Philosophy for children (P4C) - Identifying what good means

I am adamant that effective debating is important in children's education from an early age. This is a lesson that I have used with Year 3's and some of the responses that I have got have been simply profound. The children were engaged, listening and allowed everyone to put forward their ideas without feeling intimidated or worried. The children were first of all looking at how to define something - what qualities does something have. From here, the children began to define what good meant and linking it to their own lives. The headteacher even sat in on this particular lesson and was very impressed by the responses and the way that God was embedded into their thoughts.

I have given provided a simple powerpoint which goes through the lesson for each stage. I have also given a set of questions that the children may wish to think about.

The stages for this are as follows:
1) Open question, what makes a stick, a stick? Work in pairs
2) Identify the features as a group.
3) Discuss whether taking away a feature makes it stop being a stick
4) Throw the question out "what makes a person good?"
Children think individually
Children work in pairs
Children work in fours
5) Identify a root question to discuss
6) Consult the question sheet to broaden the debate.