Philosophical Places

There has been a burgeoning of interest in philosophy for children in recent years, all part of the process of seeking to develop children’s thinking skills. Many of its advocates have argued for a fourth ‘R’ in the school curriculum in which Reasoning is taught alongside Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.

Stories are an important device for engaging children, not only do they provide enjoyment they also help children to begin enquiring and exploring philosophical ideas.

As a secondary school teacher I run a philosophy club and my group of philosophers all of whom started in Year 7, aged 11, seem to have grown up very quickly. Too young for Gaarder’s brilliant Sophie’s World and too old perhaps for the philosophical stories for children, Bernard Beckett’s Genesis and August are possibly the answer to my question of what can they read?

Genesis takes the reader to Plato’s Republic -- a post-cataclysmic world isolated away from the rest of humanity -- and puts them into a Socratic dialogue between a board of examiners and a young student - Anaximander. In the claustrophobic context of the examination, Anaximander questions the official history of the Republic and the role of her long-dead hero, the philosopher-soldier Adam Forde.

August puts the reader into a different philosophical rule, that of St Augustine’s City of God in another post-cataclysmic world. This time the dialogue is between Tristan, a philosopher struggling with questions of freewill, and Grace, a street prostitute, whose life is more of a question of survival. Trapped upside down in a car wreck, alone, hours away from daybreak and the chance of a rescue, August’s dialogue tells the alternating stories of their lives.

It is tempting to brand Genesis and August as ‘Philosophy for Teenagers’, but there is a subtle difference in resisting this and identifying these books as Young Adult Philosophy. The books are written to be accessible to teenagers, with the length of story and the choice of language. The dialogical format of the books and the pace of the story however requires a more patient reader and at times, important passages need to be re-read. In fact I want to re-read Genesis and August and refresh my knowledge of Plato’s Republic and St Augustine’s City of God to fully appreciate the subtly of the books. The philosophy is the foundations upon which the story is written, shaping the story rather than it being a story with some philosophical insights. Moreover the books, particularly August, include more adult content.

Unfortunately I do not have my answer for my teenage philosophy group. Some members I can identify as having the maturity to read and fully engage with Genesis and August. Others may not. Perhaps I am missing the point. Whether you are a child, teenager, young adult or adult, the joy of philosophy is always to read a story and ponder for any amount of time, whatever philosophical musing it stirs, great or small.

Genesis and August by Bernard Beckett are both published by Quercus.

And my vote goes to... THE BOOK!

Election day in the UK means many things to different people. the children in my school the children may be too young to cast a vote but they are very aware of what is going on, some of them are studying the idea of elections for their PSHE lessons but how can young children be helped to understand what elections mean? Elections are about making a choice and they are not limited to politics. Whilst I am not usually a fan of 'celebrity' books the recently published English roses, Ready, Set Vote seems to be the perfect book for today. The girls in this story are voting for their class presidents and there are lots of important lessons they can learn about how to make a good leader.

I sometimes consider myself to be a leader but in a very open way - I lead children to books and stories, making myself available and trying to ensure that I have lots of good ideas to hand and just yesterday my day was made when a young boy came to find me and tell me how much he was enjoying the book I had recommended - it was a very simple action but one that meant a lot to me. He had been reading Alex Rider and didn't know where to turn so he was quite doubtful when I suggested Young Bond, but is now hooked! I don't believe I have very good persuasive powers but I do feel that I am very skilled at matching children's interests to a book and I am yet to be defeated!

Leading children to books and acting as a leader does of course require a considerable amount of reading on my part, some books will hook me more than others and whilst I have a bias towards a scertain style of story and don't we all have our favourite authors, I find it hugely rewarding to open myself up to as many possibilities as possible which is why I am currently reading Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody. I am often not sure about books when they are lauded as being bestsellers from other countries but the skill with which the prose in this story flows with a poinancy and pointedness has me gripped - this is a great story, well told, incredibly well imagined and just the right length for juniors progressing to seniors and wishing to excpand their reading horizons.

However your horizons change after today make sure that reading remains a firm part of your everyday life and perhaps follow up one of these suggestions...