Germany- Franca Hielscher’s Visit

We at the Uehiro Academy deeply appreciated Franca Hielscher’s visit to Hawaii and her overall enthusiasm for the work that we do here. Here is a reaction written by Franca herself accounting her experience with p4cHI:

One year ago, in a seminar in Berlin, I discovered Philosophy with Children (as they call it in Germany) and I was overwhelmed. I liked the wholeness of learning and being and I realized the enormous potential in regards to personal strength and social attitude, creativity and thinking – for the children and for the facilitator as well. From this moment on, I wanted to learn more about P4C and wanted to apply it.

As a volunteer in an Elementary School in Berlin, as after class activity I read with children aiming to improve their reading skills, to discover books and to enjoy the learning process in general. Recently, I started to involve more and more questions and ideas of the kids in my sessions and thought about them together with the kids. In order to become more secure and to improve these inquiries, I wanted to gain knowledge –  practical knowledge for the sessions with the kids and  theoretical knowledge as well, as I decided to write about P4C in the thesis for my master studies in Intercultural Education.

From this background, I looked abroad for the right place for P4C- learning and when I read about p4c Hawai´i I knew that Honolulu would be ideal place for me. Due to the collaboration of University of Hawai´i at Manoa and the Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education and its theoretical and practical work I was sure that there I would find what I was looking for. Other aspects that convinced me to come to Hawai´i is its ethnic diversity, which is valuable for my master studies, and the Aloha Spirit, the way of life, which I expected that it would foster the connection between people, and thus I reckoned it would be valuable for my work with children.

Within the 6 weeks that I stayed in Hawai´i I experienced p4c in different schools, from preschool to high school, with children that had different backgrounds and ages, with different facilitators and teachers. Despite the variety of p4c classes and different ways of executing the class, a few things I detected in almost all p4c classes:

Children are sitting in a circle, that it is possible for each of them to see the faces of the others.

Wonders and questions of the children are the core of p4c Hawai í. They are explored with patience and uttered for the group according everyone feels. The topic for the inquiry is determined by the group, democratically through each group members´vote.  A woolen ball (Community Ball), was moved around, indicating whom has the right to speak and imparting a feeling of belonging together. A set of Thinking Tools called (Good Thinkers Tool Kit) supports to lead everyone and the group towards deeper thinking.

Children raise their hands to show that they would like to speak. Some children try to get the ball a lot of times because they like to talk. Some children seem just to use the opportunity to say something if they have an idea they want to share. Other children were so shy that they do not raise their hands to get the ball during the whole session. At some point these children get invited by other children or by the facilitator to share their thoughts. They share their ideas when they felt like it – either because suddenly there was the time to say something, or they felt that it is time to share something with the community. Or they do not share because no idea has come up, then they make use of the right to pass the ball to the next person.

During the whole inquiry there is no rush and it seems that this atmosphere helps some children to get ideas, others to express thoughts, others to really feel what they want to express. Then ideas come up that make others think, ideas that are so inspiring that the group starts to think more and a  true exploration of thinking starts.

I assume that the facilitator has an enormous influence on all of this, and it seems that the management of everything what is involved in having a philosophical inquiry with children, for instance observing the energies, maintaining the focus, the flow and an inspired and save atmosphere is not an easy task and it requires a lot of experience. However, I believe that it is worth to start doing P4C although with less experience. It is an inspiring way of learning and it should be very worth for the children if the facilitator has an open, fresh and wondering mind, and furthermore, if he/she likes reflection and development.

When I will be back in Germany I want use P4C and the aspects that have inspired me most during my visit I will take along. I will adapt and establish them:

• A mindset of patience and awareness – in other words I will try to apply the not being in the rush. This will not be an easy task as in Germany many people are in a rush. But since the visit in Hawai´i I consider not being in a rush as an important base for learning as it is connected with finding out who one really is and what one really wishes to express. This mindset makes philosophy with children even more powerful.
• The other aspect I discovered through the visit in Hawai´i is the importance of self reflection in a group. Thinking about an inquiry increases the awareness of the learning process. By that joy is created not only in the inquiry, but also for the development of thinking.

These two aspects I want to include in my activities with children and with the teachers in Germany and I am very excited to see if and how this will work. Certainly, I wish to stay in touch with the team of p4c Hawai´i, because as the experience here in Hawai´i has shown me: exchange gives inspirations and lead to changes and development.

Mahalo! Herzlichen Dank!Let´s keep in touch!

Franca Hielscher

We wish you the best of luck, Franca!