Teaching of philosophy made easier with new philosophy resource

London, 04 September 2010: More and more British primary school children are being taught philosophy and surprising as it sounds, these days it is not uncommon to find a class of British inner-city ten year olds taking on the lofty thoughts of Plato, Hume and Kant.

In response, Educational expert Peter Worley, director of educational service provider The Philosophy Shop – the front-line deliverer of philosophy in schools – is shortly to publish The If Machine: Philosophical Enquiry in the Classroom, a teaching resource that sets out accessible, guided philosophical enquiries and teaching strategies for use in primary and secondary schools.

Teaching a discipline often perceived as fusty and over-complicated and full of challenging jargon like 'deontological' can appear daunting to the average classroom teacher. But Worley's book has been written to help teachers get to the fundamental, gripping problems underneath that students of all ages respond to so keenly.

Worley's approach is based on the tried and trusted pedagogical approach of philosophical 'thought experiments' – imaginary situations designed to test an idea, even if it's 'what everyone knows'.

“Socrates took his questions to the streets of Athens, believing that philosophy was something everyone should do and Plato used imaginative scenarios to engage his readers with philosophical ideas. We are doing the same thing here,” he promises, “providing really good illustrations of philosophical ideas using scenarios that the children can relate to, that are engaging and stimulating without being too technical.”

This highly-informative book presents in plain language, imaginary situations, as well as stories or activities, followed by a series of questions to encourage children to explore key philosophical ideas such as values, questions of identity, existence and knowledge. All the situations have been field-tested in the primary and early secondary classroom by Worley and his team. A handy star system is included to indicate the difficulty level of each one, enabling quick ability differentiation. Meanwhile, each section also provides some history of ideas to provide contextual background on the philosophy behind the stimuli and a guide as to how the sessions may develop, and how they are linked to the national curriculum. The book includes teaching strategies that can be used in any classroom situation to get children to think and reason well. Finally, The If Machine also includes an online teachers’ resource which serves as an introduction to the subject of philosophy to interested teachers.

Invaluable as a resource for Philosophy For Children (P4C) trained teachers, as well as for Specialist Philosophy Teachers (degree-qualified Philosophers) trained in The Philosophy Shop's proprietary teaching method, the book is also perfect for teachers who want to introduce some Philosophy in to their classroom without any previous training, as Worley’s method is set out clearly in the introduction.

Reviewers – both teaching professionals and professional philosophers – have already praised The If Machine:

'This is a timely and valuable contribution. A capacity to think critically is the key component of any education and Peter is an inventive enhancer of children's ability to think for themselves.' – philosopher professor A.C.Grayling, Birkbeck College, University of London

'A lucid and well-thought through resource that should have children entertained and educated at the same time.' – Philosopher Professor Stephen Law, Heythrop College, University of London

‘If you had any doubts about whether you could do this, this book gives you the confidence to be able to go out and do it.’ – Julie Odege, Teacher, John Ball Primary School, Lewisham, South London

The If Machine: Philosophical Enquiry in the Classroom, published by Continuum, is priced at £16.99 and will be available in soft cover (ISBN 9781441155832) from 19 Dec 2010. To order a copy, visit www.thephilosophyshop.co.uk (available for pre-order from the 2 Oct 2010)

For review copies of the book, an interview with the author, please contact Amanda Jane PR:

Email – info@amandajanepr.com
Tel: 020 7241 1390 / 07920 052 160

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Notes to Editors:

About Peter Worley

Pete Worley, who has a BA and an MA in philosophy and is currently researching for a Ph.D in Plato and education, regularly writes and lectures on Philosophy and education topics and has been teaching the subject to primary school children across South East London for the past seven years. He is a regular contributor to Teach Primary, and has written articles for Teaching Thinking and Creativity, Philosophy Now and Think. He has also written one of the chapters for the forthcoming Doctor Who and Philosophy, to be published as part of the Popular Culture and Philosophy Series. Peter was among the winners of the Teacher’s TV competition, ‘Tomorrow’s Teacher’ and his new book The If Machine is a collection of philosophical thought experiments for young children.

About The Philosophy Shop

The Philosophy Shop promotes the practical application of philosophy in the community. It supports and promotes the teaching of philosophy in schools, as well as philosophy summer schools, philosophy groups and residential adult philosophy courses. The Philosophy Shop is committed to the fact that through the rational investigation of existence, ethics and knowledge children are able to realise lots of benefits, including raised IQ, raised self-confidence and improved emotional intelligence. The company provides training for qualified philosophers on how to practically employ philosophical methods in a classroom situation. The programme brings philosophy to bear on the national curriculum and teaches classes of primary school children to think critically and ethically about themes raised there. The Philosophy Shop also offers teachers training in how to enhance their teaching methods through philosophical techniques.

The Philosophy Shop is a Community Interest Company and a member of Social Enterprise London, operating on a not-for-profit basis. Any operating surplus is reinvested in providing educational services or promoting Philosophy in the community.

There are now 20 Philosophers-in-residence working across 40 schools in London and nationwide. The Philosophy Shop's work in British schools has been featured in the TES, The Daily Mail, The Independent, The Times, The Observer, BBC Online, the BBC World Service and on The Today Programme.

The Philosophy Shop recently launched an online campaign (http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petition/37997.html) to make Reasoning Skills compulsory in schools as part of a co-ordinated campaign to make sure children from all backgrounds get the advantages Philosophy can bring in terms of intellectual development at a young age.