Basic Training
“This is without a doubt the most stimulating and practical PD workshop I have had in years” workshop participant
P4CNZ provides practical teacher education in facilitating philosophical communities of inquiry in the classroom. Our workshops are recognised and approved by the Federation of Asia-Pacific Philosophy in Schools Associations (FAPSA). All FAPSA Introductory Workshops are also endorsed by the UNESCO Chair on the Practice of Philosophy with Children, based at the Université de Nantes in France.
On completion of a post workshop assessment task, participants may earn a FAPSA Introductory Certificate. Workshops are suitable for both primary and secondary school teachers. Student teachers, philosophers, parents and other interested people are very welcome to attend.
Workshop availability
P4CNZ usually offers a small number workshops every year, and P4C training is also sometimes offered through other organisations that provide continuing education for teachers.
For details about upcoming Introductory workshops click here.
In-service professional learning can be arranged, for a minimum of ten teachers All introductory workshops must be 12 hours, usually over two days. For enquiries about in-service PL, please refer to estimated costs below, and email co-ordinator@p4c.org.nz.
Hosting a workshop at your school. P4CNZ can also offer workshops anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand, where there is a host school that is willing to provide a venue, and assist with promotion, of the workshop. Host schools receive two free places on the workshop in appreciation of their support. More information about this can be found here.
Introductory Workshops
Programme: 12 hour in-person workshop, plus 6 hours post-workshop follow up tasks.
“A FANTASTIC two days. I can’t wait to share this with my colleagues and class” workshop participant
The two day in-person workshop programme is designed to enable teachers to begin facilitating philosophical inquiry in the classroom. It contains a mix of experiential learning and practical pedagogy. There are four sessions in which participants are involved in a “community of inquiry” in the same way that their students would be. This serves to model a variety of processes and to introduce a range of stimulus materials. Practical pedagogy sessions will cover the following topics: the nature of the community of inquiry, the role of the facilitator, techniques for developing philosophical skills and making inquiry more rigorous, using exercises and discussion plans, keeping the discussion philosophical, planning and evaluating sessions and a survey of available resources.
After the workshop, participants who work with year 1/2, 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8 will be provided with a session plans for 8 carefully sequenced introductory classroom sessions of philosophical inquiry. These session plans include skill building activities, structured philosophical inquiry activities, and text based inquiries.
To conform to the standards set out by the Federation of Asia-Pacific Philosophy in Schools Associations, a further 6 hours is offered. These hours consist of pair work, on-line reflection and feedback, reading and Zoom sessions. A Certificate of Completion is awarded to all participants who attend the 12 hour in-person workshop, and complete the further 6 hours, and the associated small tasks.
Facilitator
The lead facilitator for the workshops is Dr Vanya Kovach, who usually co-facilitates with classroom-based P4C teacher educators in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Manawatu. Vanya has been training teachers, and P4C teacher educators, in New Zealand and Australia, since 1996. She holds a full certification as a teacher educator from the Federation of Asia-Pacific Philosophy in Schools Associations, has a PhD in Philosophy, and has had extensive experience in the classroom with students of all ages. She taught philosophy for 29 years in the Philosophy Department at of the University of Auckland, and is an active philosopher in the community.
“Adds a new dimension to your teaching. Great way to extend kids thinking” workshop participant
Certification and the observation and feedback process
Participants who attend the workshop, and complete the 6 hours of past workshop tasks, may also wish to gain a FAPSA Introductory (previously “Level 1”) Certificate. To do this they must complete, to a satisfactory standard, the FAPSA assessment task. The task involves planning, conducting and evaluating a community of inquiry session, and documenting all of these. In most cases, having part of a session observed either in person or via video will be required. For more information on the task, see: Level 1 Assessment Task Description
“I love the way it embraces the intent of the 2007 Key Competencies and underpins thinking” workshop participant
Information on costs for the Introductory Workshop
The standard fee for individuals for our two day introductory workshops is:
$335 per person.
The fee for unwaged persons, students and part time workers is $170pp.
The workshop fee entitles participants to access 8+ planned sessions to get you started, for Years 1- 8, and also a variety of other classroom resources.
Discounts are available for schools that send 2 or more teachers to an open workshop, as follows
2- 4 teachers from one school: $310pp
5 – 7 teachers from one school: $295pp
8 – 10 teachers from one school: $275pp
More than 10 teachers from one school: $265pp
Note: Some schools who wished to send a number of teachers to an Introductory Workshop held during term time, have chosen instead to offer a Whole School workshop during school holidays for a larger number of staff, if they are willing to volunteer their time during this non-contact time of the year. This can be very cost effective, given the costs for relievers during Term time.
Whole school PD is available at the following rates:
(Note – costs for less than 10 teachers, and over 25 teachers, by negotiation)
10 – 15 participants, with one facilitator, $2200 base cost plus $60pp
16 – 25 participants, with two facilitators, $3300 base cost plus $60pp
Whole school PD outside of Auckland incurs an additional cost of $600 for travel and accommodation for our principal trainer. This reflects P4CNZ’s commitment to charges based on cost recovery, not profit.
All whole school PD carries free P4CNZ membership for one year.
Please contact our Coordinator and Professional Development Leader, Dr Vanya Kovach, at co-ordinator@p4c.org.nz
Further Training
Advanced Practice Certificate Workshop – Three Days:
This content and assessment of this workshop conforms to guidelines created by FAPSA – the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations.
The aim of this workshop is to provide further professional development opportunities for those who have completed an Introductory workshop. The three main components, or modules, of the Advanced Practice Certificate are: 1) Improving facilitation 2) Creating support materials and resources 3) Understanding and using philosophy in the classroom. An Advanced Practice Certificate is a prerequisite for Teacher Educator Workshops.
These are run when there is sufficient demand, and may be offered in single modules or a three day block. Topics covered in Advanced Workshops include:
- Common challenges encountered in creating a community of inquiry, and some solutions
- Explicit teaching of thinking skills and reasoning
- Getting more depth and rigour in inquiry
- Creating support materials (activities, exercises and discussion plans) for picture books, news stories and other non-purpose written stimulus materials
- Enhancing substantive questioning through understanding areas of philosophy
- Introduction to a topic in philosophy, and how this can inform inquiry
There is an assessment task, involving the creating of materials, and an accompanying explanatory essay on a philosophical topic. Completion of this task is required for certification, though participants may wish to take one or more of the modules for professional development purposes, if they do not wish to progress to the Teacher Educator Workshop
For details about upcoming workshops click here.
Teacher Educator Workshops
Experienced facilitators of philosophical inquiry in the classroom can train as a Teacher Educator in P4C. Workshops are offered by FAPSA, and are available every year in Australia, often in January, and may also be offered in New Zealand.
These workshops aim to help P4C practitioners to support others. They are suitable for teachers who wish to mentor other staff in their schools, or to join with an experienced teacher educator in facilitating workshops.
Three possible FAPSA certifications are awarded at the conclusion of the course. The Teacher Educator (Teacher), and Teacher Educator (Philosopher) certifications qualify you to present workshops with a person who holds the complementary qualification. Teacher Educator (Full Certification) is awarded to those who have sufficient background in both classroom practice and philosophy to allow them to run workshops on their own. It is required that those who wish to undertake this training undergo an observation and feedback process first.