The Seventh P4C Parents’ Workshop
To know Philosophy for Children
On December 10, 2021, WUIS opened the seventh P4C Parents’ Workshop, which aims to connect the communication between parents and school, and continue to build a philosophical community.
Led by Ms Julia, parents had an initial experience of what P4C class is like and felt the wisdom embedded in this curriculum.
In the warm-up session, parents first shared the origin of their nicknames with each other. Then, through the “Blowing Wind” game, they exchanged seats to build a safe and rational environment. Finally, in the “frog diving” game, they understand the use of cooperative thinking. When asked about their feelings after the warm-up activities, some parents said that these three activities embodied personal, paired, and collective inquiry, which is very interesting. Some parents said it helped them understand more about the application of 4C thinking, namely critical thinking, creative thinking, caring thinking and cooperative thinking in class activities.
“Does the state of balance between giving and taking really exist?” This was a question raised by parents after reading the book “Tree of Love”. Led by Ms. Julia, parents organized an inquiry group to clarify concepts and had a philosophical dialogue on this issue. A mother said that this reminded her of herself, as she had been asking for the love of her mother all the time. Another father said that there is no balance state, because the world is in constant motion. Parents expressed their opinions and felt the charm of thinking.
At the end of the workshop, parents shared their reflection with each other. One of them said that her child has just entered the first grade. Through today’s workshop, she had a better understanding of this subject. There were also parents who said that their children were relatively shy and dared not raise their hands to speak in class. Participating in today’s workshop will help them guide their children at home in the future.
We often say that P4C is not a subject, but a teaching method, which aims to help students be better at thinking. Then the P4C parents’ workshop aims to help parents better understand what P4C is and how P4C is implemented in class. It can also bring philosophical dialogue into daily life, promote the construction of a larger philosophical community, and help each other grow together.
In the next semester, we will carry out Topic Workshops on Children’s Philosophy to let more parents understand themselves and their children, and we look forward to your participation.
