Philosothon


A Philosothon is an annual competition wherein students explore philosophical and ethical issues. Philosothons are held in all Australian states, New Zealand, and the UK.
At a Philosothon, school aged students are assessed by university based professional philosophers and score highly where they demonstrate rigour and clarity of thought. An essential component of a Philosothon is the pedagogical model for teaching Philosophy to young people called Community of inquiry. The event has grown alongside and within the Philosophy for Children movement. The first Australasian Philosothon was held at Cranbrook School, Sydney in 2011 and the first UK Philosothon was held in 2012 at King's College, Taunton. More recently Philosothons have been developed throughout the UK, promoted at Academy Conferences events and spreading from the UK hub at King’s College, Taunton; with more than 375 attendees in the year 2019-2020.

History

In 2007, Hale School in Perth, Western Australia initiated a project to promote higher-order thinking among secondary school students. The Head of Philosophy and Ethics Mr Matthew Wills, created the event to promote student engagement in the study of Philosophy. At the first Philosothon nine local high school teams, each including five students came together for an evening of philosophical investigation. The word 'Philosothon' was invented in the first few years of the event by Matthew Wills and Leanne Rucks.

Recent history

Following the first Philosothon it was decided to promote the event more broadly to other schools around the country and later in the UK. Philosothons now take place annually in each Australian capital city and in regional locations around the country. They also take place around the UK and introductory presentations to explain the concept and invite participation are given to teachers at Academy Conferences multiple times each year. Recently Primary school Philosothons have been conducted in various Art Galleries in some Australian states and in the UK. Philosothons are established in regional cities throughout Australia and New Zealand and a similar growth is spearheaded by Academy Conferences in the UK where various regional hubs  are emerging, such as Stowe.
In 2017 The Templeton Religion Trust awarded $281,656 AUD to the Philosothon project in order to "grow existing Philosothons and support the establishment of new ones, particularly in remote schools and at schools catering for students from low socio-economic backgrounds" in Australasia. Similar funding was awarded to the Ian Ramsey Centre to expand the UK Philosothon initiative in 2019.
As part of the recent expansion of the Philosothon in the UK, introductory presentations to teachers to explain the concept and invite participation have taken place at more than 15 Academy Conferences events, as well as ISRSA and NATRE conferences. These presentations have been accompanied by associated outreach work, including the development of a website and more than 500 flash drives so far for distributing introductory and administrative material, generously funded by the Templeton Religion Trust.

Rationale and process

The rationale for the Philosothon methodology is based on empirical evidence that teaching children reasoning skills early in life greatly improves other cognitive and academic skills and greatly assists learning in general. Students are given the topic questions in advance and some stimulus reading materials.
Examples of topic questions from recent Philosothons are these:
Students, teachers and parents gather on a particular evening each year for the event. The students participate in a series of Communities of Inquiry which are facilitated by teachers or Phd. philosophy students from the local universities. While participating in this process students are scored by Philosophy lecturers also from local universities. The scores are then collated, ranked and later in the evening awards are given to students at each age level and encouragement awards to the most promising male and female philosopher. Also a trophy is awarded to the winning school.

Criticisms and responses

Some might argue that Philosophy cannot be undertaken in the context of a competition. They believe that by ranking individuals the process of developing a Community of Philosophical Inquiry is fundamentally compromised. However, others have responded that many students forget they are involved in a competition and engage in the exact sort of investigation and collaboration we would hope to see in Philosophy. Others have suggested that the same process is undertaken in any academic institution, tertiary or secondary where students are ranked against criteria. The only difference is that one of the more important criteria in a COI is collaboration.

Australasian Philosothon

In July 2011 the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations agreed to support the first National Philosothon at Cranbrook School. Each Australian state sent three teams and so twelve schools in total arrived in Sydney to participate in the inaugural event.
Each year the Australasian Philosothon is run in a different region in Australasia. In 2019 the eighth Australasian Philosothon was held at Radford College in Canberra. In 2020 the Australasian Philosothon will be hosted by the Australasian Association of Philosophy

United Kingdom

Philosothons have been run in the UK since 2013. Revd. Mark Smith & Julie Arliss from the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics Department at King's College, Taunton, UK, have spearheaded the Philosothon movement in the United Kingdom in collaboration with Dr Michael Lacewing from Heythrop College and Lizzy Lewis from Sapere. Wells Cathedral College won the first event. Since then Philosothons have been run annually around the UK including many Primary School Philosothons hosted by the Philosophy Foundation. Other Philosothons have been held around the UK.

Primary and Middle School Philosothons

In 2012 an inaugural Primary School Philosothon was held at the National Gallery of Victoria.
In 2013 the first WA Primary school Philosothon was hosted by John XXIII College at the Art Gallery of WA. Since then Annual Primary School Philosothons have been conducted in Victoria, WA and the UK.

List of Philosothons

Australia

National events

Australian Capital Territory

Queensland

New South Wales

Northern NSW PhilosothonFirstFirst Div AFirst Div BHost
2012Bishop Druitt CollegeAlstonville High SchoolBishop Druitt College
2013Bishop Druitt CollegeJohn Paul CollegeLindisfarne Anglican SchoolBishop Druitt College
2014Bishop Druitt CollegeBellingen High SchoolThe Armidale SchoolBishop Druitt College
2018MacKillop College, Port MacquarieBishop Druitt CollegeLindisfarne Anglican Grammar SchoolBishop Druitt College
2019MacKillop College, Port MacquarieBishop Druitt CollegeLindisfarne Anglican Grammar SchoolBishop Druitt College

ArmidaleFirstSecondHost
2019Presbyterian Ladies’ CollegeThe Armidale SchoolThe Armidale School

South Australia

Victoria

Western Australia

South West Western Australia

Southern WA PhilosothonsFirstSecondThirdHost
2014Georgiana Molloy Anglican SchoolBunbury Cathedral Grammar SchoolBunbury Catholic CollegeBunbury Cathedral Grammar School
2015Margaret River Senior High SchoolMargaret River Senior High SchoolBunbury Cathedral Grammar SchoolBunbury Cathedral Grammar School
2016Margaret River Senior High SchoolMargaret River Senior High SchoolBunbury Cathedral Grammar SchoolBunbury Cathedral Grammar School
2017Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School GoldGeogiana Molloy Anglican SchoolBunbury Cathedral Grammar School BlueBunbury Cathedral Grammar School
2018Bunbury Catholic College Mercy CampusGeogiana Molloy Anglican School DiamondsGeogiana Molloy Anglican School GoldBunbury Cathedral Grammar School
2019Bunbury Catholic College Mercy CampusBunbury Cathedral Grammar SchoolGeogiana Molloy Anglican SchoolGeorgiana Molloy Anglican School

New Zealand

United Kingdom