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CPA Philosophy in the Schools AGM and Workshop: Building Philosophy into All OUR Schools

Ottawa SSHRC Congress 2009

Present: Frank Cunningham (Toronto) Robert Meyerson (Ryerson) Jay Drydyk (Carleton) Frederick Kraenzal (Retired CEJEP) Emily Bingham (MA - Dalhousie) Maja Jackson (MA Dalhousie) Stephen Latta (PhD Ottawa)

Moderator: Karen Zoppa (Winnipeg)

Review of the national PITS situation: In BC, Dale Martelli reports that Philosophy has received Board Authority - meaning that students can now use Philosophy courses as credits toward their high school diplomas. The next task is to have Ministerial approval for a provincial Philosophy curriculum, and to have all the Universities and Colleges recognize Philosophy as an entrance requirement. Please read the details in Dale's report, reprinted in this webpage.

In Alberta, Rob Wilson (Alberta) reports huge gains in implementing Philosophy 4 Children. There is wise support in the elementary and middle schools for the program, and he and his team are developing Professional development modules for teachers, administrators and parents. Read the good news in Rob's report.

The news in Manitoba is less optimistic. On the one hand, the Manitoba PITS group has had some success organizing World Philosophy day activities; on the other hand, the push to get Dept of Education support for a provincial curriculum has come to a standstill, due to the difficulty of having to produce a curriculum and course packs for piloting from scratch and with no budget.

In Ontario, the success of Philosophy in the schools continues. Frank Cunningham reports that after a 30 year campaign to bring this to fruition, there are 35,000 students studying Philosophy in Ontario secondary Schools. The Ontario Philosophy Teachers Association continues to provide expert resources and continuing professional development to teachers of philosophy. This success is due in part to the support of the Chairs of Philosophy in Ontario universities. In a recent collaboration, university professors of philosophy and teachers in the field have produced a very fine and accessible text for Grade 11 Philosophy. They have plans to collaborate on a Grade 12 text soon. As well, Philosophy has now been declared a "teachable" subject in Ontario and Philosophy Majors can now apply for direct entry into Education in Ontario. Philosophy departments will work on supporting Philosophy students in Education, developing courses in philosophy pedagogy for non-majors as well as majors. Steven Latta asks, in light of these developments, if there is any way of facillitating the entry of graduate students with philosophy degrees into Education, as alternative vocation.

The discussion returned to the challenge of seeing philosophy adopted as part of the regular school program in other jurisdictions. Frank stressed how vital it is to have chairs of Philosophy departments supporting the project. Emily Bingeman and Maja Jackson, graduate students in attendance, spoke eloquently on the profound impact Mini-U courses in Philosophy had on them. It emerges that the Mini-U program is offered in almost all universities at this time, and is an important component in outreach. However, provincial approval for philosophy curricula, and a commitment to supporting its implementation remains the biggest barrier to establishing PITS across the nation, at least at the secondary level.

After observing that OPTA has recently opened its membership to non Ontario teachers of philosophy, Frank Cunningham suggested that the OPTA executive could prepare a package of information that summarizes the Ontario philosophy program, and that would also provide lobbying materials and advice. He also will investigate whether there are any barriers for other jurisdictions to appropriate the Ontari provincial Grade 11 and Grade 12 philosophy curricula. Many of us look forward to these valuable tools in our efforts to see philosophy in all our schools.

Report from BC:

Re: philosophy in high school...B.C. Here's a quick list of initiatives, goals, and struggles. If you need it soon, hope this will do.

Things that I have done and I am doing:

• with recent changes to Ministry approval, Philosophy 12 is now a "Board Authority Authorized" course rather than "locally developed"...the significant difference is academic weight; students can now use Phil 12 to meet graduation academic requirements.
• At least 3 schools in Vancouver School District offering Philosophy 12. The problem is that the teacher college and teacher training programs have never recognized philosophy as either a teachable minor or major thereby leaving us with very few teachers with any level of expertise.
• working with teachers in Surrey School District to put together a Philosophy 12 course; providing professional training workshops
• working with SFU Philosophy Department to reinstate Phil 12 as a possible entrance admissions credit (somehow dropped in the recent reworking)
• successful with respect to Capilano University: though not officially listed yet, students can submit Phil 12.
• all colleges recognize Philosophy 12
• working with Susan Turner at University of Victoria to try to get that institution on board.

I recently developed a district enrichment program based on Philosophy and Classical Literature from grades 8 - 10. This year, our intake applicant # was as high if not higher than any other academic alternative program.

Things that I need to be do:

• make Phil 12 a provincial course
• lobby the teacher's college and thereby the Education faculties to recognize philosophy as a teachable minor and/or major.
• consider AP...submitted course request in 2001 and then it was shelved. Ewonus, the regional rep, went on to the national headquarters and despite 2 or 3 emails, nada.
• try to develop junior philosophy courses; in a sense, copy and paste (and improve on) the junior pre-IB programs (and with the bonus of not sending $$ to London)

Report from Manitoba: (PDF attached)

Karen Zoppa

Instructor in Humanities

The University of Winnipeg Collegiate

Chair - Canadian Philosophical Association's Philosophy in the Schools Project

204 786 9143

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