Philosophy is now an officially recognized secondary subject in the New Zealand school curriculum. You can view the Philosophy rationale, learning objectives, and key concepts here: http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Social-sciences/Philosophy. Browse the subject from the menu to the left.
Congratulations to all who have worked on the development of this curriculum guide, including Michael Couch, Libby Giles, Brent Silby, David Legg, Jonathan McKeown-Green, Vanya Kovach, and above all to Richard Tweedie, whose constant passion and perseverance for Philosophy has driven us to where we are today.
Brent Silby (Learning Advisor in Philosophy, Unlimited-UPT) was invited to speak at the annual Social Sciences Conference. His talk focused on the current state and future of Philosophy teaching in Secondary Schools. The powerpoint of the talk is included below:
Brent Silby (Unlimited) has been invited to speak about Philosophy Teaching at the 2009 Social Sciences conference, Wednesday September 30th. The presentation will focus on the importance of Philosophy Teaching in secondary schools and will demonstrate the way in which Philosophy can be taught holistically, covering multiple curriculum areas. For more info click: http://www.soccon09.org.nz/
On 30th and 31st July, Richard Tweedie (Hagley) and Brent Silby (Unlimited) worked in Auckland with David Legg (St Peters) and Libby Giles (Auckland Girls Grammar) on the further development of the Teaching and Learning Guidelines. The two days were organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education, and were facilitated by the wonderfully enthusiastic Nigel Evans. Excellent progress was made, and the final draft will be presented at the NZAPT conference in September.
Richard Tweedie (Hagley Community College), Michael Couch (University of Canterbury), and Brent Silby (Unlimited) join colleagues David Legg (St Peters College), Libby Giles (Auckland Girls Grammar), and Jonathan Mckeown-Green (University of Auckland) in Wellington City for a two day writing session. During the two days the team will work on the composition of Teaching and Learning Guidelines for Philosophy in Secondary Schools. This is another crucial step in the journey towards getting Philosophy recognized in the New Zealand Curriculum.
The writing group meets in Wellington on 22nd and 23rd June 2009.
On June 12th, 58 secondary school students met at the Department of Philosophy, University of Canterbury for a day of student driven Philosophical discussion. The day included a wonderful presentation from year 12 student Josh Grainger (Unlimited-UPT) on Libertarianism, which served as a good discussion starter for the afternoon session.
Students discussed a range of fascinating Philosophical questions in a “free-flowing” forum setting. Some of the questions were: Does the world need God? Do animals have rights? Will computers ever be conscious? Is science the best way to find out about the world?
This day was the start of a new series of “Cafe Philosophy” sessions that will be held in Christchurch at a variety of locations. Visit www.certaindoubt.org for more information on upcoming “Cafe Philosophy” events.
Many thanks to the Department of Philosophy, University of Canterbury for hosting our day.
Brent Silby 2009
www.certaindoubt.org
A website dedicated to opening Philosophy to a wider audience. The site contains a “Cafe Philosophy” section–nice casual philosophy articles; a “Hardcore Philosophy” section–for more specialist papers; and a Video section–all the best philosophy vids on the net. Visitors can comment on papers and videos. www.certaindoubt.org
Richard Tweedie (teacher of Philosophy at Hagley Community College) has been invited to present on the status of Secondary School Philosophy teaching at the UNESCO conference in Manila. During his presentation, Richard will describe the history of Philosophy teaching in New Zealand schools and discuss our current position. He will also provide an overview of our future goals in getting Philosophy as a recognized part of the New Zealand curriculum and the development of Achievement Standard assessments in Philosophy.
