CDEC has two members of staff trained and accredited by SAPERE to run Philosophy for Children Level 1 courses.   

Gina Mullarkey and Eleanor Knowles both have an excellent track record running P4C introductory insets and full Level 1 courses either for whole-staff groups or as open courses, with many years experience as P4C practitioners in the classroom, and as trainers.

We can offer an introductory twilight INSET at your school for £300 (we may have to add some extra travel costs if you are located more than 50 miles from Ambleside). After this 2-hour session your staff will have the basic information, resources and confidence to start practising P4C in their classroom

We can also offer demonstration P4C sessions with pupils, during normal school hours or after-school, at £200 per day (plus travel if you are located more than 50 miles from Ambleside).  This can help staff feel more confident by seeing how P4C really works with their pupils.

Level 1 training for your school requires 2 full days, or 1 day and subsequent twilights. This will cost £1400 including Level 1 certification for all participating staff. We generally limit group size to 20 for these courses.

Please contact the CDEC office if you are interested in booking one of our trainers. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 015394 31602.

What is Philosophy for Children (P4C)?

P4C emphasises the importance of enquiry/questioning skills, imaginative and meaningful dialogue, and careful reasoning/reflection in the process of education.  It aims to improve pupils' abilities to think creatively, critically, caringly and collaboratively through well-guided discussion.  The teacher's role is that of facilitator - a ‘guide on the side, not a sage on stage' - and the class learns to evolve as a ‘community of enquiry': a group of people united in their desire to understand the world and each other more deeply.

Essentially, pupils ‘learn to learn' through P4C, by making their learning meaningful and intrinsically desirable, rather than extrinsically motivated.  It is a powerful, varied, challenging and thorough methodology, which can reinvigorate the teaching and learning experience.     

A typical P4C session begins with a stimulus, often a story, and pupils raise philosophical questions - open questions tha can have lots of answers - that the stimulus makes them think about.  Pupils vote for the question that they would most like to talk about and this becomes the focus for the enquiry.  During the enquiry, the teacher helps the group explore the philosophical concepts underlying the question and uses Socratic questioning to encourage deeper exploration of the ideas presented by the children. This 'community of enquiry' can help develop a range of skills:

• Respecting other people's ideas and points of view
• Formulating effective questions
• Reflection and thinking
• Developing cooperative and collaborative thinking

CDEC is one of the leading organisations in the north of England that can offer P4C training in your setting. Please see our Courses page for training courses available in the next few months.  We can also offer whole school training for P4C, either as full day or twilight Inset sessions, or through an extended staff meeting. Please contact us at our Ambleside office to discuss your requirements.