Not Just a Subject but a Way of Teaching and Thinking
Why teach philosophy to children in a prep school? Why invite young minds to grapple with questions that have challenged thinkers for millennia? And why, at St John’s College School in Cambridge, do we believe that these questions matter just as much for pupils in Year 8 as they do for adults?
Philosophy is often imagined as remote or impractical, something belonging to scholars in distant libraries. Yet in reality, it is one of the most practical disciplines a child can encounter. It is the training ground of thought itself. Philosophy teaches children not what to think but how to think. In a world saturated with information, opinion and digital noise, the ability to question, evaluate and reason is indispensable.
At St John’s, this journey begins early. Pupils begin philosophical enquiry in Year 4, learning from the outset that their ideas matter and that thinking is an active, collaborative and courageous process. Although we do not currently label these lessons as “TPR”, the subject is rebranding to this from September, when the Thursday afternoon philosophy sessions will be absorbed into normal teaching time. For now, “philosophy at St John’s” encompasses both the enquiry-based sessions in the younger years and the more structured Theology, Philosophy and Religion syllabus taught in Forms 5 and 6. This dual structure is part of what makes the subject so rich, but it can also make the terminology a little confusing.
Most importantly, philosophy is not confined to a weekly slot. It is a whole school pedagogy within Religious Studies, a discursive, dialogic approach used across all age groups. This is the shared aim of the Religious Studies department, and while it has been introduced to colleagues through a Teach:Meet, it remains a distinctive feature of RS teaching at St John’s.
What a Philosophy Lesson Looks Like at St John’s
One of the most important things to understand is that there is no single “philosophy lesson” at St John’s. The form it takes depends entirely on the question being explored.
Some lessons are pure enquiries, with pupils pursuing a question such as “What is art?” in Form 4. Others are structured debates, such as Form 6’s exploration of “Is democracy the best form of governance?”. Some are performative, like the ever-popular murder trials. Others are collaborative investigations, such as Form 5’s enquiry into ontology, where pupils order objects along a spectrum of “most to least pen”. Some are experiential, such as Form 4’s lesson in which pupils are taught as if they belong to the Indian caste system, helping them consider the ethics of hierarchy and inequality.
Is democracy the best form of governance?
Although the activities vary widely, the pedagogy is constant. Lessons are dialogic. Teachers model respectful challenge, encourage quieter voices, stretch pupils’ thinking and help them uncover the assumptions behind their ideas. Pupils often chair the discussions themselves, ensuring fairness and guiding the enquiry.
This is philosophy for children at its best: enquiry driven, intellectually ambitious and rooted in genuine curiosity.
Why Philosophy Matters in a Modern Prep School Education
Philosophy cultivates the ability to evaluate evidence, recognise assumptions and construct coherent arguments. It nurtures intellectual humility, showing pupils that revising one’s view is a sign of strength. It builds confidence as children practise articulating ideas clearly and listening generously. It fosters resilience as they learn to sit with uncertainty rather than fear it.
In an age shaped by artificial intelligence, these skills are essential. When information is instantly available, the challenge is not access but interpretation. Philosophy teaches pupils to ask whether a claim is reliable, what perspective might be missing, what assumptions underpin an argument and how they know what they think they know.
These habits of mind help them thrive in a world where information is abundant but wisdom is scarce.
What Makes Philosophy at St John’s Different
At St John’s, pupils do not simply study philosophy. They become philosophers. They generate many of the questions themselves, often sparked by their own experiences or curiosities. They lead the enquiry, deciding which ideas to pursue and which arguments require deeper scrutiny. Although philosophy sits within the TPR (Theology, Philosophy and Religion) curriculum, the philosophical approach permeates the entire school. Critical thinking, questioning, reasoning and dialogue shape how pupils read literature, interpret history, approach science and understand themselves.
Philosophy at St John’s is not a subject. It is a way of being.
The Tools of Thought: Reasoning, Logic and the Great Philosophical Traditions
As pupils grow older, they begin to explore the mechanics of reasoning in far greater depth. They learn not only how to recognise strong arguments, but how to construct them with clarity and purpose. Through guided discussion and enquiry, they come to understand the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning, examine how evidence is used to support claims and evaluate the validity of different forms of argument. As their confidence grows, pupils also engage with major philosophical ideas, analysing viewpoints, questioning assumptions and developing their own considered responses.
We deliberately introduce specific philosophers, not only because this is part of the curriculum but because it demonstrates the academic stretch we offer.
With Descartes, pupils explore epistemology, questioning what can truly be known and whether reality might be an illusion, sometimes through thought experiments such as the “brain in a vat”. With Plato, they examine politics and justice, particularly through the allegory of the cave and discussions about governance. With Hume, they consider the limits of reason and the problem of induction. These ideas are not taught as abstract theories but as living tools for understanding the world and themselves.
Philosophy and Academic Attainment at St John’s
The benefits of this approach extend far beyond the philosophy classroom. Research from the Education Endowment Foundation found that pupils who study philosophy and dialogic reasoning make notable additional progress in reading and maths, with the greatest gains among disadvantaged pupils. Teachers reported improvements in reasoning, confidence, communication and classroom engagement. A University of Durham study found that pupils engaged in regular philosophical enquiry showed significant gains in cognitive ability, including problem solving and verbal reasoning.
At St John’s, we see this every day. Pupils develop incisive minds capable of analysing texts, constructing arguments and thinking independently. This intellectual power naturally supports high academic achievement across subjects. Yet exam success is a by-product rather than the goal.
The goal is something larger: curiosity, creativity, resilience and the confidence to navigate a complex world with clarity and integrity.
The Heart of It All
Teaching philosophy at prep school is an act of optimism. It assumes that children are capable of depth, reflection and wisdom. It prepares them not just for assessments but for adulthood. At St John’s, philosophy plants the seeds of thoughtful citizenship, resilient selfhood and lifelong curiosity. If education is about preparing children for the world as it is and as it might be, what better place to begin than by teaching them to ask the most important questions of all?
Author: Fran Hawkins (Head of Religious Studies and Philosophy)