“Great course, very enjoyable, extremely useful for future teaching. Delivery has been outstanding. I can’t wait to run P4C in my classroom.”

Thinker tutors deliver courses for trainee teachers at universities on an annual basis. Courses typically focus on the nature and value of philosophy with children/teenagers; the methodology of philosophical enquiry in the classroom; P4C/T across the curriculum; and the opportunity to plan and facilitate enquiry sessions.

In 2024, the Advanced P4C Training programme was delivered for the first time at Edge Hill University, for those who had completed the initial programme. A mixture of theory and practice, the advanced programme enables participants to deepen their understanding of methodology and receive close guidance and feedback in facilitating philosophical discussion.  

Edge Hill University trainee teachers (including Science, Maths, English, RE and Geography specialists) consistently rate the course as outstanding. 

Here are some feedback comments from courses delivered recently:

“I have really enjoyed participating in the P4C sessions and have thoroughly loved engaging with the different debate topics and scenarios that have been presented to us every week. I will definitely be looking further into philosophy for children. It will aid my lessons as a teacher in the near future. Thank you for a great course!”

“Think it should be a compulsory module! Very interesting and helpful!.”

“Amazing! It’s a big shame it isn’t MANDATORY for ALL teaching students!!”

“Really enjoyable course – wish it was longer! Very helpful ideas throughout that I know I will be taking into my future classroom environments. A very positive and engaging experience that offered me a host of ideas and theories of how to teach that I had never considered before. Great teaching/facilitating. Thank you!!!”

“A lot of discussion which I feel is not something we are usually allowed to do as much within our lectures. Something I really enjoyed and was interested in. I would recommend!”

“Allowed us to participate often and run our own sessions. Delivered well, learned about theory as well as practical. Thank you!”

“Thoroughly enjoyed the course. I will be utilising the theory and application in my sessions as a teacher. The ideas brought forward by Glenn and the group will help to incorporate P4C into lessons including starters and argument/critical based learning, especially in my specialist subject of English.”

“I enjoyed discussing how to hold a productive discussion in class, not being a teacher but an encourager and how to do that effectively”

“I just wanted to say a massive thank you, I have loved every single second of this course and honestly feel so grateful you dedicated your time to facilitate them. You really have helped us grow in confidence to engage in philosophy in the classroom, bringing a passion to the surface I didn’t even know I had.”

What is P4C?

Philosophy for Children’ or P4C for short, is a powerful teaching practice, focussed on creating a classroom environment in which pupils/students can explore ‘big’ questions through structured discussion, overseen and gently guided by the teacher, in the role of ‘facilitator’. One of the key aims is to develop a raft of thinking skills, with children learning how to disagree, engage with argumentation, and work together on developing understanding. Applicable to all subject areas, P4C offers the potential to transform classrooms into hubs of enquiry-based learning, in which all pupils feel comfortable and confident in articulating arguments. Trainees learn how to run successful P4C sessions in the classroom, gain practical experience of facilitating ‘mini-enquiries’, and explore the nature and value of philosophy.

A typical two day training programme has this structure:

Day 1: The nature of philosophy/Philosophy and reasoning/The goal of autonomy/Enquiry: what does it mean to be a good thinker? What P4C provides to the pupil and teacher/How to run a P4C session (quick method)/Enquiry: the nature of knowledge

Day 2: Socratic questioning/The role of the facilitator/How to run an extended P4C session/Enquiry: the nature of numbers; group enquiry sessions/P4C in the curriculum/Next steps

All participants receive a training certificate upon completion, and a free philosophy book, including a wealth of P4C stimulus materials that can be used in the classroom.

If you are interested in having a course run for your educational institution, please e-mail info@thethinkerhub.com