| Teaching
Ideas and Units - Beaut Ideas
Using Texts to Ask Philosophical Questions (2)
A
P4C Strategy adapted by Jenny Morgan (Albuera Street School)
Introduction
TEXT: Wilfred
Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox (Omnibus)
THEMES: Memories,
friendship, personality and character, age
LEVEL: Lower/middle/upper
primary
FOCUS: Oral
language, thinking philosophically, thinking beyond the text, asking questions
Process
1.
Explain before reading the story that you are looking for ideas behind
the story and that some of these ideas may not have a straightforward
answer. Explain that this is thinking philosophically: thinking about
ideas that have been puzzling people for over 2000 years and thinking
that will lead to a greater understanding of the world we live in.
Remind
students that, as the story is being read, they should be thinking about
any questions they might have. These should be jotted down as they arise.
2.
Read the story aloud to the students
3.
At the end of the story, ask for questions and put these questions on
the board. Always include the name of the questioner as this gives ownership
and a sense of pride, thus building self-esteem into the community of
inquiry.
Include
all questions; it is sometimes surprising to see how some of the most
basic questions can be quite meaningful. I usually end up with about 10
questions. Find questions that have a common thread and link them on the
board. Begin discussion with the most popular question OR choose the question
that will take you in the direction that you want to go. For example,
you may want a discussion on "character" versus "personality".
Choose the appropriate question to get you started.
Often,
not all questions can be answered; however, sometimes questions are answered
inadvertently. It is best to acknowledge the unanswered questions and
have the owner involved in the discussion of whether it can be left or
should be explored another time. A community of inquiry is where everyone
has the same decision making power and the question may be of burning
significance to the child.
Remind
students that, during the discussion, they should focus on:
- listening
to the ideas of others
- giving
reasons for their thoughts
- taking
turns to speak
- not interrupting
- having
opinions
- openly
changing their mind as thinking develops
- agreeing
or disagreeing with the IDEAS expressed and not the person
- respecting
all opinions
Once
these skills are in place, the dynamic of the discussion can be controlled.
Students gain life skills by listening to the opinions of others and learn
to make thoughtful judgements for themselves.
QuestionsThat
Can Arise
- What is
memory?
- What makes
a memory? (long ago, happy things, funny things, sad things, embarrassment,
anger, kindnesses)
- Why do
you remember some things and not others?
- What makes
a friendship?
- Is a friendship
different from a relationship?
- How old
is old?
- When is
old old? (old and young only have meaning in context)
- What sort
of person is Wilfred?
- Do the
old folk have personality or character or both?
- Is there
a difference between personality and character?
Discussion
on personality and character will often lead to a discussion of stereotypes
- eg. the "spock" has one personality type, "cool dude"
another. This can lead to a discussion of appearance, difference, advertising,
use of images, alternative images and so on. The process can become self-generating,
cross-curricular and help take the planning out of planning.
Remember
to keep your opinions out of the discussion. As teacher, you are facilitating
the students exploration of their thinking, not yours.
I
find this book a useful stimulus for hours of discussion. Depending on
the age of students, the discussions can be ‘huge’. The book
can also be used to help students to generate questions to ask at home
and bring back ideas from a family discussion. When students see adults
grappling with the same issues, they come to understand that people do
not have all the answers all the time!
The
book lends itself to multiple readings. It has a distinctive lilt that
many students enjoy listening to time and time again.
Possible
Follow Up Activity
Dictionary
exercise to look up the meaning of "friendship", "relationship",
"personality", "character".
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