Please note that you need to have had P4C training to use these materials to guide a community of inquiry .Includes material on topics such as:
friends, fairness, bravery, sport (and the Olympics), change, music, language, work, freedom and more! New material added regularly.
Members should feel free to . .
a) send their own materials that they would like to share (to
v.kovach@auckland.ac.nz ) and
b) send a request for material on a particular topic (to
v.kovach@auckland.ac.nz ) – someone might be able to help!.
A selection only! Many of these are available from the on line shop at the Australian Council for Educational Research
www.acer.edu.au . See also the link to the FAPSA website on the “Links” page.
The Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children materials (the “original” P4C books) by Matthew Lipman and Ann Sharp, stimulus novels and extensive teachers’ manuals. There are four suitable for Primary and Intermediate level students. (Elfie, Kio and Gus, Pixie and Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery). Lisa explores ethical questions, and is good for 11 - 15 year olds. Rather “American” but a great resource. Also, for older students, “Suki” which explores aesthetics and “Mark” which focuses on political philosphy (and the US Constitution, which makes it less applicable to Australasia)
Thinking Stories 1- 3, ed. Phillip Cam - stories (by different authors) and teachers’ manuals, suitable for 10 -12 year olds. No 3, with stories all by the Phil Cam, is particularly good, and focuses on ethics and social philosophy. Published by Hale and Iremonger.
Philosophy with Kids 1- 3, by de Haan, MacColl and McCutcheon. Australian materials for 5 to 7 year olds. These offer discussion plans, exercises and games that promote philosophical inquiry, based on existing picture books. Lots of interesting ideas in these, and they were well tested in Australian classrooms. Published by Longman.
Creative and Critical Thinking - Strategies for Classroom Inquiry, by another Australian, Susan Wilkes. Good introduction to P4C, with a number of examples of small modules with different topics and for different ages, mostly for Primary level. Wilkes worked closely with a range of teachers to produce this book. Published by Eleanor Curtain.
Books into Ideas, by Tim Spod. Suitable for work with 5 -7 year olds. Excellent discussion plans and exercises to support existing children’s picture books, a good introduction to Philosophy for Children and hints for setting up a community of inquiry in your classroom. Published by Hawker Brownlow Education
Thinking Together - Philosophical Inquiry for the Classroom, by Philip Cam. A very good book that describes both the point of and the practice of philosophy in the classroom and has some great exercises and techniques. Use in conjunction with materials listed above. Published by Hale and Iremonger.
Twenty Thinking Tools, Phillip Cam. ACER Press. Extremely useful support for facilitating inquiry.
Teaching for Better Thinking - the Classroom Community of Inquiry, by Laurance Splitter and Ann Sharp. The new classic on theory and practice of P4C. Available from ACER.
Storywise, Philosophy Club, Roger Sutcliffe, Steve Williams et al. Available from Dialogueworks in the UK. Web address:
www.dialogueworks.co.uk .
Stories for Thinking, Poems for Thinking, Games for Thinking etc, by Robert Fisher. A collection of poems and traditional stories with activities, discussion plans etc to support philosophical inquiry. Published by Nash Pollock Publishing.
Connecting Concepts, by Clinton Golding. A very useful collection of exercises that make exploration of central concepts easy and fun. Can be used in secondary school or adapted for primary school. Published by ACER, also available from Learning Network.
Thinking About Journal Stories, by Anne Maree Olley. Excellent series of support materials for philosophical inquiry using NZ school journal stories. Also Thinking about Picture Books and Time to Think, Published by Essential Resources. Order on line:
www.erpublishers.com Philosophy with Young Children – a classroom handbook by Philip Cam, Liz Fynes-Clinton, Kathlyn Harrison, Lynne Hinton, Rosie Scholl & Simon Vaseo. Published by Australian Curriculum Studies Association. A wonderful book for doing philosophy with Year 1 and 2 students.