The If Machine: Philosophical Enquiry in the Classroom

by Peter Worley

Can computers think? What makes something human? How big is infinity? From Sartre to Searle, this practical book is rooted in philosophical theory, and introduced at a level suitable for children. Each session offers an imaginary situation, followed by a series of questions to encourage children to challenge key philosophical ideas such as values and ethics, gender and identity, and existence and beauty. All the enquiries have been tried-and-tested in the primary and early secondary classroom, and a handy star system is included to indicate the difficulty level of each one, enabling quick ability differentiation. With a comprehensive introduction and key sections on the philosophy behind the experiments, this book also includes an online teacher's resource to guide practitioners through using the sessions to best effect in the classroom. Invaluable as a resource for P4C trained teachers, this book is also perfect for teachers who want to introduce higher order and critical thinking into their classroom, or as a resource for philosophy consultants working with children.

Genres: Philosophy, Teaching, Nonfiction

197 pages, Paperback

First published December 19, 2010

About the author

Peter Worley BA MA FRSA was born in the Midlands but grew up in the West Country. He failed at school the first time around and so had to do it all again later. He worked as a guitar teacher for many years before completing a philosophy degree in 2000 at UCL an MA in 2002 at Birkbeck and beginning a PhD at KCL in 2010. His interest in philosophy and teaching brought him to the world of philosophy with children and he developed his own approach to doing philosophical enquiry in the classroom called the PhiE method and this is described in his first book 'The If Machine' (Bloomsbury 2011). The book has been well received and has proved to be a must-have resource for teachers wanting to philosophise with their classes. Peter is also the author and/or editor of three other books 'The If Odyssey' (Bloomsbury 2012), 'The Philosophy Shop' (Crown House 2012), both have been short listed for the Educational Resources Awards and The Philosophy Shop won first prize in the anthology category at The New England Book Festival; he co-authored 'Thoughtings' (Crown House 2012) with Andrew Day a collection of philosophical poetry, and Peter's next book 'Once Upon an If: Storytelling for Thinking' (Bloomsbury) will be out in 2014. He has featured on television and Radio 4's The Today Programme talking about philosophy in schools and has been published in a number of educational and philosophical journals as well as lecturing on philosophy in schools at St. Mary's University in West London. He currently lives and works in South East London with his wife Emma, who helps him run the charity The Philosophy Foundation, and their daughter Katie.

Reviews

[Burchino · Rating 4 out of 5]

P4C ekolüne giriş yapmak için güzel bir rehber.. Uygulamalar kısmı ise daha sonrasında, soruşturma örnekleri açısından yararlı olacaktır.

[Şengül]

Bu konu hakkında çok bilgim yok o yüzden yorumum sınırlı olabilir. Öğretmenler için daha iyi olduğunu düşünüyorum fakat hangi devlet okulunda bir öğretmen bu kitabı alıp kendi isteğiyle oturumları yapabilir? Ancak bu konuya ilgi duyanlar felsefeyi ve çocukları gerçekten seven biri yapabilir bunu. Üzerine düşünülmesi gereken bir çok soru var. Çocukları yönlendirmemekten,düşünme alışkanlığı geliştirmekten bahsediyor. Daha bir sürü yöntem, terim, felsefeci, ekol ve kavram var. Sayfalar arasında şu sayfaya gidin diye o kadar çok not var ki bir ara hep söylediği sayfalara gitmekten en son hangi sayfadaydım kaybettim ve kitapta hiç ilerleyemedim sonra bu notlara takılmayayım dedim ve ancak o zaman hızlı ilerleyebildim. Konular karmaşık olmasına rağmen oturumların sonunda derli toplu özetlemeyi başarmış. Hiç bilmeyenler için biraz korkutuyor tabii. Kitabın sonuna doğru tarzına ve kitaba alışmıştım

[Ideas Sleep Furiously · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb tool to get students thinking and talking.

[Kristin Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic for teaching teens philosophy! Great discussion, fantastic lesson plans.

[Usuyitik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Worley, Çocuklar için Felsefe alanının kurucu isimlerinden biri, If Machiene de bu alanın duayen kitabı. Türkçeye çevrilmiş olduğu için çok talihliyiz. Çevirmeni Tuğçe Büyükuğurlu da Türkçede ve Türkiye'de bu alanda çalışan, üreten, düşünen bir isim. Bu kitaptaki kurgular Batı literatüründen, masal, folklor ve mitolojisinden geliyor. Bu kitabın kurgusunu tekrarlayan ve Türkçeye uyarlayan başka eserler de mevcut. P4C atölyesi yapacakların elinin altında bulunması gerek. Umarım Worley'in diğer kitabı da neşredilir.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with a list of thought experiments to do with children. Each one has a bit of text to read out loud and questions to kickstart the discussion. The author also gives hints as to what the children might say to help prepare the sessions.

The downloadable companion guide is also well done and gives more information on the original thought experiment and the opinion of the philosophers who introduced them.

[Frank Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

lesson plans for a classroom

[SENEM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yöntem ve uygulama için çok akıcı bir dille anlatılmış bir kitap. Etkili

[Zach]

Peter Worley is brilliant. His pedagogies and techniques for using dialectics in the classroom are formative -- with philosophy or any subject. His dexterity with philosophy is refreshing. There are many tools for developing critical consciousness and cultural relevancy within this gem.