Teacher Professional Learning

PIPS at the Zoo

Janette Poulton & Simon Rawson: Philosophy in Public Spaces at Zoos Victoria - VAPS & PIPS events in partnership with Zoos Victoria

A Theory of Moral Education

Jennifer Bleazby: A Theory of Moral Education - Outlines a complete theory of moral education, underpinned by a Deweyian notion of moral inquiry, which can be fostered in philosophical Communities of Inquiry

Philosophy, Dialogue, & Gender

Ben Kilby: Philosophy, Dialogue, and Gender: Feminist considerations in exploring philosophical communities of inquiry with students

Indigenous Archetypal Stories

Brenten James: Indigenous Archetypal Stories - In an increasingly digital world, we should turn to philosophy combining Indigenous and European inquiry techniques to conceptualise syllabus outcomes.

Competition in Philosophy

Greg Henshaw: Competition in Philosophy - What place has competition got in the teaching of Philosophy? Do Philosothons achieve our goal to improve critical, creative and collaborative thinking skills?

Philosophy & Picture Books

Thomas Wartenberg (Keynote) - Philosophy & Picture Books - A discussion of why it is important to introduce philosophy into the curricula of elementary schools and why picture books are a good vehicle for doing so.

Student Growth & Engagement in Thinking

Jill Howells & Andrew Dabner - Student Growth and Engagement in Thinking - Exploring connections between P4C Victorian Curriculum and Inquiry at BEPS to enable student growth and engagement in conceptual critical and creative thinking

Questions & Metacognition

Britta Jensen - Questions & Metacognition - Exploring Questions & Metacognition: merits of two classroom questioning strategies (Question Formulation Technique and Question Quadrant)

The Embodiment of Philosophical Pedagogy

Bonnie Zuidland - The Embodiment of Philosophical Pedagogy - On the embodiment of philosophical pedagogy: arguments for why philosophical pedagogy should be a way of life not just something you do in the classroom

Question Quadrant & Community of Inquiry

Stephanie Massey - Question Quadrant & Community of Inquiry - Explaining how the Question Quadrant and Community of Inquiry as an integrated pedagogy can encourage the exhibition of critical and creative thinking skills

A Model of Classroom Dialogue and the Thinker's Toolkit

Lorelei Siegloff - A Model of Classroom Dialogue and the Thinker's Toolkit - Lorelei will introduce her model of Classroom Dialogue and then relate it to her Thinker’s Toolkit, incorporating democratic learning and student agency

Discussion and the Development of Reasoning

Philip Cam (Keynote) - Discussion and the Development of Reasoning - The connection between discussion and the development of reflective thought is applied to questioning, conceptual exploration, and reasoning in the classroom

The Aporia Project: Developing Emotional Understanding

Peter & Emma Worley - The Aporia Project: Developing Emotional Understanding - Aporia Project: interactive workshop sharing strategies TPF have developed to aid children’s emotional understanding and resilience through philosophy

Assessment of the Capabilities

Monica Bini - Assessment of the Capabilities - Assessment of the Capabilities as well as introducing participants to resources the VCAA has produced to support assessment of the Capabilities

Ethics in Schools

Susan Knopfelmacher with Jess Xia, Tara Bazargan and Amy Leembruggen: Ethics in Schools - The Ethics Olympiad in a School Philosophy Program - Student & Teacher Perspectives on its Place & Value

Who we are

VAPS promotes critical and creative thinking among young people.

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What we offer

Supporting teachers in fostering the intellectual and social skills that enable students to think philosophically.

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Upcoming events

Our Philosophy in Public Spaces Events are run throughout each calendar school year.

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