It’s our philosophy
Preshil has always concerned itself with developing awareness and understanding of the key issues of the times and responding to them in ethical, imaginative and critical ways.
The Philosophy for Children (P4C), ‘Community of Inquiry’ approach, which we have adopted, aims to support children to develop their thinking skills and contribute to the shared understanding of the diverse viewpoints of their classmates.
Philosophical inquiry requires:
• Generating new ideas;
• Seeing existing situations in new ways;
• Identifying alternative explanations;
• Seeing connections;
• Finding new ways to apply existing ideas.
Intellectual flexibility, open-mindedness, adaptability, and readiness to try new ways of thinking about things are hallmarks of well-conducted philosophical inquiry and are the aim of the philosophy program in the primary school.
Philosophy has always held a special place at Preshil. It is our goal to build continually on this outstanding program across the whole school, from Kindergarten to Year 12. From a child’s earliest plaintive howl of “That’s not fair!” to the most intricate ethical examination of social behaviour, we are presented with daily evidence that children are not only aware of philosophical concepts but are vitally interested in discussing them and finding their own identity through life’s big questions.