4C

 posters  
 
As  you’ll  no  doubt  be  aware,  especially  if  you’ve  been  on  one  of  my  courses,  we  
get  the  most  out  of  P4C  if  we  encourage  an  ethos  of  enquiry  in  the  classroom  
rather  than  confine  it  to  a  slot  once  a  week.    I  particularly  favour  keeping  
enquiries  alive  through  working  displays,  letters  home,  philosophy  
jotters/journals  and  incidental  discussion  throughout  the  week.    I  also  think  it’s  
important  that  we  engage  the  children  in  reflecting  on  P4C  and  their  progress.      
 
One  way  we  might  do  this  is  to  prominently  display  something  like  these  4C  
posters  in  the  classroom  and  celebrate  behaviours  that  promote  particular  types  
of  thinking.    You  might  also  focus  on  one  or  two  during  a  session,  maybe  using  
them  as  your  ‘objective’  for  the  session.    I  should  say  that  the  statements  are  
intentionally  brief  and  certainly  not  comprehensive  but  they  just  help  raise  the  
profile  of  the  4Cs,  which  is  particularly  important  not  only  in  P4C  generally  but  
also  should  your  school  decide  to  start  a  journey  through  the  SAPERE  Award  
Scheme.  
 
You  might  like  to  customise  them  too,  which  is  why  they’ve  been  included  as  
word  documents  rather  than  PDF  files.    They  look  good  with  some  colour  and  
printed  on  A3  and  laminated.    You  might  display  one  in  each  corner  of  the  
classroom  and  every  now  and  then  ask  the  children  to  go  and  stand  where  they  
think  they  are  in  terms  of  their  thinking  for  the  activity  –  which  may  not  be  a  P4C  
session.    You  should  make  the  point  though  that  they  probably  won’t  have  just  
been,  for  example,  a  caring  thinker,  but  that  they  may  feel  they  were  more  of  a  
caring  thinker  than  a  critical  thinker.    The  discussion  that  could  result  from  such  
an  activity  would  again  go  a  long  way  to  developing  meta-­‐cognition  –  thinking  
about  thinking.      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

We’re  

               

thinkers  when  we…  

 
• think  about  what’s  said  
• listen  to  others  carefully  
• imagine  how  others  feel  
• don’t  interrupt  
• wait  our  turn  
We’re  

     

thinkers  when  we…  

 
• speak  to  each  other  
• build  on  ideas  
• are  friendly  &  helpful  
• share  our  experiences  
• work  together  
We’re  

               

thinkers  when  we…  

 
• make  connections  
• think  of  new  ideas  
• explore  possibilities  
• compare  things  
• suggest  alternatives  
  

We’re  

               

thinkers  when  we…  

 
• ask  ‘big  idea’  questions  
• test  our  ideas  
• give  good  reasons  
• look  for  evidence  
• suggest  conclusions