Drawing from his many years of experience, p4cHI founder Dr. Thomas Jackson (Dr. J) shares some of his most memorable moments and significant realizations.  These stories provide us with a vibrant and oftentimes inspirational perspective on where p4cHI has come from, what it is, and, indeed, on what it could be.

In this story Dr. J reflects on what makes a p4cHI inquiry special.  A p4cHI inquiry is special, he concludes, because it arises out of the interests of the children and because no one, including the teacher, knows where the inquiry will lead.    

Philosophy for Children (P4C), it is important to understand, is practiced all over the world. The mainland United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, Kenya, China, Austria, Korea, England....those are just a few of the countries where P4C is practiced which jump into my mind. But there are dozens more.

p4cHI is, without a doubt, a proud child of Matthew Lipman's nearly 5 decades old P4C. But, like a child who has moved far away and made her own life, p4cHI looks and acts a little bit different from P4C.

Drawing from his many years of experience, p4cHI founder Dr. Thomas Jackson (Dr. J) shares some of his most memorable moments and significant realizations. These stories provide us with a vibrant and oftentimes inspirational perspective on where p4cHI has come from, what it is, and, indeed, on what it could be.

In this week's story Dr. J shares a story from an inquiry in Japan. Why, one child asked, won't some of our teachers tell us their age? This seemingly simple question started the community -- both children and adults -- on an extraordinarily deep and moving inquiry.

Oftentimes, like estranged siblings, theory and practice don't travel together.  Sometimes, like when we're in a rush to apply some great new "best practice," theory gets left behind.  (Why, we ask, are we doing this?)  At other times, perhaps when we're listening to some scholar, Practice never even gets into the van.  (How, we wonder, is this relevant?)

Drawing from his many years of experience, p4cHI founder Dr. Thomas Jackson (Dr. J) shares some of his most memorable moments and significant realizations. These stories provide us with a vibrant and oftentimes inspirational perspective on where p4cHI has come from, what it is, and, indeed, on what it could be.

In this story Dr. J tells us about the time that he explored a deep and complex topic -- What's real? -- with a Kindergarten class. He was delighted and amazed as the inquiry wound down an unexpected path.

This resource is part of Unit 1: An Overview of p4cHI in our Learning Modules.

Hurtling through the Japanese country-side on a bullet train, some of my fellow philosophy for children Hawai‘i (p4cHI) practitioners and I continued an ongoing inquiry:  What does it mean to "do p4cHI"?  Confronted daily with Japanese teachers and administrators who, it oftentimes seemed, were looking for the formula to how to do p4cHI, this question was at the forefront of our minds.

This resource is part of Unit 1: An Overview of p4cHI in our Learning Modules.

In this recording Dr. J tells us about a p4cHI discussion that he witnessed at an Elementary School. Is there anyone in the world who doesn't have any friends? The young philosophers had some deep and perhaps surprising insights.

Click here to listen to the recording.