Philosophy in !

Secondary Schools!

Brent Silby!
Philosophy
Today I will attempt to convince you that Philosophy needs to be
offered in all schools.

An example
Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti

Students choose all of their subjects on a block by block basis.

There are usually about 60 different courses on offer at any one
time.

Each block between 10-20% of students are doing Philosophy

Student feedback indicates a high level of enjoyment, and an

ongoing desire for more Philosophy courses
A selection of statements from Unlimited students.
These were made in response to the question “How does Philosophy help you?”
asked by Daryl Macer from Unesco during a class visit in 2009.

“Philosophy gets us to think differently about real world problems”

“Philosophy helps me in my other subjects because it teaches me

how to question the truth of information … now I know that
opinions and facts need to be justified.”

“I now know how to make an argument and back up my

conclusions”

“Philosophy is my favourite subject because I’m allowed to ask

questions about things like whether God exists instead of just
being told what to think”
Another example
Tauranga Boys College

Two ways into Philosophy:

1.  Students are given choice to do Philosophy as optional subject

2.  A group in a certain module are forced to do Philosophy

Survey of students
Was Philosophy enjoyable?
Volunteer group 96.67% enjoyed Philosophy
Forced group 87.76% enjoyed Philosophy

Was I glad I did a term of Philosophy

Volunteer group 93.33% glad
Forced group 70.59% glad
Tauranga Boys College

Survey of students
Did Philosophy help with other subjects
Volunteer group 88.33% Yes
Forced group 55.10% Yes

Would I do NCEA Philosophy even if it meant more work?

Volunteer group 100.00% Yes
Forced group 72.92% Yes

* Figures from survey of Tauranga Boys College students, carried out by

George Ter Wal, and presented at the annual Philosophy Teachers’ Conference 2009
These results are quite revealing

They show us that students find Philosophy helpful and enjoyable,

and they want more.
For a highly engaging subject Philosophy
is taught in surprisingly few schools

Schools offering full programmes in Philosophy

Hagley Community College (Christchurch)
St Peters College (Auckland)
Unlimited (Christchurch)

There are several other schools offering courses in Philosophy:

Auckland Girls Grammar, Tauranga Boys College, Rangi Ruru,
Western Springs College, Riccarton High School
So what exactly is Philosophy?
Traditionally broken into 3 main areas:

1. Theories of Knowledge – “Epistemology”

What can I truly know about the world, and how do I gain that knowledge?
Can I ever know for certain that:
Matter is made from atoms?
That I am not currently dreaming?
Sherlock Holmes lived at 221b Baker Street?

2. Theories of Existence – “Metaphysics”

What sorts of things exist in the universe?
Does God exist?
What is consciousness?
Does freewill really exist in a causally determined universe?

3. Ethics
How should we live our lives? What’s right or wrong? And how do we know?
Is abortion morally acceptable?
Ought we to help the poor?
Is it morally permissible to eat meat?
Quote from our Teaching and Learning Guidelines

Philosophy is the subject that specializes in exploring fundamental questions about the
world and our place in it. For example: What is reality? What does it mean for me to
‘know’ something? What is reasoning? What is a Mind? Does God exist? How should I
live, and who should decide?

Philosophical discussion draws on imaginative speculation, scientific evidence, sustained

reflection on lived experience, and the different histories, cultural perspectives and texts
that shape current thought.

Philosophy is highly discussion based and aims to develop critical thinking skills.
Through a range of applied Philosophical topics, students learn how to assess
arguments for validity and soundness. They also learn how to refute arguments logically
and construct their own rationally convincing arguments.
Philosophy, true holistic teaching

With current moves towards breaking down the

compartmentalization of the curriculum, Philosophy offers a
natural, authentic way to learn holistically.

Derek Browne (Dept of Philosophy, University of Canterbury)

suggests that the future of Philosophy is the pulling together of
multiple domains in order to answer questions about the world
and our place in it.

Philosophy is a multidisciplinary subject.

(personal communication, 2008)
Philosophy, true holistic teaching

Question: Why does music make me feel good?

This is a wonderful philosophical question, which can only be

answered holistically.

Both these people know what music people like. But why do people like their music?
Philosophy, true holistic teaching
Music theory Neuroscience
Chord progressions
How are neural patterns set up? Anthropology
Rhythm patterns Do musical pattern representations interact Cultural significance
Key changes with other modules in brain? of music
Can we point to where the “feeling” is?

Why does music makes me feel good?

Evolutionary Psychology
We are evolved beings, why
Physics has natural selection provided us with
Sound waves joy of music? What selective advantage
How do different instruments
does it serve?
produce different sounds?

Biology Technology/ICT
What happens in the ear? Build instruments
How does data get from ear to the brain? Produce music
What do students get from Philosophy?
It is amazing to walk passed students at lunchtime and hear them discussing
Philosophy. It’s a stark contrast to what we often hear students chatting about.

Adolescent brain is at a critical stage of development—arguably as important as the

language acquisition stage.

If exposed to nothing but narrow commercial influences their conversations will center
around these ideas. Their neural wiring will reflect this influence.

Philosophy broadens the ability to think flexibly and creatively about a range of ideas.

Their interpersonal relationships reflect this skill, and their brains hook up more broadly

Philosophy makes better thinkers !

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools

The Current State of Philosophy Teaching

There are several schools teaching Philosophy either as complete courses, or
as optional modules. There are many more schools with teachers bringing in
philosophical thinking into their learning programmes.

In 2006 we formed the NZAPT (NZ Association for Philosophy Teachers)

- serves as a point of contact for teachers and for the MoE.

Since the end of 2008, a group of Philosophy teachers have been working with the
MoE to construct Teaching and Learning Guidelines for the subject.

The initial edit of these guidelines is goes online at end of November.

We are now a recognized subject 

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools
Philosophy days held in Christchurch and Auckland

Students asking for more of these days, and we are planning Café Philosophy nights
The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools

Website for people interested in reading and discussing Philosophy

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools

Where we are going:

The aim is to bring Philosophy into more secondary schools

Current Challenge:
There are no Achievement Standards specific to Philosophy, which means either:
• Students do Philosophy with no credits; or
• Courses are run by pinching credits from other learning areas

Our long term goal has been to write Achievement Standards for Philosophy, but this
will not happen for a couple of years, and there is no guarantee that we will be given
the license to do so.

Another option is to continue to build good learning programmes in Philosophy by using

credits from other domains. With the current trend towards integration in the curriculum,
this makes good sense.

Do we really need more Achievement Standards? Best to make better use of what we
have.
The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools

Problem is that students want the word “Philosophy” on their transcripts

Suggested Solution:
Standards could be generic, with no specific name. Students could achieve the
standards in context.

Example:
Fred achieves a “conduct a speech” standard in the context of History, while
Mary achieves a “conduct a speech” standard in the context of Philosophy.

Their transcripts could contain this type of information….this is obviously “blue sky”
thinking.
The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools

Despite the fact it has no Achievement Standards, many students are choosing
to do courses in Philosophy.

The demand is high!

This is what young people want!

I would like to encourage all teachers of Social Sciences to support the growth of
Philosophy in Secondary schools – maybe even introduce Philosophical thinking
into existing courses.
The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools

For more information on Philosophy teaching in schools, visit the NZAPT site

www.nzapt.net
Or contact
brent.silby@unlimited.school.nz