More Teaching ‘Philosophy for Children’ Testimonials
‘I’d like to say how fabulous I found the second day in particular, I went away all inspired to do concept games etc, and use other things than literature for community of inquiry. I will be recommending to Lenah Valley where I also work when I am not teaching online for CELO that they consider getting you in to do some PD about this area as the LV children would love it I think.
Thanks again, getting to actually go somewhere different ike the female factory made me really think about how I could use other sites, and also how I could use places like the museum which I’ve taken kids to many times in a new and better way, inspirational!’ Anne.
‘Thankyou ever so much for the decision making session on Monday. The students benefited such a lot from the session and we have followed up with two sessions this week focussing on bringing information to a decision, and giving reasons for decisions.
We read a story called ‘The Treehouse’ from a book called ‘Peace’ and we viewed a ‘Skytrackers’ video, which depicted many dilemmas for children to assess in terms of the decisions that were made in the field – lots of talking and writing, which was great’ Anna and 3 others teachers.
‘Pauline’s assisting me with the ‘Community of Inquiry’ sessions was helpful to me in three ways:
- It was very supportive to work with someone who also supports the values and aims of COI and ‘Philosophy for Children.’ The sessions enlarged my perspective on the stories and sessions, gave me chance to se them from a perspective on the stories and sessions, gave me the chance to see them from a different perspective. I saw how another person interacted with the children and how she saw things differetly to me, and raised different issues with the children from the stories. Having these different perspectives widened the children’s experiences. The discussion plans were more in depth than mine, and raised more issues. Having copies of the discussion plans will help me to extend my own.
- Being (partially) an observer allowed me to see more of the process that went on. Because I participated less than if I was by myself I was more aware of what the children wer saying and how they were reacting, and I thus learnt more about how the children saw things than I would have done had I run the sessions on my own.
- Watching someone else interacting with the children permitted me to ‘step out’ from the situation somewhat, and become more aware of how the children learnt from the process. I was able to focus more energy and thought on seeing how the children developed through their COI experiences. When one is fully involved in the process (bearing in mind these are very young children, 5 of which are under therapy and therefore very difficult), one can sometimes miss some of the changes going on. I now intend to spend time on integrating the learning experiences from the ‘Community of Inquiry’ into ‘Show and Tell’, and thus into the children’s own lives’ Kate, kindergarten teacher, with whom I worked for several weeks with 30 kindergarten aged children, including 5 under therapy.
‘Showed the staff th things we have been doing at a PD session. I still had the butcher paper with the questions to display so that others could understand that kinders could enter into and inquiry-based activity. Also showed them the text book I borrowed from you! Thanks for your time and energy. I’m sure our staff, as well as our classroom has gained insight from your work’ Kate.
‘Thanks or sharing so generously with my students’ MaryAnne.
‘Thankyou so very much for giving up your time to work with our students. It was wonderful to hear the nature and depth of their questioning mature over the four weeks. The Community of Inquiry encouraged them to really consider what is an important / valuable question. ”The Community of Inquiry was really interesting and I learnt a lot about decisions and jumping to conclusions and heaps of other stuff” – quote from one of my students!’ Anna and Grainne.
‘Pauline, thank you once again for all your hard work and thought regarding our decision making sessions. A…, G……, and I have been extremely impressed with the way you have conducted the community of inquiry each session you worked with us. You were positive with the children and when they needed a reminder you were gentle and caring with them. You were able to keep the sessions “on track” which is not always easy as children can easily be distracted with ideas they wish to pursue, however if the new idea fitted in you were able to explore that too.
You did such a lot of preparation and this gave the inquiry definite purpose and framework and also gave us, the teachers follow up ideas. The Year 3 children now have a much better concept of the decision making process and what needs to be considered, thanks to your sessions. Thanking you again and please visit us any time! Gai.
‘Showed the staff the things we have been doing at a PD session. I still had the butcher paper with the questions to display so that others could understand that kinders could enter into enquiry-based activity. Also showed them the text book I borrowed from you! Thankyou for your time and energy – I’m sure our staff as well as our classroom community has gained insight from your work’ Linda.
‘Thankyou so much for your assistance & cooperation in my studies this year. The PFC training has been a highlight of 2005 for me. Have a fabulous Christmas and all the best for 2006!’ Bec.
‘Pauline, you have helped us enormously in giving our unit of wok on decision-making a structure anad may starting points for discussion. Thanks’ Gai, Graine, Anna and Denise.
‘I got a lot from the sessions. I’ve been able to apply it in the classroom. I’ve learnt something new every session’ C.S.
‘Very generous with sharing resources and ideas’ Ngaire.
‘I felt part of the group and that my contributions were valued. Definitely worthwhile’ Sam.
‘Could have had more and more and more! Thankyou for an organised session – food for thought. Relaxed, friendly – generous with material’ K.S.
‘Very useful & enjoyable. Good reinforcement of my research. No parts were uninteresting or irrelevant. Was a great chance to gain an understanding of the practicalities and potential of PFC in Tasmanian Schools, hear the ideas / beliefs of current teachers & experience the COI as a participant’ Bec.
‘Very practical, explained really clearly by you, was great to try with different ages & abilities’ Jenny.
‘The last session to learn the feedback was fantastic and it was good to learn the process was efficient and had actually happened with the various classes / age groups. Adaptation that worked well. Great resources! Good to network with other participants. We had a wide range of teaching / life experiences’ R.P.
‘Could be applied with differenct age/level classes with a few variation. I was aware of the different reasoning skils but appreciate the practical explanations – very useful for the classroom. Concept games were very practical, pictures and objects – very interesting differences of opinion. Some great ideas to apply in the classroom’ Sophia.
‘Will be a very useful tool for encouraging lateral thinking & group participation oriented activity. The COI activiews were very useful, both on a professional & personal level. Participation was both encouraged and valued. Would highly recommend. Use the techniques of C of I within varied ways. Experiment & have fun with what happens. Stay open’ Carol.
‘Changes perspectives about why you teach’ Nadia.
Very helpful! I found the program very useful, and the hands-on sessions were very practical’ Sally.
‘Very, very useful for my relief teaching future. Very good models by Pauline of lessons. Well worth the 7 hour course. Useful for my future‘ Andrew.
‘Provides a teaching approach / facilitator role is modelled for us. The COI links very comfortably with the ELS Inquiry strand, and communicating. The Community of Inquiry is an interesting approach. My class participated enthusiastically and I would certainly use it again with my class & recommend it to others’ Anne.
‘I liked how you got us to participate in the activities as a class. I will try it in my classroom. Actually going through a Community of Inquiry from beginning to end was extremely useful. I learnt a great deal’ Janelle.
‘Very provoking and stimulating – giving many areas for follow up work with a story. Listening to others sharing was valuable. Flexibility of the sessions was good. The input from teachers was invaluable. It’s amazing the questions than can be generated from a story. Thankyou Pauline’ Helen.
‘Really enjoyed doing the concept games and pictures and objects. Showed how discussion could begin with the smallest items. Found it all very useful. Open children’s minds to infinite possibility with everyday items’ Donna.
‘Day 1 – practical application – capacity to share was a really strong element of the program. May I suggest it is mandatory’ Simon.
‘I believe with the Essential Learnings gathering momentum, Community of Inquiry will become the norm for the future’ Don.
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