Philosothon

In 2007, Hale School in Perth, Western Australia initiated a project to promote higher-order thinking among secondary school students. The Head of Philosophy and Ethics Mr Matthew Wills, created the event to promote student engagement in the study of Philosophy. At the first Philosothon nine local high school teams, each including five students came together for an evening of philosophical investigation. The word 'Philosothon' was invented in the first few years of the event by Matthew Wills and Leanne Rucks.[6][7]

Following the first Philosothon it was decided to promote the event more broadly to other schools around the country and later in the UK. Philosothons now take place annually in each Australian capital city and in regional locations around the country. They also take place around the UK and introductory presentations to explain the concept and invite participation are given to teachers at Academy Conferences multiple times each year.[8][9][10] Recently Primary school Philosothons have been conducted in various Art Galleries in some Australian states and in the UK.[11][12] Philosothons are established in regional cities throughout Australia and New Zealand and a similar growth is spearheaded by Academy Conferences in the UK where various regional hubs  are emerging, such as Stowe.[13][14][15]

In 2017 The Templeton Religion Trust awarded $281,656 AUD to the Philosothon project in order to "grow existing Philosothons and support the establishment of new ones, particularly in remote schools and at schools catering for students from low socio-economic backgrounds" in Australasia.[16] Similar funding was awarded to the Ian Ramsey Centre to expand the UK Philosothon initiative in 2019.[17]

As part of the recent expansion of Philosothons in the UK, introductory presentations to teachers have explained the concept at more than 15 Academy Conferences events, as well as ISRSA and NATRE conferences.[18] These presentations have been accompanied by associated outreach work, including the development of a website and more than 500 flash drives so far for distributing introductory and administrative material, generously funded by the Templeton Religion Trust.[19]

A Junior School Philosothon at the Art Gallery of Western Australia

With the arrival of the Corona Virus and new restrictions the 2020 Australasian Philosothon was held online with twenty one Australian and New Zealand schools participating. [20]

The rationale for the Philosothon methodology is based on empirical evidence that teaching children reasoning skills early in life greatly improves other cognitive and academic skills and greatly assists learning in general.[21] Students are given the topic questions in advance and some stimulus reading materials.[22]

Examples of topic questions from recent Philosothons are these:

• Is it moral to fake kindness? (Moral Philosophy)
• Do men and woman have different natures? (Metaphysical)
• Do you have free will? (Metaphysical)
• Should you always listen to the opinions of others? (Epistemology)
• How free should speech be? (Political Philosophy)

Students, teachers and parents gather on a particular evening each year for the event. The students participate in a series of Communities of Inquiry which are facilitated by teachers or Phd. philosophy students from the local universities. While participating in this process students are scored by Philosophy lecturers also from local universities. The scores are then collated, ranked and later in the evening awards are given to students at each age level and encouragement awards to the most promising male and female philosopher. Also a trophy is awarded to the winning school.[23]

Some might argue that Philosophy cannot be undertaken in the context of a competition.[24] They believe that by ranking individuals the process of developing a Community of Philosophical Inquiry is fundamentally compromised. However, others have responded that many students forget they are involved in a competition and engage in the exact sort of investigation and collaboration we would hope to see in Philosophy. Others have suggested that the same process is undertaken in any academic institution, tertiary or secondary where students are ranked against criteria. The only difference is that one of the more important criteria in a COI is collaboration.[25]

Winners of the 2011 Australasian Philosothon Christ Church Grammar School

In July 2011 the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations (FAPSA) agreed to support the first National Philosothon at Cranbrook School. Each Australian state sent three teams (those schools that won in their local Philosothon) and so twelve schools in total arrived in Sydney to participate in the inaugural event.[26][27][28] [29] Each year the Australasian Philosothon is run in a different region in Australasia.[30] In 2019 the ninth Australasian Philosothon was held at Radford College in Canberra. In 2020 the Australasian Philosothon was hosted for the first time online by the Australasian Association of Philosophy (AAP)

Philosothons have been run in the UK since 2013. Revd. Mark Smith & Julie Arliss from the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics Department at King's College, Taunton, UK, have spearheaded the Philosothon movement in the United Kingdom in collaboration with Dr Michael Lacewing from Heythrop College and Lizzy Lewis from Sapere.[31] Wells Cathedral College won the first event. More recently Philosothons have been developed throughout the UK, promoted at Academy Conferences events and spreading from the UK hub at King’s College, Taunton; with more than 375 attendees in the year 2019-2020 (more events were postponed due to COVID-19).[32][33] Primary School Philosothons have also been hosted by the Philosophy Foundation.[34] Other Philosothons have been held around the UK.[35]

In 2012 an inaugural Primary School Philosothon was held at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).[36][37] [38] In 2013 the first WA Primary school Philosothon was hosted by John XXIII College at the Art Gallery of WA. Since then Annual Primary School Philosothons have been conducted in Victoria, WA and the UK.[39]

• http://www.philosothon.org
• http://fapsa.org.au
• http://www.philosothon.co.uk/