Going to teach Year 4 philosophy

I’ve just been given the go-ahead by my son’s headteacher to go into the school and teach some philosophy to a year 4 group. I’m offering my services for free, partly for my own gain – to have the enjoyment of stimulating discussion with young minds and introducing them to big ideas – and partly for the gain of the kids / school – so that they can have the opportunity to learn something out of the ordinary, where ‘right answers’ aren’t always easy to come by. The headteacher is going to choose some of the highest achievers to be stretched and challenged by yours truly, so hopefully they'll be enthusiastic and attentive - we shall see!

Hands up if you couldn't be bothered
wearing school uniform today.

I took the headteacher through some possible topics we could cover – ethical, epistemological, metaphysical – and he seemed very enthusiastic. He said he’s willing to give me free rein with regard to topics, so that nothing should be shied away from, which is music to my ears. Religion, gender, reality, existence; it's all up for grabs. He did say that for the first few weeks, steer away from death until we’ve got the kids and parents on board with the whole thing, then by all means I can talk about death. Only then did I realise just how many thought experiments seem to involve death, violence or threats thereof!

Anyway, he asked me to begin with punishment (as a topic for discussion, not as something I inflict on the kids), so it’ll be interesting to see whether I can teach the philosophy of punishment without any reference to murder or capital punishment. I might go with a free will / determinism angle and discuss whether we should punish people before they commit crimes.

Anyway, I’m starting at the start of the summer term, and I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve not taught in nearly a year, and it’ll be great to get back to corrupting inspiring youngsters again.