22Educational Perspectives ❖ Volume 44 ❖ Numbers 1 and 2

The Top 10 Things I LOVE about p4c Hawai‘iJolyn Ikeda
In 2001, Dr. Thomas Jackson, or Dr. J as we affectionately call him, spoke to the faculty at Waikïkï Elementary.
He described p4c Hawai‘i and encouraged us to try P4C if
something about it “resonated” with us. “Resonate” is a great
description—I felt like something deep inside began to hum
as he described the program. In the beginning, Dr. J held ap4t (philosophy for teachers) after-school seminar and he,along with some graduate students, did p4c in our classes.
That is how my p4c Hawai‘i experience began.
Here we are several years later. I have been asked toshare my perceptions of p4c. In speaking with my colleagues, I realize that p4c is many things to many people. At
the very heart of p4c is safety. A safe community, a place
where people feel safe to share ideas without judgment orridicule, is the foundation of the p4c circle. That said, I want
to share the top ten things I LOVE about p4c.

#1 “We’re not in a rush.”That’s what Dr. J always reminds us. We know you
can’t hurry a child’s development, but sometimes we forget.
In our hurried society, with immediate gratification as thegoal, many people are focused on quick results. These quick
results are not always good in the long run. p4c does notalways have immediate results, but it can be profound in thelong run.
My start was very slow. I felt p4c was wonderful andI was excited to see it implemented in my class. We had ap4c session with Mr. Chip (a graduate student) each weekfor forty-five minutes. For more than half a year nothing
happened! Students were not showing evidence of deeper
thinking. It was getting close to the end of the year and I
decided not to do it the following year. Then we had a breakthrough, a “blossoming”! A child asked if thinking everstops. They discussed whether dreams were thinking during
sleep. They wondered if and what babies thought. They
wondered if animals thought because they wondered if theanimals that attacked had a conscience. What about insects?
Plants? Do they think? Yes and no, and all backed up withlogical reasons for their point of view. That conversation

was so deep I almost wept! After that, our p4c sessions werevery rich. I think I was incredibly patient to wait as long as I
did. If not for Mr. Chip, I would’ve quit much earlier, but heknew “we’re not in a rush.”#2–8 The Good Thinker’s Tool Kit uses aseven-letter acronym to help us examine ourthinking, ideas, and beliefs.
I love the Tool Kit because the tools are a way of
examining thinking. If I say “The moon is made of cheese,”what are my reasons? what is my evidence? can I give any
examples? are there counter examples? Students make statements, then they are asked for their reasoning using the ToolKit. Others agree or disagree and justify their comments
using the Tool Kit. Students learn how to think, rather thanwhat to think. Here are the seven tools as I understand themand love them:
W–What do you mean by that? When a person makes astatement that we don’t understand right away we use the W.
We also use it to define what we are asking. We use the W tomake sure we are talking about the same thing, for example,“What do you mean by magic?” When a person explains hisor her own ideas it helps the speaker define and clarify hisor her ideas. It helps the speaker focus and discard irrelevant
information. The “W” also helps the listeners. Sometimes theinitial statement led us to a very different assumption and the“W” helps us to get closer to what the speaker means.
R–What are your reasons? The R is my favorite letter. It is easy for a second grader to understand the request“give me a reason”, but it takes thinking to a deeper level”.
A simple concept like what is your favorite toy, food, etc.
is usually easy to answer. When giving a reason is attachedto the question, there is a deeper understanding of what aperson values or believes. It is the tool in the thinkers’ Tool
Kit that most people use even before they have heard of p4c.
A–What are you assuming? Assumption is a difficult
concept for second graders. I usually tells them that an assumption is something we believe to be true. It may or may
not be true, but it is treated as the truth. Sometimes we use

Philosophy for Children

assume to assist the dialogue. “Let’s assume Santa is real.
If Santa is real can he die?” We don’t need to discuss theidea of Santa being real (although that is one of my favorite
topics with second graders), to discuss his immortality. The
word assume has a bad rap and that is because assumptions
can be dangerous. Learning what assume means helps us tounderstand how assumptions can be dangerous.
I–What can we infer from a belief? Inferences ask us
to think about consequences. They involve us in if…,then…
thinking. I sometimes struggle to differentiate infer and assume. I use our reading response definition (as I understandit) for infer. “When we infer, we use clues, things we alreadyknow and make predictions (or guesses) about what might
be true.” It is different (in my mind) from an assumption
because an assumption is believed to be true, while an inference, we realize, may or may not be true. I like to use to thisactivity to teach inference: When a guest joins us, we lookat the person and make some inferences about that person:
Who is he or she? What does that person do? Are they married? Do they have children? What hobbies do they have? It’sa fun and easy way to talk about infer. Then the guest gets tovalidate or invalidate our inferences.
I used an example of if…,then… thinking in the Santa
topic: “if Santa is real, can he die?” However, I rarely use
the if…,then… strategy. But if I use it, then it is probably
attached to an inquiry.
T–Is it true? Always? Sometimes? “Is it true?” is aninteresting question for second graders because to them,almost everything is true and real. Ask a second grader if
magic is real, the Tooth Fairy, dragons. It generates a reallyinteresting conversation. Sometimes they will also talk about
things that scare them: monsters, ghosts, etc. If you ask,
“Is it true always?” you get them closer to discriminating
between what is true and real and what is not. Also, someone
may make a statement such as “Boys don’t like ballet.” If you
ask if that is true they will probably say yes. Then ask if it isalways true. They will start to realize that if it is not always
true, it might not be true at all.
E–Can you provide an example or offer evidence? Insecond grade asking students for evidence is a useful task.
I ask the students what evidence they have to say that theTooth Fairy is real? The E may not change a child’s pointof view, but they become quite discriminating about whichevidence they will believe. The E is a most valuable tool forteaching reading comprehension. The students find evidence

23in the story to support their responses. Prior to using the evidence in teaching reading, students would give me responses
that were not supported in the story. Since I started using
E in p4c I have noticed an improvement in their reading
responses.
E also stands for example. We may ask for examples
when we don’t know what someone means by… We also ask
students to give examples of things that are real. Generating
examples also helps us compare and understand concepts
and even develop criteria. If we ask children for examplesof their favorite toys, we can compare what they like about
these toys. We can then develop criteria for a good toy.
Example can also help disprove something. Do you have an
example of a talking dog? If there are no examples, perhaps
it doesn’t exist.
C–Is there a counter example? Counter examples areanother way of disproving or expanding ideas. For instance,a student may make a statement like “strangers are scary
looking.” Asking the students if there is a counter example:“Are there strangers that aren’t scary looking?” enables
students to delve deeper into understanding a concept (in thiscase the concept of stranger).
The tools from the Tool Kit transfer to other contentareas. One of my former students once stated, “In a paragraph we need to have examples and evidence for our topic
sentence.” In our reading response, we look for evidence tosupport our answers. We use the Tool Kit in science, socialstudies, writing, and I’m sure you can find other uses. TheGood Thinkers Tool Kit helps students become discriminating thinkers. They are learning to think for themselves andnot just taking someone’s word on faith or without reason.
It is a way to examine inquiry. For me, it is the heart of theinquiry process.

#9 p4c teaches students to effectively
communicate.
In the p4c circle, students learn to take turns during
a discussion. They need to listen to each other. They askfor clarification (What do you mean by that?). They also
learn to disagree without arguing. Prior to using p4c in myclassroom, second grade disagreements were usually of the“yes it is; no it’s not” variety, often ending with “I’m not yourfriend, any more.” With p4c students realize that there are arange of different perspectives. Differing points of view arevalued and make the discussion more interesting. Students

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Educational Perspectives ❖ Volume 44 ❖ Numbers 1 and 2

can be heard saying “I disagree because…” or “I agreebecause…” or “Do you mean…” They also change theirminds based on the discussion. I’ve had second graders say“At first I thought…, but now I think…” or “I don’t knowwhat to think—my head is spinning (from all the differentperspectives)” Wow! Perhaps our world leaders need to sit ina p4c circle.

#10 p4c Hawai‘i is student centered.
In Plain Vanilla, the students formulate inquiries basedon their interests. The class then votes on the inquiry
topic for discussion. The students call on each other. Manytimes people from the university will sit in our circle. Thestudents do not automatically call on them, calling upon theirpeers instead.
p4c doesn’t preach. A former student would keep things
he “found.” He told me: “Finders keepers, losers weepers.”
In a p4c circle students shared how they felt when they lostsomething. They talked about returning things they foundand how happy and grateful the person was. In the end, I
noticed him returning things he found on the floor. I believethat what his classmates had shared made an impression
on him. I don’t think he would have paid attention if it hadcome from me.

Finally, p4c “reshuffles the deck,” as Dr. J so eloquently
puts it. Students use the Tool Kit and share their insights.
Oftentimes we find that it is the most “philosophical” students are also the ones who have poor academic skills. How
well someone adds and subtracts has little correlation withhow logical or insightful they are. I have been impressedwith comments from my lowest readers, autistic students,
English language learners (ELL students), and every otherkind of learner. p4c also gives the rest of us an insight into
how these children think.
These are the things I love about p4c. I recommend
you try it. It helps to have support. If it weren’t for Dr. Jand Chip, I would’ve given up before I really started. It isalso great to have other teachers to talk to, and share with.
I always learn from watching Dr. J, Dr. Benjamin Lukey,
or my colleagues who join me to facilitate a p4c session.
Also, it is great to have a pair of fresh eyes. Sometimes I
don’t appreciate that my students are thinking like the great
philosophers until Dr. J, Dr. Ben, or a philosophy graduate
student visitor points it out to me. So if any of this resonateswith you, contact Dr. J or Waikïkï School.