Our focus is on building a thinking culture across our school. We want our students to not only think, but know how to think effectively. We use Philosophy for Children (P4C) as a key approach to teaching and learning thinking. Children take part in philosophical inquiry to enhance their thinking and communication skills, boost confidence and self-esteem, and improve academic achievement.
In P4C, a stimulus, such as a story, video clip or image, is shared with children. The children are encouraged by their teacher to come up with big, engaging philosophical questions about the stimulus. Philosophical questions are open to examination, further questioning and inquiry. They are contestable, central and common - meaning there is more than one valid point of view, the question is important in the lives of the children, and it is a shared issue or concern.
Visible Thinking involves practices that make thinking visible - to students and teachers. We teach students Thinking Routines (Project Zero, Harvard) across the curriculum. Thinking Routines loosely guide learners' thought processes and encourage active processing.
Developing the qualities of effective learners, such as determination, curiosity, and resourcefulness, supports students to embrace challenge and see mistakes as opportunities to learn.