Philosophy for Teachers
Teaching Teachers to Think for a Change
Between Reflective Practice and Contemplative Activism
How to integrate the metapractices of Personal, Pedagogical, Professional and Planetary Development in Metamodern Education
N.B this site is still in development and has been made accessible for the purpose of preview and revision
selfwork + craftwork + network + worldwork
News and Recent Posts
Steve McIntosh on the Emergence of Post-Progressive Political Thought
Mindfulness in Schools – Tonbridge
Kieran Egan on Imaginative Teaching
Annick de Witt’s Research into developing the Worldview Typology
Jennifer Gidley on Human Futures
Daniel Siegel on his book Aware! and the Wheel of Awareness
Staff and children share their experience of mindfulness and .b
Appreciative Inquiry
Roger Sutcliffe on No Philosophy-No Humanity
Jon Kabat-Zinn on Mindfulness in Schools
The Powerful Person – Enneagram Type 8
Can Children Do Philosophy?
Matthew Lipman and Philosophy for Children
Richard Barrett on Changing Culture in the Workplace
The Giving Person – Enneagram Type 2
Jennifer Gidley on The Future
Steve McIntosh on How to Overcome Political Polarisation
The Good Person – Enneagram Type 1
Bradway Primary School – Philosophy for Children
Indra Adnan from Alternative UK on The New Human at the Heart of New Politics
P4C in Liverpool Schools
Gregg Henriques on Integrative Psychology
Richard Barrett on Levels of Consciousness
The Effective Person – Enneagram Type 3
Mindfulness in Schools Project
Jj Akinlade
Daniel Görtz on Metamodernism
Many Peaces Project
Gillian Judson on Education that Inspires with Rob Hopkins
Daniel Goleman on Resonant Leadership Styles
Steps to Self-authoring Your Own Teaching Philosophy
The heart of our approach involves integrating the 4Cs of P4C (Philosophy for Children) with the 4Ps of P4T (Philosophy for Teachers) for the benefit of lifelong Teaching and Learning
The mode of thinking which is Appreciative, Active, Normative, Affective and Empathic. Caring thinking loves subject knowledge, responds to needs, establishes the conditions and forms the Ground of a community of Inquiry.
The mode of thinking which is sensitive to Context, reliant on Criteria such as relevance, consistency, sufficiency and focused on Self-correcting in order to improve the quality of thinking. Critical thinking provides clarification of concepts and key issues …and supports the Direction of a community of inquiry.
The mode of thinking which is Imaginative, Holistic, Inventive and Generative. Creative thinking is focused on possibilities, new ideas and provides the means or Instrument of progressing a community of inquiry towards its Goal
The mode of thinking which is Resonant, Participatory and Synergistic. Collaborative thinking sustains the other modes of thinking and functions to fulfil them as the Goal of a community of inquiry.
Personal development for teachers includes the following ways into philosophy: the practice of Mindfulness, becoming your best self as an expression of Personality, going deeper through the practice of Spirituality and appreciating philosophy as a Way of Life
Pedagogical development includes the following ways into educational philosophy: practising the 4Cs of P4C with children as well as one’s own academic development, the practice of Imaginative Teaching that is culturally intelligent and developmentally sensitive, balancing classroom practice with four aspects of Positive learning and deepening the practice of curriculum design through mediating your own Curriculum philosophy
Professional development, understood as proactively developing the profession rather than the individual development of a professional, includes the following ways into educational philosophy: the basic participatory practice of appreciative strength-based Teamworking, the practice of Leadership in terms of personal leadership styles, mediating conflicting values in the development of Professional Culture and developing Transformative schools, colleges or universities
Planetary development includes the following ways into philosophy of education: exploring your approach to life and the planet in terms of Worldview preference, the practice of Peace globally and locally, engaging in the practice of educative Politics in civil society and the practical quest for Ecological Civilisation in social philosophy
The journey of Student teachers will take you from the selfwork of Personal development to the craftwork of Pedagogical development as you meet the philosophical demands of initial teacher education and training
The journey of Experienced teachers will take you from the craftwork of Pedagogical development to the network of Professional development as you mediate the philosophical demands of teaching in school or university and begin to take a lead in developing the profession
The journey of Educative leaders will take you from the network of Professional development to the worldwork of Planetary development as you mediate the philosophical demands of organisational development in relation to the global needs of the world
The journey of Activist Educators will take you from the worldwork of Planetary development through Worldview awareness, politics, peace and ecology back to the selfwork of Personal development as you mediate the philosophical demands of global transformation in relation to mentoring aspiring teachers
What do we mean by Philosophy?
Philosophy is the wisdom you acquire in knowing yourself better, personalising theory better, developing better practice… and teaching for a better world beyond the school and university
Philosophy is contemplative activism seeking passionate balance
Philosophy is metathinking …caring, critical, creative and collaborative
Philosophy is both a quest for metapractice (keeping the big picture in mind at work) and quest for metatheory (connecting the big questions of personal, pedagogical, professional and planetary development)
Philosophy has multiple interconnected entry points mapped by P4T below… so you can start anywhere and add-on to your practice as you go
INETEGRATIVE DEVELOPMENT
1. Philosophy is the wisdom of a more integrative and regenerative Reflective Practice that grounds each of the 4Ps
Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Inspiration
- Aspiration
- Communication
- Meditation
- Inspiration
- Aspiration
- Communication
Thinking
- Caring
- Critical
- Creative
- Collaborative
- Caring
- Critical
- Creative
- Collaborative
Teamworking
- Discover
- Dream
- Design
- Deliver
- Discover
- Dream
- Design
- Deliver
Worldview
- Traditional
- Modern
- Postmodern
- Integrative
- Traditional
- Modern
- Postmodern
- Integrative
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
2. Philosophy is the wisdom of learning as a Grownup*
* we are indebted to the American philosopher Stanley Cavell for this delightfully down to earth term for philosophy being the natural form of adult learning (see Saito, N. & Standish, P. (2011) Stanley Cavell and the Education of Grownups.)
Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Inspiration
- Aspiration
- Communication
- Meditation
- Inspiration
- Aspiration
- Communication
Personality
- Instinct
- Head
- Heart
- Gut
- Instinct
- Head
- Heart
- Gut
Spirituality
- Transcendental Awareness
- Critical Existential Intelligence
- Conscious State Expansion
- Personal Meaning Production
- Transcendental Awareness
- Critical Existential Intelligence
- Conscious State Expansion
- Personal Meaning Production
Way of Life
- State
- Code
- Complexity
- Depth
- State
- Code
- Complexity
- Depth
PEDAGOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
3. Philosophy is the wisdom of Transformative Teaching
Thinking
- Caring
- Critical
- Creative
- Collaborative
- Caring
- Critical
- Creative
- Collaborative
Positive Learning
- Stable Environment
- High Expectations
- Relationships
- Continuous Improvement
- Stable Environment
- High Expectations
- Relationships
- Continuous Improvement
Imaginative Teaching
- Mythic
- Romantic
- Philosophic
- Ironic
- Mythic
- Romantic
- Philosophic
- Ironic
Curriculum Theory
- Scholar-Academic
- Social Reconstruction
- Social Efficiency
- Learner-Centred
- Scholar-Academic
- Social Reconstruction
- Social Efficiency
- Learner-Centred
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
4. Philosophy is the wisdom of Educative Leadership
Teamworking
- Discover
- Dream
- Design
- Deliver
- Discover
- Dream
- Design
- Deliver
Professional Culture
- Hierarchy
- Market
- Adhocracy
- Clan
- Hierarchy
- Market
- Adhocracy
- Clan
Leadership Style
- Coaching
- Democratic
- Affiliative
- Visionary
- Coaching
- Democratic
- Affiliative
- Visionary
Transformative School
- Transformation
- Internal Cohesion
- Making a Difference
- Service
- Transformation
- Internal Cohesion
- Making a Difference
- Service
PLANETARY DEVELOPMENT
5. Philosophy is the wisdom of a more Ecological Civilisation
Worldview
- Traditional
- Modern
- Postmodern
- Integrative
- Traditional
- Modern
- Postmodern
- Integrative
Politics
- Existential
- Emancipation
- Democratisation
- Association
- Existential
- Emancipation
- Democratisation
- Association
Peace
- Peace Making
- Peace Keeping
- Peace Building
- Many Peaces
- Peace Making
- Peace Keeping
- Peace Building
- Many Peaces
Civilisation
- Religious
- Revolutionary
- Political
- Ecological
- Religious
- Revolutionary
- Political
- Ecological
What are the original contributions of P4T to Teacher Education
Metapractice: co-creating a regenerative and integrative model of Reflective Practice
P4T contributes a new model of reflective practice integrating self-care modes of mindful Meditation, Inspiration, Aspiration and Communication with the 4Cs of Caring, Creative, Critical and Collaborative Thinking
Tim Saunders PhD (2019)
Adapted from John Heron (1992) Matthew Lipman (2003) and Roger Sutcliffe (2017)
Metatheory: mapping a new practice-centred Educational Synthesis
P4T contributes a new practical, practitioner-friendly and practice-centred synthesis of educational theory, integrating 16 metapractices for holistic Personal, Pedagogical, Professional and Planetary Development
Tim Saunders PhD (2019)
