-author of the NT Competency Standards for Aboriginal Health Workers. (e) Ph. 0437 926957

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