The Philosophy Shop's work in the community

We believe Philosophy nurtures the abilities of people from all backgrounds, and not just children and teenagers labeled difficult and low-achieving but adults who did not respond well to a conventional curriculum – all of whom really enjoy the stimulus of discussion and argument.

The Philosophy Shop has already brought regular weekly Philosophy classes to over 20 primary schools in London and increasingly, nationwide. The Philosophy Shop has an established track record of working in the state sector and in stretching primary schoolers, especially underachievers and/or youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as the independent school sector.

Apart from its work in UK schools, The Philosophy Shop provides benefits to the wider community by offering recreational education classes to adults. Thus Philosophy can provide all members of our community an outlet for their intelligence and creativity.

Being exposed to the challenge of Philosophy as young as five brings multiple benefits. Teachers and other education professionals report an increase in reasoning skills, with pupils saying they are learning how to approach problems more creatively, how to think more deeply, plus how to develop a train of thought and appreciate another point of view.

As Eugene Romain, a teacher at Grinling Gibbon’s School in South London notes, “Children grow in confidence when they realise that the primary resource for the group is not regurgitated fact - but rather their own independent opinions. Their delight and absorption in coming to use their analytic skills is obvious, and their quick adaptation to the individuality and originality that real thinking requires is impossible to miss.” Eugene also thinks children widen their sense of the scope of thinking, adding, “it is notable how comfortable they become with the ambiguous, the open-ended and the unknown [as a result]”.

Pupils agree. "The best thing about Philosophy is it really makes you think about all the possible answers"; "I learnt to be open-minded, and learnt about other people's points of view”; "I think Philosophy helped me think quicker and helped me to explain my answers in a more detailed way,” all comments from recent 10 year olds who had attended Philosophy Shop sessions.