Philosophy in Public and Classroom Spaces

2026 PIPS and PICS Events

Our 2026 PIPS and PICS program continues to build on 16 years of inter-school philosophical inquiry events offered by VAPS.

VAPS' Philosophy in Public Spaces (PIPS) school excursions and Philosophy in Classroom Spaces (PICS) incursions are designed to stimulate students' philosophical thinking.  

PIPS EVENTS

PIPS - Between 3 and 12 schools attend each PIPS event, bringing ~10 students each. Those students are then grouped into cohorts of 10-20 and assigned to an experienced facilitator. The facilitator is a VAPS member trained to facilitate philosophical communities of inquiry.

PIPS events are held at culturally significant locations that provide access to thought-provoking material. Students observe a chosen stimulus (artwork, exhibition, show) with their mixed-school group and facilitator, then engage in a philosophical discussion of the 'big ideas' in the stimulus to launch their community of inquiry. The facilitator guides students towards philosophical questioning and thought processes, however the topic is chosen by the students themselves based on the ideas that the stimulus provoked in them.

Schools Excursion Events - Philosophy in Public Spaces (PIPS) 2026 

DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED 

Junior Years

Middle Years   

NGV - June

Sovereign Hill - August

McCleeland Sculpture Park and Art Gallery - October

Senior Years (not sponsored)

• VCE (Unit 1/2 students - SEE VCE Philosophy Page

Please fill out this form to secure a booking for any PIPS or PICS events.

ON DEMAND PICS INCURSIONS

Would your school like a visiting Philosophy Program?

PICS is the new VAPS incursion program.  

The incursion program is modelled on the PIPS program.  Students will be engaged in activities to stimulate curiosity and participate in a variety of dialogue models, building confidence in oracy, and culminating in a Community of Inquiry about a big idea generated through the lead up activities.

The format (and where appropriate the content) of these programs are to be negotiated with the school.  However, VAPS is suggesting the following as:

• Multi-Day sessions with the same group  of students
• Multi-Day sessions with different groups of students
• One full day incursion with a group of students
• One full day incursion rotating through different groups of student
• Combining with other local schools for an incursion/excursion located at one of the schools

The number of students involved will depend on the date and the availability of our facilitators.

Making a decision about this may depend on the schools location (rural schools will need to nominate full day incursions to support the travel of our facilitators).  This decision will also be made based on the size of the school and the number of students identified by the school as 'high achieving/ability'.  What counts as a high achieving/ability student is entirely determined by the school since schools have access to the information to make such decisions, high-achieving/ability is entirely determined by teacher/school judgement and can include diverse ways of high achieving, however, VAPS will be collecting deidentified data about students.

Where possible the school and facilitators may even be able to negotiate an excursion to a local venue, rural schools may benefit from this option.  

Engaging in a PICS does not exclude school participation from PIPS events.