Spotlight on Criticial and Philosophical Thinking 

Welcome to the world of Critical and Philosophical Thinking; possibly the only class where your teacher will ask you to write down the one thing you’d do if there were zero consequences and then get you to justify it! 

Our Year 7 students have been busy at work understanding the virtues of learning and how these virtues make our thinking richer, and our ideas better. Through the use of Greek Mythology, students have learned the value of being curious, taking the mantle from Socrates to engage in Socratic questioning, as well as learning the value of thinking in different ways, such as experiencing life through our senses, or simply sitting and waiting for that epiphany to hit. We have practiced listening and contributing to others, ensuring that our contributions are thoughtful, intentional, and build towards our shared goal of ‘discovering truth together’. 

With the term wrapping up shortly, our first rotations of Year 7 students have shown enormous growth in building their confidence in contributing ideas, disagreeing respectfully with others, and of the values that allow for their classroom experiences to flourish. 

Year 8s and 9s have been digging deeper into critical thinking skills to develop and evaluate arguments, as well as learning the irreplaceable power of asking questions such as: “what will become of the air fryer?”

We continue to build our students’ capacity to understand logic and arguments, think provocatively, and ensure that their reasoning is supported by valid, sound information that makes their ideas fool-proof. 

Most importantly, in CPT this term, all our classes have been focusing on the value of collaborative thinking and learning. Our teachers, Miss Claire Hatchman, Dr Nicholas Lee, and Miss Sophie Harrison, have been blown away with the enthusiasm and participation of our students across the three year levels.