Year 11 Philosophy

Discussions in Philosophy, aka Community of Inquiry discussions, are facilitated around student interest and questions surrounding topics such as Theories of Knowledge, Reality and Ethics. Learning in Philosophy is meaningful as one student, Libby, describes: “I discuss the concepts we learn with my family and friends as its interesting to get different perspectives. I also can't help but notice philosophical concepts we have learnt and discussed in class showing up in everyday life. This can be in the news, movies and books, or in other subjects I am taking at school.”To engage my students, I give them a daily prompt to begin their lesson to which they respond. This activity blends the Starter activity with Attendance. Students have said that they enjoy starting our lessons this way because it gets them ‘thinking philosophically straight away’! An example of a starter/attendance prompt: Define Aristotle’s golden mean and provide an original example. 

Julia:    Aristotle's mean is a moral value that is directly between two extremes, for example the value of kindness is in between selflessness and selfishness 

Rhyana: Aristotle's golden mean refers to the desirable middle between two extremes, such as modesty is the golden middle between shyness (excess) and shamelessness (deficiency)

Logan: Aristotle's mean is a state between two vices for example self-control where the excess is impulsiveness and the deficit is indecisivenessPhilosophy students in a group chat, on “Face-time Fridays”, discussing Aristotle’s virtue ethics. Prior to Friday, we read together and unpack concepts in the required readings. Then on Face-time Fridays we have a designated ‘class discussion’ where students present their understanding of the readings they’ve done on their own, for example chapters of Artistotle’s ‘Nicomachean Ethics’. 

Michelle Rocca

Philosophy Teacher