“P4C opens up teaching itself”

At SAPERE we rescheduled courses today in view of the Teachers Strike and we send our support and solidarity to all those protesting today for fairer pay.

As a charity advancing philosophical education primarily through teacher training, we are very aware of the various pressures that the profession is under. We believe, and teachers who practise Philosophy for Children frequently tell us, that opening up classrooms to philosophical enquiry — to creative, caring, collaborative and critical thinking — is revolutionary. We usually focus on the benefits of P4C “for children” (it’s in the name, after all…). But our beneficiaries also include teachers.

P4C opens up teaching itself: to forgotten freedoms, to deeper values, to the bigger picture. P4C is not the whole answer to the challenges facing education professionals. But it does give teachers the chance to be the kind of teacher they always wanted to be.

We think that that is an extremely valuable and important part of the puzzle that is improving our education system. And we will continue to champion that message, as our staff and accredited trainers continue to enable more and more teachers to facilitate philosophical enquiry in the classroom.