Philosophy in Norwegian Schools

Associate Professor Beate Børresen

Oslo University College

December 2006

Beate.Borresen@lu.hio.no

Philosophy in Norwegian schools

In 2004 the Norwegian government took the initiative to undertake a project with philosophy in primary and lower secondary schools. The aim is to find out whether and in what form this is possible and desirable. The project started in autumn 2005 and will conclude in summer 2007. Results so far have been promising.

In June 2004, the Norwegian Parliament adopted the principles and main guidelines for a comprehensive reform of primary and secondary education in Norway. This was done by adopting the Government’s report to the Parliament, White Paper no. 30. Surprisingly, this included a brief paragraph on philosophy.

The Ministry wishes to ensure that children and young people receive a basic introduction to and experience of the questions and methodical approach involved in the subject of philosophy. This could improve students’ capabilities for work with the subject in school and would be a good preparation for their future in society and in employment. Philosophy would give students a perspective on the basis of other subjects, both by showing how problems have developed historically and how problems may be discussed systematically.

The Ministry will assess how this can be strengthened with regard to the curriculum. The Ministry wishes further to stimulate towards further projects with philosophy as a subject and the use of philosophy in other subjects on the curriculum. The results of the projects will form a basis for assessing whether philosophy should be established as a school subject.

We do not know why this paragraph was included at that time. Philosophy with children was neither well known or widespread in Norway, but philosophy had been introduced on a more systematic basis in connection with Religious Education (RE) (In Norway the subject is called KRL. The letters stands for Christianity, Religion and Life views) in 1997. KRL was then introduced as a new and obligatory subject in the curriculum. It is also the case that philosophy enjoys a high status in Norway. Neither is interest in philosophy limited to an academic elite.

In Norway what is usually called P4C or philosophy for children, are called philosophy with children (filosofi med barn). We also stress that philosophy in schools is about doing philosophy, not learning about. At the same time we want the children to do more than practising thinking skills. We usually say that the children shall work with “philosophical things in a philosophical way”. Their work shall be systematic and regular and have a long term perspective. The aim is to be “a better thinker” and to find something true, good, and beautiful.

Systematic work and high-level activity

In the context of setting up KRL as a subject, we at Oslo University College began to look more closely at how the students could work with philosophy. Until then we had very little experience with this kind of work in schools. A book about philosophy in schools was published and seminars and meetings were held for philosophers, teachers and other interested parties. In 2000, the City of Oslo started a project in which teachers at 6 schools had philosophy with their students. Oslo University College was central in these activities. At the same time, a person at Tromsø University was working on the same topic, without receiving the same support from institutions outside the university. Oslo University College received public support in developing a study of philosophy and children, linked to the education of teachers. This began in Autumn 2001.

The work on philosophy in schools aroused interest among individuals in the Ministry of Education, the Directorate of Education (which is the Ministry’s executive organ), and in school administrations, as well as among philosophers and people involved in the education of teachers. We found interest among various circles, many people attended our seminars and there was often press coverage of the work being done in schools and other places. We worked systematically in developing theory, plans, studies and teaching materials. This was done together with teachers so that we could try out ideas and materials in practice. The work on philosophy with children in Norway is still marked by this closeness to the practical field. Unfortunately the disadvantage is that no research is being done in this area among either educationalists or philosophers. That is a great deficiency in the work in this country. Thus far it has proved impossible to obtain funding for research as against practical projects. This is something we are particularly focusing on at present. The Ministry of Education has set up a group to carry out a review about philosophy as a subject in school, with the aim of discovering where efforts should be concentrated in future. This is a hopeful sign, since the Government is concerned about research based knowledge on activities in schools.

The other thing we did which has influenced public awareness, was to contact people abroad who had more experience than us. First we went to Denmark and Sweden and took a closer look at the work they were doing there with philosophy in schools. We invited them to present their findings to us. One of the central figures in this area in Sweden, Bo Malmhester, has been working in Oslo since 2000. In 2001 we contacted people in Britain. We held seminars in Norway with them. We went to courses and seminars there. And for three years running we sent a group of 10-15 teachers on study tours to the N-RAIS project in the north of England headed by James Nottingham. From 2003 we have also had a collaboration with the French philosopher Oscar Brenifier. He has held workshops in several places in Norway and has come on school visits and some of his books have been published in Norwegian. His work has a great significance for many of those working on philosophy with children in Norway.

We have also made philosophy with children visible through a collaboration with the Norwegian UNESCO Committee over the celebration of World Philosophy Day in November 2005. As part of the preparation for the celebration we published an educational piece on the commission’s website. Teachers were encouraged to take a philosophy lesson with their students and send the students’ questions and assertions to the Commission. These were published on the website together with our responses and comments. We then prepared a new presentation based on some of the material which came in. This was used in an open meeting where people could observe children in philosophical inquiry.

From White Paper to project

It was the Government which took the initiative for more formal work on philosophy in schools through the White Paper no. 30 “Culture for Learning” (Kultur for læring). A White Paper is a presentation to the Parliament of what the Government wishes to do in the years to come. For the work to commence, it must first be approved by the Parliament. In the case of White Paper no. 30, this occurred in June 2004. Thereafter it is up to the Government to decide how the tasks shall be put into action.

The Ministry of Education sent a letter to the Directorate for Education in September 2004 in which they asked them to start preparatory work for a project of philosophy in primary and secondary schools. The work started with a seminar in the Ministry with Oscar Brenifier from Paris and Bo Malmhester from Stockholm. It was attended by people from both the Ministry and the Directorate. The seminar was very successful and was the inspiration for further initiatives. In December, the Directorate for Education sent a letter to all county governors asking them to collect information about experiences with philosophy in schools in their counties. At the same time the University College was asked to review all the curricula in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools with regard to elements of philosophy.

On 1st February 2005 both reports were ready – one on philosophy in curricula and one on experiences of philosophy in Norwegian schools, based on the 50 or so schools which had responded to the enquiries from the county governors. Thereafter the Directorate began preparations for starting a project. It began on 1st September 2005. A group comprising two persons each from the University College and the Directorate for Education was set up to assume responsibility for the project. The project manager was bought in from the University College. A reference group was also set up with one person from the Ministry of Education, one from one of the county governors’ offices, one from a local school administration and two professors from the University of Oslo, one a professor of educational science the other of philosophy.

Autumn 2005 was used to find schools to take part, prepare plans and develop materials. Training the teachers and work with the individual schools began in January 2006. And thus we were off!

The project – that is to say the work in the schools – will be concluded in June 2007. The final report shall be delivered to the Ministry of Education in October 2007. The report will include a description of what has been done, positive and negative experiences, recommendations of what should be done next and suggestions of possible curricula for philosophy as a subject. After this, what happens next is up to the ministry and the politicians.

The form and content of the project

The aim of the project is to find out whether philosophy in schools is possible. The task is linked to two White Papers:

White Paper No. 30 (2004-05) “Culture for Learning” (Kultur for læring). This report is, as mentioned, the political basis for the new reform of primary and secondary education, the so called “The Knowledge Promotion” (Kunnskapsløftet). ” Culture for Learning” proposes that a project of philosophy should be started and that the results of the project should be used as the basis for assessing whether philosophy should be established in primary and lower secondary schools as a separate subject.

and

White Paper No. 49 (2004-05) “Diversity through inclusion and participation. Responsibility and freedom.” (Mangfold gjennom inkludering og deltakelse. Ansvar og frihet.) This proposes that the philosophy project should also present findings on how students with different religious and cultural backgrounds react to the subject and what questions engage a group of students with a diversity of cultures and values.

15 schools and 43 teachers from 9 counties across the country are taking part in the project. These are schools in cities, smaller towns and rural areas. Students from class 1 to class 10 are taking part. The schools taking part were selected so that we had some with previous experience of philosophy and some without. A certain number of schools also have students who speak minority languages.

The main points of the project are as follows:

Participants in the project are regularly trained in seminars on a regional basis twice per term. In addition there was a seminar for all participants in January 2005 and there will be a joint study tour to England in May 2007.
All teachers are visited by the project management in their schools every term.
All the teachers conduct a certain number of philosophy lessons, minimum 10 periods per term.
Develop teaching materials and working methods. In the first term all teachers used material made by the project management. After this, the teachers may develop their own materials. These must be approved by the management.
All the teachers must report what they have done and how things have gone, every month.
The project management writes a report per term and a final report at the project’s conclusion.
Assess teaching materials, training and guiding of teachers.
The project has its own intranetsite containing materials, literature, practical information and similar. Communication is also maintained between participants in the form of mail, chat and forum discussions on this site.

The reason for philosophy in schools

The ministry’s reason for proposing philosophy in schools in 2004 was that the subject can give students fundamental attitudes and working methods which can be used in all school subjects as well as later in life. Working with philosophy can give students experience of a systematic debate of issues central to most subjects and to most areas of society and employment. Acquiring a systematic and ”scientific” way of working, such as we find in philosophy, can help students cope with higher education regardless of social background and encouragement from home.

When it comes to the rest of the school curriculum, philosophy can help students in developing critical capabilities. This is something which is central to both the general curriculum and the individual subjects. In more concrete terms, philosophy can help to develop one of the five basic skills in the curriculum – namely the ability to express oneself verbally. Philosophy is also, as mentioned, part of RE in Norway.

In general terms, working with philosophy can give participants practice in participating in dialogue in various contexts. They get practice in listening, keeping to the point, assessing assertions and giving reasons for their own views. Because there are no given answers in philosophy, students also have practice in having to assess several possible answers. This is particularly important in a highly diverse society.

In more concrete terms, one also acquires experience and attitudes which are important in a democracy. To listen, to tolerate different points of view and to have an attitude which says that all answers are good until the opposite is proved and that it is up to you to show that a point of view isn’t valid. To understand that it is what is being said which is important, not who is saying it. One also learns from experience that what one says – or neglects to say – can have a bearing on the task in hand. A comprehensive survey which was carried out in Stockholm in the 1990s shows that students who have taken philosophy are better listeners than those who have not. They also display greater abilities in solving social problems on their own account (Malmhester/Ohlsson: Filosofi med barn [Philosophy with children]. Stckh. 1999).

Conclusion

Our experience so far has been that it is difficult to be able to engage in philosophy in schools unless it has a clear place in the timetable and curriculum. Even for very enthusiastic teachers, it is difficult to find room for philosophy in a hectic school day. We see that teachers derive great benefit from training and from materials which support their work with the students. At the seminars during the projects emphasis was placed on the teachers’ own philosophical development. You must engage in philosophy yourself, using the same materials that you will later use with your students. We have seen that those teachers who do not manage to engage themselves in the seminars do not manage to get philosophy across to their students either.

We also see that students who speak minority languages derive particular benefit from philosophy lessons. One reason for this is the emphasis on everyone understanding. These students discover that everyone can have problems understanding and that it is OK to ask. They see that questions are not for dummies, they are for those who want to find out more and want to understand. One teacher reports that a couple of his students with minority languages have taken this attitude on board and applied it to other subjects with great success. Another teacher emphasised that, since philosophy is often about existential questions, students with minority languages get more practice in using different words and concepts and in using their own personal experience than in other school subjects.

One interesting experience has come from some teachers who connected philosophy with the school rules. Many students feel that these have been imposed upon them from outside, even though it is apparently the students themselves who decide which rules should apply in school. One group of students took the initiative to investigate what rules are, who decides them and how one can take part in the decisions. They learned about the responsibility and difficulties involved in the relationship between formulating rules and their actual implementation, something which is central to democracy.

The most fundamental experience of the nine years we have been working on philosophy with children at Oslo University College has been that it is thorough and systematic work with a long term perspective, both theoretical and practical, collaboration with teachers, with the authorities at all levels and with philosophers and educationalists in the academic system which enables progress.