Event Program*

Program welcome from www.PhilosophyShortCourse.com founder, Daniel Mccrea

Employed as a JCT Associate, Marelle Rice is responsible for the design and delivery of the Philosophy Short Course CPD. She is also a PME lecturer at UCD, and is Project Managing an SFI funded project there.

You will be split into breakout groups with 1 or 2 other teachers and tasked to create a lesson plan for a 50 minute lesson for TY students.

Susan Kyne Andrews of Temple Carrig will lead this session on the importance of cultivating a habit of doing philosophy regularly in schools. Her students have 2 classes a week for 3 years consistently. She will speak about how embedding philosophy in the curriculum takes time but has far reaching results across subjects.

She will be joined onstage by her colleague, John McGuinness, to speak about the intersection of Philosophy and POLSOC.

All attendees will be split into random breakout groups. Grab a coffee, have a chat or, preferably, do both!

With 40 minutes on the clock we will crowdsource solutions to some of the thorniest issues in teaching Philosophy so you can teach and learn from others.

How do you deal with controversial topics? Is there a right and wrong answer in P4C? How do you engage students online? How do you create a space for free thinking, but remain in charge?

Panel discussion of the state of research, key findings and biggest surprises from 3 leading researchers in Irish education:

Dr. Gillen Motherway has just completed a 5 year embedded research PhD in the use of P4C within the Educate Together school network.

Elizabeth O'Brien is Pursuing a PhD in Children and Youth Studies at University College Dublin, considering Initial Teacher Education through the lens of Philosophy of Education.

We are delighted to confirm that the session will be chaired by Dr. Áine Mahon. Dr. Mahon is Assistant Professor in the School of Education at UCD, a position she has held since September 2015. She researches and teaches in the Philosophy of Education and the Philosophy of Literature. Áine is a founding member of Philosophy Ireland, a consortium of academics and teachers currently collaborating on the introduction of philosophy as a short course on the newly reformed Junior Cycle. With Dr. Danielle Petherbridge of UCD Philosophy, she is also co-founder of the Irish Young Philosopher Awards (youngphilosopherawards.ucd.ie) which were launched by President Michael D. Higgins in 2017.

Teaching can be one of the most rewarding but also most challenging professions. Ann-Marie Ireland will lead us through a guided session focused on self-care and well-being to wind down the day.

Thank you for attending! We will bring the conference to a close with some ideas about building our community and a preview of our next event!

What's a day of philosophy without doing some thinking? Grab a glass of wine, or a cup of tea, and enjoy a very special edition of interactive thinking: 'The Philosopher's Hat' with Lukasz Krzywon