philosophy for children Hawai‘i (p4cHI) UHM College of Education Endorsed Certificate
Application
Certificate Overview
With roots reaching deeply into American Pragmatism and the thought of philosophers such as John Dewey and WilliamJames, Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a widely respected international movement in education. It began in 1969 when Matthew
Lipman, a Colombia University philosophy professor, observed that children did not think as well as they could or should in a
democratic society. To address these issues Lipman created a curriculum that incorporated the skills of logic and reasoning foundin the practice of philosophy to improve students’ thinking in the K – 12 setting. In an effort to extend Lipman’s original
curriculum and vision to a variety of geo-cultural contexts, a number of P4C Centers have been established worldwide.
Among these centers is the Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education (Uehiro Academy) at the Universityof Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM). The Uehiro Academy is the home of philosophy for children Hawai‘i (p4cHI). p4cHI is Dr. Thomas
Jackson’s culturally responsive offshoot of Lipman’s original approach. The goal of p4cHI is to move school culture from a topdown model to a community-based, participatory model grounded in sound pedagogy and effective educational philosophy. To
accomplish this goal, p4cHI practitioners convert traditional classrooms into intellectually safe communities of inquiry wherestudents and teachers develop their abilities to think for themselves in responsible ways.
In 2015 the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa official approved a p4cHI College of Education Endorsed Certificate. The
purpose of this certificate process is to meet the growing demand for local, national, and international p4cHI practitioners bycreating an institutional pathway for developing, verifying, and officially recognizing the quality of those practitioners. Designed
to meet the needs and provide a service for students, professionals, researchers, and community members from a wide range ofpopulations, the certificate requirements include courses in: PHIL 492: Philosophy with Children, an introductory course to p4cHI
 PHIL 493: Teaching Philosophy, a supervised practicum in classrooms At least one additional 200 level or above philosophy course At least two additional College of Education courses
 One elective course from either philosophy or education must be 300 level or higher and a cumulative GPA of 2.5
for all courses must be achieved to count towards the certificate.
In addition, certificate program completers will also need to put together a professional portfolio that includes: the programapplication, PHIL 492 final project, one exemplar p4cHI lesson, one ten-minute p4cHI video clip, instructional commentary, two
exemplar p4cHI student assessment samples, assessment commentary, formal observation feedback, a culminating final productand reflection, and record of public presentation.

Application Process
For UHM students, admissions requirements are: Graduate or Undergraduate status. For non-UH Mānoa students, admission
requirements are: an AA or BA degree (or equivalent). Those students who do not wish to enroll in a degree program may registerfor the courses through Outreach College. All applicants must submit and/or complete the following during the p4cHI certificate
program application process:
I. Post-secondary Transcript with a 2.0 GPA or higher;
II. Resume with up-to-date contact information, including email address;
III. Statement of Purpose, answering the question: What are the reasons you are pursuing a p4cHI UHM COE endorsed
certificate?
IV. Two Letters of Recommendation; andV. Personal Interview
To apply: Please email a pdf copies of the following items to Dr. Amber Strong Makaiau at amakaiau@hawaii.edu: (I.) PostSecondary Transcript, (II.) Resume, and (III) Statement of Purpose. Have your two letters of recommendation sent to this email
address as well. Upon receipt of all the documents outlined in items I-IV, Dr. Makaiau will contact you via email to set up a datefor your personal interview. If you need assistance throughout the interview process, please email Dr. Makaiau with yourquestions.