Thinking outside the square
Vol. 16, No. 15, October 2007
The teaching of philosophy is making a resurgence in our schools and the results are attracting international attention. KELLEY PORTER looks at how this area of study is helping students of all ages to become strong critical thinkers.
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The conversation ignites as questions are posed - 'How free are we?' 'Does something have to be free to have a mind?' Thoughts and ideas are shared, and respectfully agreed or disagreed.
It's a lesson in philosophy that the participants take seriously.
But what makes this discussion so special is that the participants aren't university students, but nine, 10 and 11-year-old schoolchildren.
They're from Buranda State School, in inner-city Brisbane, which for 10 years now has been one of the few Australian primary schools teaching philosophy to students.
The school's award-winning program was developed by principal Lynne Hinton and her staff in consultation with Associate Professor Philip Cam from the School of History and Philosophy at the University of New South Wales.
The program, based on the teachings of US academic Mathew Lipman, helps students to use the principles and techniques of philosophy to enhance their education.
When Ms Hinton became principal at Buranda it had just two teachers and 48 students. She says she considered the opportunity presented by the small school as the perfect chance to create the 'ideal' learning environment.
'I first encountered the idea of doing philosophy with children when I was undertaking some postgraduate work at QUT and one of my lecturers mentioned it,' she explains.
'When I found out more about it I realised that it could only be a good thing to have children able to think clearly and well, and able to make good judgments.
'I believe schools should be places of wonder, puzzlement, questions and talk, and by creating students who are more thoughtful - as in clearer thinkers and more thoughtful of one another - they will do better at literacy and numeracy and other tasks.'
Each week, students at the school sit in a circle with their classmates to discuss concepts like freedom. The students listen to each other, think about what other people say and build on each other's ideas.
'What we do differently at Buranda is develop inquiry and reasoning skills sequentially across the year levels,' Ms Hinton says.
'Skills like recognising faulty reasoning, making good judgments and knowing how to have a better discussion are the types of skills they will use for the rest of their lives.'
The results speak for themselves. Ten years on enrolments have reached 214 and students are achieving exceptional academic and social outcomes.
Brisbane State High School Year 11 student Tegan Fynes-Clinton is a former Buranda State School student who has continued her philosophy studies into high school.
'What I loved about doing philosophy was being able to express your feelings without worrying about what people think, and also being able to hear what other people were feeling,' Tegan says.
'I think it helped me to look at problems differently, to come up with different solutions and to think outside the box.'
Tegan believes philosophy helped unlock her creative side.
'Mathematics had always been my strongest subject but I think philosophy has helped me develop my creative side,' she says. 'I am studying drama now and hope to become a theatre director in the future.'
'I also think studying philosophy has helped me become a more accepting person. More accepting of different ideas, different cultures... everything.'
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The success of Buranda's program has sparked interest from further abroad.
There have been numerous requests for visits to the school from Australian and international educators, as well as invitations for Buranda staff to speak at conferences and provide training.
Recently, a group of educators from Suffolk in the United Kingdom visited the school to see first-hand how philosophy is incorporated into the curriculum.
Head teacher Jon Trotter, from an inner-city school of 275 students in Ipswich, England, says British schools have been looking at new ways to engage students more effectively in learning.
'We had reached a glass ceiling in terms of school progress and development and we wanted to go beyond that,' Mr Trotter says.
'What we can see at Buranda has clarified exactly why we need to do this.
'What Lynne and her staff have done has taken the pedagogy of philosophy way beyond what academics in the UK have done, which was good and produced the end result, but was nowhere near the extent of this.
'The quality of the children's thinking, at such a young age, at Buranda is just outstanding.'
Although eager to incorporate at home what he's learnt at Buranda, Mr Trotter believes the use of philosophy has already dramatically transformed his school, which, in his words, was 'languishing at the bottom of the national tests.'
'When I arrived there were 110 exclusions and now there are none,' he explains.
'Philosophy provides what academics call a dialogic approach - involving the students, respecting the students and bringing their views in - as opposed to a monologic approach of "I am the teacher, I give the information and you give it back to me ".
'What you've got here at Buranda is a true discourse. The children realise they are respected, by giving them the freedom to express themselves within the bounds.'
The impact on school improvement and children's behaviour is phenomenal, he says.
'The children begin to realise there are ways they can work out problems without resorting to aggression so the impact is wide, and that is what we've been particularly interested in looking at.'
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Head of Curriculum at Calamvale Community College in Brisbane, Peter Ellerton, is another Queensland teacher passionate about introducing young minds to philosophy.
Mr Ellerton teaches philosophy to Year 11 and 12 students and is also the Queensland Studies Authority state review panel chair for the subject.
He says what makes the area of study so powerful is the students' ability to use their newly developed thinking skills in other subjects and other areas of their lives.
'We continually get the message from students who go on to study pharmacy, journalism, law, science and political science, that the study of critical thinking skills has been one of their most useful high school experiences,' he says.
There are three strands to the philosophy course taught at Calamvale.
'Deductive logic, where we cover things like symbolic logic, truth trees, paradox and categorical logic,' Mr Ellerton says. 'This introduces students to a very formal and rigorous way of thinking.'
'Critical thinking, where we look at things like hypotheses and how to build and break down arguments, to discerning uses of analogy and using inductive reasoning to problem-solve.
'And finally what most people think of as philosophy proper, things like the study of ethical, social and political theories as well as philosophy of mind and human nature.'
Mr Ellerton says philosophy has been taught in Queensland schools in some form for about 100 years but the recent name change from Logic to Philosophy and Reason has seen the number of high schools offering the senior subject more than double, increasing from six four years ago to 15.
He believes the performance of philosophy students in the Queensland Core Skills test was a great hook to encourage more students to study the subject.
'Students in this subject group consistently outperform students in most other subject areas across all categories of the test,' he says.
'Another effective strategy to get students on board is to tell them we are not really interested in what they think, but extremely interested in why they think it.
'We tell them the class will encourage argument, debate and discussion and we guarantee the right to be heard - the only catch is they need to be able to justify their point.'
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Mr Ellerton says he hopes these same strategies will also encourage other teachers and schools to consider introducing philosophy to their students.
'I have established an email network for teachers around the state to share resources, ideas and advice,' he says.
'There is tremendous support available as all of the teachers currently involved in teaching Philosophy and Reason are keen to share their experiences.
'I have also built a website for teachers of the subject, and of critical thinking in general, to help them get a leg up in their own schools.'
Mr Ellerton recently worked with University of Queensland philosophy lecturer, Dr Dominic Hyde, to incorporate philosophy as a minor in their Education degree. While that is still some time away, Dr Hyde says the fact there were dedicated teachers voluntarily promoting philosophy in schools was fantastic.
'The teaching of philosophy in schools, to us at a tertiary level, is a no-brainer,' Dr Hyde says.
'It helps children of all ages develop general analytical problem-solving skills and good communication skills.
'Young children have a natural ability for open-ended questioning, which is often hampered because of the structured nature of some schools' curriculum.'
Where open-ended questioning is pursued there are enormous benefits for children, he says.
'The kids love it - it's a different game for them. They very quickly realise that the teachers don't have the right answers all of the time and this is very empowering.'
Ms Hinton at Buranda is also keen to encourage other schools to adopt philosophy.
To assist with this, an online training course, Learning to Think: Philosophy in the Classroom, has been developed and is available through the Learning Place.
'The course is being used by people from five different countries, most states in Australia, and by remote Indigenous communities,' Ms Hinton says.
In addition, a book with tips and suggestions for teaching philosophy to young children has recently been written by some of the staff at Buranda together with Associate Professor Cam.
The book, Philosophy with young children - a classroom handbook, is published by and available from the Australian Curriculum Studies Association.
www.education.qld.gov.au/learningplace
www.criticalthinking.net.au 
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