2020 AUSTRALASIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHILOSOPHY (AAPP)

JUDGES INFORMATION KIT

The following information is for those people that we have invited to judge at the 2020 AAP Philosothon. In conducting the Philosothon we hope to raise the profile of Philosophy and Ethics in secondary schools. This is an important initiative and we thank you for agreeing to be part of it.

• •We have over 20 schools entered in the 2020 Australasian Philosothon. These schools have been invited because they were placed among the top schools in regional Philosothons last year. Philosothons are currently being run throughout Australasia and Europe involving well over 400 schools.

• Thanks to some external funding from the Templeton Foundation we have been able to extend the reach of Philosothons into regions and therefore it is exciting that we have regional schools and NZ involved this year.

• You can find the resources for the 2020 Australasian Philosothon online at; https://philosothon.org/2020AustralasianPhilosothon/Resources1.html

• The Philosothon uses the Community of Inquiry (COI) model of philosophical discussion. There are eight COI’s over the two days and they are all on the Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th September).

• The resources are not intended to be exhaustive but rather provide a starting point for the discussions during the event. Students will familiarise themselves with the resource material beforehand.

• We will use a Zoom format on the day and so students email addresses will need to be registered. We will send you an invitation to register one month before the event. It is important that you register as the groups are pre-assigned and based on registered participants.

• The only difference between an online Philosothon and one held face to face is that students are not sitting in a circle but in front of a screen. All the other rules and protocols apply. See article at the end of this handout.

• There is no expectation on students that they will have studied or will study Philosophy having participated in the Philosothon.

• It is important that you attend the training session on the 1st Sept.

• We will include some background information about each of the judges in the program. We will require the judges to fill ‘template’ before the event and ask you to register for the zoom meeting.

• Students will provide a question at the start of each COI for each COI based on the stimulus material.

• Score sheets need to be submitted online to the organisers at the end of the day and these scores will determine team awards and individual awards. We would like to announce the results within 24 hours of the end of the event.

• Following the Philosothon the judges are asked to provide some brief feedback about the event.

At the Australasian Philosothon • All students attending the Philosothon will be in their respective school uniform on the final day.

• Each COI will have a facilitator in the room whose responsibility is to ensure the smooth running of the COI. ______

Event Details:

(Please adjust the time according to your location)

29th September- Day 1- Starting at 8 am Perth/9.30am Adelaide/ 10.00am AEST/1pm NZST- Total time four hours) • 8 am - 8.30 am AWST Welcome and Introductions • 8.30 am - 9.10 am AWST COI 1 (Seniors) • 9.20 - 9.50 am AWST COI 1 (Juniors) • 9.50-10.20- Break • 10.25 am- 11.05 am AWST COI 2 (Seniors) • 11.15am -11.55 am AWST COI 2 (Juniors) • 11.55 pm-12.10 pm- AWST Housekeeping Finish time- 12.10 pm Perth/1.40pm Adelaide/ 2.10 pm AEST/ 5.10pm NZST

30th September- Day 2- Starting at 8 am Perth/9.30am Adelaide/ 10.00am AEST/1pm NZST- Total time four hours) • 8 am - 8.30 am AWST Introductions • 8.30 am - 9.10 am AWST COI 3 (Seniors) • 9.20 - 9.50 am AWST COI 3 (Juniors) • 9.50-10.20- Break • 10.25 am- 11.05 am AWST COI 4 (Seniors) • 11.15am -11.55 am AWST COI 4 (Juniors) • 11.55 am-12.10- AWST Housekeeping Finish time- 12.10 pm Perth/1.40pm Adelaide/ 2.10 pm AEST/ 5.10pm NZST

Participating Schools

Churchie QLD Our Lady of Mercy College WA

Hamilton Girls High School NZ PLC (Armidale) NSW

Kind David School VIC Scotch College WA

Kinross Wolaroi School NSW SA

Lindisfarne NSW St Andrews Cathedral School NSW

Loreto College VIC St Ignatius College SA

MacKillop College Port Macquarie. St Peters Girls School SA NSW Telopea Park High School/Narrabunda Mentone Grammar School VIC College ACT

Merici College ACT NZ

Nth Sydney Girls School NSW Wesley College VIC

FURTHER DETAILS ABOUT THE PHILOSOTHON

During the Australasian Philosothon there will be eight Communities of Inquiry over the two days. Like last year we are running the COI’s from the very beginning of the program, on the first day, through to the end of the program on Thursday. Each student will participate in four COIs and all four will be graded. Like last year junior students will have an opportunity to observe COIs during the Australasian Philosothon. Each graded COI will be 40 minutes long. There will be eight groups meeting at any one time, all eight groups will be dealing with the same topic. Students will remain in age level groups (14yrs & 15yrs, 16yrs & Open) for their first two assessed Communities of Inquiry and then for the final two sessions the year levels will be mixed up. Each graded Community of Inquiry will be assigned a facilitator to co-ordinate the discussion and a judge will award marks using the attached criteria. Each participant in the Community of Inquiry will be marked separately, and these marks will contribute towards a final School score but will also be tallied to decide Year level medals. Individual medals will also be awarded to year level

winners and a book voucher for the most promising philosopher. The attached marking regime will be used by the judging panel and the panel consists of subject specialists in Philosophy.

Recognition Award Information

A magnificent trophy will be awarded to the winning school at the end of the Australasian Philosothon and medals awarded to various age categories. These will be posted to the participating schools in order that schools can award these in an assembly. A $200 book voucher has also been donated by the Australasian Association for Philosophy and will be awarded to the most promising philosopher over the three days. The top three schools will also receive a year’s subscription to Philosophy Now. Students will be awarded medals if ranked 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their age division and school ranking.

Topics for the Communities of Inquiry:

2020 Philosothon Topics

1. The Trolley Problem and Implications

2. The Case of the Four Causes

3. Sorry Mr Spock Science & Emotion Are Not Only Compatible They’re Inseparable

4. Philosophical Scepticism

www.philosothon.net

Students will go through this stimulus material and design an open-ended question which will be read out at the start of each COI.

______

Contact Details

Organisers Matthew Wills - [email protected]

Mr Ben Reeves - [email protected]

Basic Guidelines given to students about how to participate in a Philosophical Community of Inquiry • You will be invited to enter a breakout room. Note: some students will be observing and others participating in the COI. • When invited by the facilitator please enter your question in the “Chat Forum” (Cut and paste it) • Make sure your camera is on and microphone off. And that you are seated far enough from your camera so that your upper torso is visible. (Not just a head shot) • Be prepared for a discussion. When you are invited to speak turn your microphone on. (after you have chosen the next speak turn your mic off) • There is to be no reference to notes. (Judges will mark students down if they are reading pre-prepared notes.) • Keep your contribution as brief as possible and do not make multiple points, questions and or illustrations. • If you want to speak you put your “hand up • The last person to speak chooses the next person to speak. • There is a need to ask questions rather than make statements. • Deep listening is integral to the process • Give reasons for your position • Check assumptions, reasoning, evidence – your own as well as others • Define and discuss points of difference as well as points of agreement • Ask others for reasons, definitions, evidences, examples assumptions if necessary. • Admit when you disagree with something that you may have thought earlier. • The facilitator will ask people to finish

Remember Sense of community is essential All opinions are respected but you do not have to agree with every position. The discussion makes the pathway not a leader Differences are a fundamental part of the process Accept that others may disagree with you Conflict and mistakes made in good faith are to be seen as opportunities for learning and growth. This is a thinking process that can challenge assumptions and preconceived ideas It may be that you need to change your mind It is NOT about winning an argument. It is about thinking more deeply about matters of importance to you as a member of the community.

ALL CHALLENGES ARE TO IDEAS EXPRESSED AND NOT TO THE PEOPLE EXPRESSING THE IDEAS

Philosothon Community of Inquiry marking key

The following marking key will be used for the Philosothon. It is a marking key originally developed by Professor Stephan Millett to assess student participation and performance in the community of inquiry in the classroom. Note we have transferred the original version to an online format. Alternatively, you can print out a hard copy of the scoresheet. (These is a link to this on the online form and we will be emailing you a copy before the event.) In any case you will need to enter the names of the students in our COI included in the left-hand column. Then provide a grade out of 10 for each area, Critical thinking, Creative thinking and Collaborative thinking. Please identify at least one student (Max 2) in the COI that you would suggest might be eligible for the Most Promising Philosopher Prize. Once completed please press “Submit”.

How to judge an online COI? Each breakout room will have 8-10 students, a facilitator and at least one judge. The judges will simply observe the participating students and score students on the skills displayed. Facilitators will run the COI in the same way as would be done at a face to face COI. There might be some observers in the breakout room, but their microphone and camera should be off. Judges will need to leave their camera on and microphone off.

1. At the outset students will introduce themselves briefly and then read out their question. You might write down their names as they introduce themselves. 2. The facilitator will choose the best philosophical question and then invite the questioner to restate the question and then open the discussion for others to respond. 3. The last person to speak chooses the next person to speak. The final two COIs will be closed to student observers, but teachers would be welcome to listen in with microphones off. 4. The facilitator intervenes where appropriate mainly to ensure each participant gets an opportunity to speak but generally would allow the students to run the COI. 5. Judges can comment at the end if there is time and advise students where some improvement could be made but given the time constraints this might not be possible. The judges will email their completed score sheet to the scorer. *Please note that the most difficult aspect of a Philosothon for judges is the time constraints particularly if you are moving from one group to another and need to finalise notes while the next COI is starting. It will assist you greatly if you finalise your scores after a series of heats.