We are philosophers

'Philosophy is about getting children to think and communicate well; to think better for themselves.'

This week Year 3 had our first philosophical group discussion!

We got our thinking brains warmed up by starting with a series of statements that we had to place on a line with 'fair' at one end and 'unfair' at the other. Statements for discussion included:

'Bedtime for everyone should be 7 o'clock'

'Some children have very few toys' 

'If you work hard you get to go on the Pot of Gold'

'Cocoa farmers get paid very little money'

'Some children have never tried chocolate'

The children came up with some really interesting ideas about these statements and were able to give good reasons as to where they felt they should go on our fair/unfair line.

Next we looked at a picture from our current topic book 'Flotsom'.

We spoke about the fact that the boy finds a camera and then takes it away from the beach. Was this a good thing to do? The children had some really good ideas about whether the boy should or shouldn't take the camera.

We then opened up the discussion by talking about if we had ever taken something from a beach. Many children mentioned that they had collected shells and stones. Was this different to taking the camera? Is is OK to take some things but not others? This led to our big question: 'Is it OK to take things from a beach?'

Again the children came up with some very thoughtful ideas and points for discussion. They had the chance to talk in small groups and then share their comments with the whole class if they wanted. The children showed fantastic listening, speaking and reasoning skills and it was a very interesting discussion. Most importantly they understood that there is no right answer - just different points of view.

To finish everyone had a chance to have a last say. Having listened and shared to our group discussion the children were invited to make any last comments and thoughts.

So what do you think...

                                     Is it OK to take things from a beach?