p4cHI Summer Presentations: Vancouver, Seattle, Salt Lake City

This summer p4c Hawai’i will be well represented in Vancouver, British Columbia at the International Council of Philosophical Inquirywith Children (ICPIC) conference. Read more

Dr. Chad Miller will present:

What is a Teacher-Philosopher? An Inquiry to Understand My Professional Identity

When I tell someone “I am a teacher-philosopher,” I am often met with the familiar, “what exactly is a teacher-philosopher?” For several reasons, this conception of a teacher lies outside our realm of understanding, so in order to truly understand the nature of a teacher-philosopher, especially within the contexts of a traditional content-specific classroom, I turned to the insights of the experts, my former students. Please come and hear the findings of this study that aims help move philosophy into our classrooms by way of the teacher.

Philosophy, a Promise Unfulfilled: Reinvigorating philosophy in our Schools

We are all at this conference because we genuinely care about creating philosophical opportunities for children, but our schools typically don’t have the “space” for “philosophy time.” Therefore, we must create ways in which philosophy can become the pedagogy in which we teach any and all content matter. Come learn how Hawaii’s teachers are accomplishing this task by evolving the Philosopher’s Pedagogy to fit the contexts of their K-12 classrooms.

Dr. Jessica Ching-Sze Wang, Dr. Amber Makaiau, Dr. Karen Ragoonaden, Dr. Lulu Leng will present:

The Examined Lives of Culturally Diverse P4C Teacher Facilitators: The Art of Balancing Tensions

To all the P4C facilitators out there: Do you ever struggle about when to enter into the dialogue during a P4C community of inquiry discussion? Do you ever experience the tension between building the community and deepening the inquiry ? Do you ponder the relationship between teachers and students?  Come to this presentation to learn how a team of six international Philosophy for Children (P4C) researchers and practitioners used self-study research methods to understand the nuanced roles and tensions of teacher facilitators in a P4C community of inquiry. They are from the USA, Taiwan, China, Japan, and Canada, and are all members of the Philosophy for Children Hawaiʻi (p4cHI) International Journaling and Self-Study Project. In this presentation they invite you to enter their ongoing inquiry, which asks “what does it mean to be a teacher facilitator in a P4C community of inquiry?”

Dr. Chad Miller will also be presenting at the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO)

“We are philosophers!” The Kailua High Complex’s k-12 Philosophical Schooling Experience

Twice a year I take Kailua High School (KHS) philosophers on a visit to Waimanalo School to facilitate inquiries with 250 elementary and intermediate students. This marks the third year these students “do” philosophy together and, like previous years, it was a life changing experience for many. For example, as the high school students reflected on their experience, Kepa, a sophomore, said, “Lately, I wondered if my life had purpose or if I had anything to offer my community. Today, I realized my life is worthwhile. I am a philosopher and have something to offer my community.”

As dramatic as Kepa’s “aha” may appear, it is just the tip of the p4c Hawai‘i iceberg. What started as a p4c experiment in one classroom at KHS, has sparked a revolution that has radically transformed the identity of our community’s schools, teachers, and students. The Dalai Lama even came to KHS to do philosophy with our students!

How does this happen? How does a “disadvantaged” community that predominately consists of Native Hawaiian students become a complex whose vision is to create “mindful, philosophical thinkers prepared to pursue their goals and create positive change in the world”? The purpose of my presentation is to share how the Kailua High Complex and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education have made philosophy a central aspect of our students’ schooling experience. The aim is to highlight how p4c can be utilized as a tool for meaningful educational reform.

Dr. Chad Miller will again be speaking this July at the National Network of State Teacher’s of the Year conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. For information, click here.