Philosophy and Education

The Project

This practical project aims to increase and support the role of philosophy in nursery, primary and secondary education by disseminating philosophy skills to teachers. It consists of two main strands:

Philosophy for Children

  • This strand is designed to support teachers who wish to deliver philosophy for children in schools, at nursery, primary, and lower secondary levels. Instruction is by practical workshops, delivered by Berys Gaut (Professor of Philosophy at St Andrews) and Morag Gaut (a Chartered Teacher with extensive experience at nursery and primary levels).

Philosophy Outreach Programme for Schools

  • This strand consists in online distance learning modules. It has been developed primarily to meet the Continuing Professional Development needs of teachers in Scottish primary, secondary, or further education who are (or wish to be) involved in the teaching of philosophy, but it is also open to interested non-teachers. This strand is run by Dr Lisa Jones, Principal Teaching Fellow at St Andrews. For further details see: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/philosophy/pops/onlinemodules/

People

  • Berys Gaut (St Andrews Philosophy)
  • Morag Gaut (Chartered Teacher)
  • Lisa Jones (St Andrews Philosophy)

Conferences and Workshops

  • Philosophy in Schools Conference Saturday 11 November 2017, 2.00 – 5.30 pm University of St Andrews, Scotland: The Department of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews is pleased to announce a conference on teaching philosophy to children at nursery, primary and secondary levels. Different approaches to teaching philosophy will be considered, and the emphasis will be on practical methods of doing so, rather than on theoretical considerations. The conference is aimed mainly at schoolteachers, but anyone interested in philosophy for children is welcome to attend.

    The conference speakers are:

    Alison Allsopp, who is national training manager for SAPERE, which has trained more than 27,000 teachers in P4C in the UK.

    Berys Gaut and Morag Gaut, who are authors of Philosophy for Young Children: A Practical Guide (Routledge, 2011) and are currently writing Philosophy for Older Children.

    Sara Stanley, who is author of several books on philosophy for children, including Why Think? Philosophical Play from 3 -11 (Continuum, 2012).

    The conference is free, but if you wish to attend, you must email Berys Gaut ([email protected]) in advance to register and obtain further details.

    The Philosophy in Schools conference is generously funded by the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

  • Philosophy for Children workshops have been held previously, the most recent on 3 September 2016.

Recent Publications

2014: Berys Gaut: ‘Educating for Creativity’ in Elliot Samuel Paul and Scott Barry Kaufman (eds.), The Philosophy of Creativity: New Essays, Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 265-87

2013: Berys Gaut and Morag Gaut: ‘Teaching Philosophy to Young Children’ in Sara Goering, Nicholas J. Shudak and Thomas E. Wartenberg (eds.), Philosophy in Schools: An Introduction for Philosophers and Teachers, Routledge, 2013, pp. 132-40

2011: Berys Gaut and Morag Gaut: Philosophy for Young Children: A Practical Guide (Routledge, 2011)