There are two parts to this half-day session. In Part 1, in his new book (Ethics and the Community of Inquiry) Professor Gilbert Burgh explains that “the guiding principle that informs the practice advocated in this book is that doing philosophy, as distinct from learning about philosophy, helps us to understand the ways in which we reason about the world to make decisions and, ultimately, how we should live.” Prof Burgh will elaborate on this idea and will take the opportunity to explain what he means by the concepts of “a philosophy of genuine inquiry” and “practical philosophy”.  Part 2 is a sharing session, in which Prof Burgh would like you, the participants, to share with him your experience in teaching P4C in Singapore and the kinds of difficulties you have faced or “great moments” that you have relished. As Prof Burgh said in an interview on the spread of P4C across the world, “In Australia, as I understand also the rest of the countries where P4C have been implemented in classrooms, teachers have different reasons for introducing it into the classrooms as well as different ways of introducing it. All teachers are concerned with enhancing children's thinking skills; as such there is an inherent emphasis on thinking skills, although my interest is in students developing not just skills but dispositions like being critical and creative thinkers as well as active citizens.” The point about “dispositions” is worth developing further in this session, and Prof Burgh will so just that.

Active in the promotion of philosophy in schools, Prof Burgh was the founding president of the Queensland Association of Philosophy in Schools (1994-6), and president of the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations (2002-3). He has also long held an interest in the relationship between art and philosophy, and immerses himself in the history of Australian music, plays drums and guitar, and collects records and music memorabilia. He currently teaches ethics and philosophy, and critical thinking and writing in the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Contemporary Studies degrees at the University of Queensland’s Ipswich Campus, Australia 

Date: Friday, 8 August 2008

Time: 2.30pm – 5.30pm

Venue: Raffles Girls' School (Secondary),

20, Anderson Road, Singapore 259978

Click here for location map

Fees: Standard rate - $140, STU-members discounted rate - $90                                                                                     

(Registration fees inclusive of course materials, tea-break and prevailing GST.)