Philosophy in the Classroom

Improving your Pupils' Thinking Skills and Motivating Them to Learn

Ron Shaw

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9780415447102, 9781138411104
• eBook ISBN: 9781134063246
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Classroom Management

Ever had difficulty inspiring your children to consider and discuss philosophical concepts?

Philosophy in the Classroom helps teachers tap in to children's natural wonder and curiosity. The practical lesson plans, built around Aesop's fables, encourage children to formulate and express their own points of view, enabling you to lead rich and rewarding philosophical discussions in the primary classroom.

This highly practical and engaging classroom companion:

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• prompts students to consider serious moral issues in an imaginative and stimulating way
• uses Aesop's fables as a springboard to pose challenging questions about the issues raised
• providesfifteen key themes including happiness, wisdom, self-reliance and judging others as the basis for classroom discussion.
• uses powerful and creative drawings to illustrate activities and photocopiable resources.

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Philosophy in the Classroom is an invaluable resource for any primary school teacher wanting to engage their students in meaningful philosophical reflection and discussion.

Ron Shaw has many years of classroom experience and is the author of more thanforty books helping primary and secondary school students to improve their thinking skills.

WISDOM

The Ant and the Grasshopper

In a field one summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

‘Why not come and chat with me,’ said the Grasshopper, ‘instead of toiling in that way?’

‘I am helping to lay up food for the winter,’ said the Ant, ‘and recommend you to do the same.’

‘Why bother about winter?’ said the Grasshopper. ‘We have got plenty of food at present.’

But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer.

Moral of the story: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

Thinking, Reasoning and Discussing Question 1. Some people say it is better to live for now (the present) and not to worry about the future. What are your thoughts on this? ........................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................ Question 2. Do you think it is possible to think about and plan for the future too much? ........................................................................................................ Question 3. Would you say that a person who focuses too much on the future might cause their life in the present to suffer? Can you think of examples? ........................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................ Question 4. Do you think that planning for the future requires sacrifices to be made? Justify your answer by giving an example or two. ........................................................................................................ Question 5. What situations or circumstances can you think of that are good examples of ‘it is best to prepare for the days of necessity’? ........................................................................................................ Question 6. Most would agree that by planning for the future the Ant shows more wisdom than the Grasshopper. Can a person who doesn’t plan for the future be considered wise? ........................................................................................................ Question 7. Does being wise mean that you have always to do what is best? ........................................................................................................ Question 8. Is a person who follows the best course of action most of the time wise? ........................................................................................................ Question 9. If there are two wise people, can one be wiser than the other? If you think ‘yes’ can you give an example or two to say how this is possible? ........................................................................................................ ................................................

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Teachers’ Notes
• HAPPINESS
• KINDNESS
• JUDGEMENT
• POWER
• CO-OPERATION
• VANITY
• PLEASURE AND PAIN
• WISDOM
• FRIENDSHIP
• FAVOURS
• WEALTH
• SELF-ACCEPTANCE
• PURSUING DREAMS
• SELF-RELIANCE
• BEAUTY