When Societies Fracture, We Need Communities of Enquiry

A national conversation

The National Conversation comes at a moment when the need for meaningful dialogue could hardly be clearer. The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion is a once-in-a-generation, non-partisan initiative exploring how we can live well together and build a more united country. Against a backdrop of declining trust and community connections, isolation, social exclusion, prejudice, hate crime, extremism and growing division, the Commission is asking fundamental questions about the kind of country and communities we want to build. Rather than working behind closed doors, it is engaging communities across the UK to understand how we can strengthen community connectedness, cohesion and resilience, uncover shared stories and develop a shared vision for places where everyone feels able to belong and participate.

The initiative is independent of government and political parties and is co-chaired by former Conservative cabinet minister Sir Sajid Javid and former Labour Party policy coordinator Jon Cruddas. Its work with young people recognises that they need to be heard as part of this national conversation, particularly in the context of the social unrest and race riots of 2025.

The National Conversation has engaged adults through online questionaries and focus groups over the summer and ends on 31 August. But this autumn, children and young people under 16, from across the UK, are invited to join the National Conversation: Next Generation to make sure their voices are heard, on what brings people together, what divides us, where they feel they belong, and what could make their communities stronger.

The need for philosophical conversation

Both adult and youth facilitators reading this blog, will immediately notice that these questions – about what we mean by community and how we live well together – are profoundly philosophical. To explore these questions deeply and democratically requires a thoughtful approach. Schools and colleges that have embedded P4C are ideal sites for these conversations not only because philosophical enquiry equips facilitators with the skills they need to hold space for dialogue but also because regular P4C creates a community of enquiry in the classroom where young people feel sufficiently safe and brave to speak, listen and think about important topics, even when they are complex and difficult.

Why community is at the heart of P4C

Community is baked into P4C; it is both a perennial topic of conversation and a central idea that structures the pedagogy itself. P4C emerged in the United States during the social and political upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s. Against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and widespread social unrest, philosopher Matthew Lipman became concerned about the quality of public reasoning. He questioned why even highly educated adults could struggle to think carefully and constructively about the urgent moral and political questions facing society. His response was to ask whether education could begin much earlier, helping children learn not simply what to think, but how to think with others. Together with Ann Margaret Sharp and colleagues, Lipman developed an approach centred on the Community of Philosophical Enquiry in which young people could learn to question, reason, listen, challenge assumptions and consider different perspectives.

That history of championing critical and caring thinking, in a climate of division and hate, feels strikingly relevant today. Young people are navigating complex conversations about identity, race, belonging, democracy, misinformation and extremism, often encountering polarised views through social media as well as in their communities.

This is where Thoughtful’s approach to philosophical enquiry can make a distinctive contribution. We know these issues will arise in the lives of young people – our work is motivated by the need to create opportunities for young people to explore them in communities where disagreement can be thoughtful, evidence can be examined, and people can genuinely listen to one another. Tracing its roots back to Lipman and the origins of P4C, our approach creates structured opportunities for learners to explore questions that matter to them.

A Community of Philosophical Enquiry is not a space where everyone merely politely trades opinions, nor a directive discussion in which the teacher supplies the correct answer in the end. In philosophical dialogue participants ask questions, give reasons, listen carefully, challenge assumptions, consider alternative perspectives and reflect on their own thinking: They are actively engaged in looking for answers to complex problems, while building their capacity to live with uncertainty and difference.

This makes philosophical enquiry particularly valuable when conversations are difficult. A group might explore what it means to belong, whether disagreement can strengthen a community, what we owe to people with whom we disagree, or how we should decide what information to trust. These questions do not have easy answers but learning how to explore difficult questions together is itself an important part of learning to live well together.

Thoughtful is already applying philosophical enquiry to some of the most challenging issues facing schools and colleges. Our Challenging Extremism through P4C work helps educators create spaces where difficult ideas can be examined critically and thoughtfully. Our Media Literacy work explores philosophical questions about misinformation, knowledge, evidence, authority and trust. Through our wider Innovate P4C offer, enquiry can be adapted to explore other challenging issues, from climate and technology to identity, justice and democracy.

Community is at the heart of our work. Over time, educators and learners who work with us, discover that their ideas can be challenged without their worth being diminished; that listening is an active intellectual practice; and that changing your mind can be a sign of learning rather than weakness. Communities are not built because everyone thinks the same. They are built when people develop the capacity to listen across difference, examine difficult questions and remain in conversation.

Get involved in The National Conversation: Next Generation

From 5–9 October, we are encouraging schools and colleges to take part in the National Conversation: Next Generation and create space for young people to share their experiences and views about the communities they want to be part of.

Schools, colleges, youth groups and community organisations can participate by hosting conversations using their free toolkit and resources. They can also find a range of creative resources from Thoughtful on related and relevant themes including trust, rules, equality as well as a range of advice on how to manage challenging conversations.

The origins of P4C remind us that educational responses to social division can begin with something both simple and demanding: creating spaces where people learn how to think together. By bringing philosophical enquiry into the National Conversation, schools and colleges can help young people do more than have their say. They can help them listen, question, reason and think together about how we might live well together.

Join the National Conversation from 5–9 October – and bring philosophical enquiry into the conversation.