Community Philosophy Project
One of the core aims of the philosophy project is to promote
inter-generational understanding by creating opportunities for all
ages to mix & talk. The 'unknown'is a breeding ground for
misconceptions about each other that can lead to making judgments
on little and inaccurate information. The more that is known about
one another the less room there is to assume or fear with greater
opportunity to connect and have fun.
Street
Engagement
We run 3-4 sessions of street engagement most weeks. This
involves going out around the village getting to know people with a
view to developing philosophical activities 'where people are'.
Recent sessions have involved for example, walking the streets and
park, visiting the Folk Hall, and attending an open day at the
Friends' Meeting House. Activities under development include
working with local young people in the park to articulate their
views and feelings on the dispersal order for the upcoming
conference.
Philosophy4U
Our young people's philosophy group P4U meets weekly for a
'community of enquiry'. Every second week, one of the group members
provides the stimulus for the enquiry, and these have included
music, collections, and survival strategies. The group also have
had 2 recent 'mind and muscle' trips where a physical activity has
been the stimulus for enquiry such as a tree-top assault course
where young people faced both fear and physical exertion. P4U are
currently involved in a film project to collate local views on the
recent dispersal order in the village. The young people also
regularly volunteer at our events, and are involved in
inter-generational activities and trips with residents of Red
Lodge.
Red Lodge
A large group of Red Lodge residents enjoy meeting once a
month for a philosophical enquiry. We also provide accessible trips
based on their interests. We recently took them to Homestead Park
for a tour of the gardens and a seminar on the history of Joseph
Rowntree and New Earswick at which they all joined in discussing
their own facts and bits of knowledge about the village. A few
months ago, we had an evening out to the theatre with Red Lodge
residents and the P4U young people's group. The topic of the play
took a surprising and potentially controversial turn part way
through, which stimulated a great philosophical enquiry at a later
date! The trip was enjoyed by all who attended. We were invited to
be part of the Red Lodge summer fete where we had a bus display and
our P4U young people came along to promote the project to adults in
the village.
Community Performance
The community performance 'This Is Us' was a great success
in drawing together the community to celebrate their village. The
performance included an inter-generational drama piece from the
community philosophy project that involved community members from
Red Lodge, Girl's Brigade, our community volunteers, and our young
people's group (P4U). The sketch was designed by those involved
(with a little external script-writing expertise), and involved the
adults and young people playing reverse roles to explore how the
village has changed over time, and challenge through humour some of
the stereotypes the older and younger generations hold about each
other. We also hosted the poster design competition for the event
judged by community members in the Folk Hall, and won by 2 of our
P4U young people.
Girl's Brigade
We are currently running a philosophical enquiry once a
month with children attending the Girl's Brigade. We are also
working on opportunities to get them involved in inter-generational
activities including the possibility of a drama
performance.
New Earswick Primary
School
We have been running an after-school club at the primary
school weekly since April. This is a chance for pupils that the
school identify as 'gifted and talented' to get together and
develop their philosophical discussion and thinking skills. We are
planning to introduce some adult volunteers into the club this term
to add an inter-generational dimension. We are also planning to
bring some secondary school pupils into the group later in the year
to ease the transition for those moving onto secondary school next
year.
Joseph Rowntree Secondary
School
We have a well-attended lunch club at the secondary school
for pupils who want to know more about philosophy. We also have a
slot this year in the Year 8 PSCE curriculum using the 'community
of enquiry' structure to host lesson-time sessions on Respect and
Relationships.
Community Volunteers
Two of our community volunteers have completed SAPERE's
level 1 course in facilitating the 'community of enquiry', and have
already put their skills to use in facilitating philosophical
enquiries for us at the JRHT annual meeting. This term we are
introducing adult volunteers into our work in the schools to add
the inter-generational dimension as well as aid the practicalities
of hosting enquiries with classes of 30 pupils.
Community Barbeque
We had a very successful community barbeque back in July,
despite having to move it to the Folk Hall due to bad weather - 170
people of all ages came along and joined in with the activities and
conversation. As part of the event we had a tile painting activity
- the start of contributions for a community tile mural. An
interesting discussion took place about perceptions of young people
within the village, and the needs of different groups.
Conversations that took place with community members, for example
about how they would like to see groups on offer for adults to
socialise, have influenced our subsequent planning of events and
activities.
Conversation Corner
Over the summer months we had some enjoyable Saturday
afternoons on the village green for Conversation Corner, engaging
in conversation and activities with adults, young people, and
children from the village. As part of this we have talked with
residents about how they would like to see more activities on offer
for children in the village where they can come and talk while
their children take part.
Around The World
In August we hosted 'Around the World in 2 Days' - two
themed evenings on China and Spain - thinking about their role as
places of immigration and emigration for York. These evenings
involved sampling foods and crafts from the countries, and talking
about their culture and traditions. Guest speakers and artists
included Suna Xie on China, and Sylvia Echarri De Carr on Spain.
Following feedback from those attending these events we are working
to set up a planning group to organise 2 more events on Africa and
India.
Inter-generational Story-telling
We are involved in the library's weekly story-telling
sessions with children and parents. We host some of these sessions,
encouraging parents to allow their children to discuss and question
stories while they are reading together. Through our meetings with
CoYC staff, they have expressed an interest in involving our
'community of enquiry' approach in their city-wide literature
festival next year thus we are currently discussing with them the
idea of hosting local New Earswick events as part of
this.
Inter-generational Crafts
We have a craft group for parents and children starting in
November where they can come along and join in discussion while
engaging in a task together. We are starting with puppet-making
with the possibility of putting together a puppet show on their
interpretation of New Earswick life.
Sports Club
We have looked at several different approaches to
re-branding our Philosophy Café's (known as Café Philo) due to low
numbers attending. We tried them at different times of day in
different venues around the village such as the Folk Hall, Sports
Club, and Bowls Club. Our most successful Café Philo was at the
Sports Club, and some feedback received at a later event was that
those attending enjoyed being able to stay for a drink and further
self-sustained dialogue after the Philosophers left. This term we
are trialling 3 'quiz nights' at the Sports Club with the aim of
providing stimuli for discussion and facilitating the initial
dialogue before leaving it to be self-sustained. The first of these
events was a sports quiz where the final round was a list of
controversial sports headlines for participants to identify the
story. These headlines were based around national divisions in
sport and were used to facilitate discussion. The November quiz is
on music with a similar final round/stimulus for discussion
involving controversial lyrics. The December quiz will be a series
of interactive collaborative challenges including 'The Prisoner's
Dilemma' which involves being strategic whilst deciding the extent
to which to deceive others. This is a known stimulus for
philosophical enquiries as it brings up issues of collaboration,
deceit, and morality.
Dispersal Order Conference
We will be hosting a conference in the village in the new
year to disseminate the findings of the dispersal order research to
local residents. This event will be structured around discussion
groups with the findings acting as a stimulus for
enquiry.
New Projects
We have many new projects in the pipe-line including a
Women's Group, a People's Interests Group, and an
inter-generational film project among others. We also hope to host
community street parties in the spring at various locations around
the village that will involve community drama as a means of
exploring New Earswick life.
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Contact the project.
Further information on the background to the
project