Knowing, believing and guessing

Epistemology is the part of philosophy that asks what knowledge is and how we get it. For children it comes down to questions they already care about: How do you know? Who told you? Could you be wrong?

In a community of enquiry the group builds its own criteria. Children often begin with 'I saw it' or 'my teacher said so' and then find cases where those reasons fall short. That discovery is the point of the session.

Stimulus and questions

Stimulus, 'The Footprints': After a snowy night, Zara finds large round footprints across the school field. Her friend Kian says, 'A bear came.' Zara says, 'You can't know that.' Their teacher says, 'I know exactly what made them.' She won't say what. By lunchtime, half the class believes in the bear.

• What is the difference between knowing and believing?

• If lots of people believe something, does that make it more likely to be true?

• Can you know something you haven't seen?

• Should you believe a teacher just because she is a teacher?

• Is it ever good to say 'I don't know'?

Sample session: ages 8 to 12, 45 minutes

Materials: the story, a closed box with a hidden object, three cards labelled 'Know', 'Believe', 'Guess'.

• 5 min: warm-up. Pass the closed box round. Children shake it and say what they think is inside, then place their idea under Know, Believe or Guess.

• 5 min: read the stimulus; allow quiet thinking.

• 10 min: pairs write questions, share and vote.

• 20 min: enquiry on the chosen question.

• 5 min: open the box. Discuss whether anyone actually knew, and what would have counted as knowing.

Facilitator moves and adaptation

Ask for sources: 'How did you find that out?'. Ask for tests: 'What would change your mind?'. Point out when the group moves from evidence to agreement: 'Are we more sure now, or just more of us agree?'.

For younger children, keep the box game central and shorten the enquiry. Older children can compare two short, harmless claims from different sources and rank how much they trust each one, with reasons. Keep the ground rules visible: one voice at a time, reasons with every view, and changing your mind is a sign of good thinking.

Key points

• Use a hidden-object game to make 'how do you know?' concrete.

• Help children separate evidence from the number of people who agree.

• Ask 'What would change your mind?' in every session.

• Treat 'I don't know' as a reasonable answer worth discussing.

Ready-made resources

Printable session plans and materials for this topic are available from EduTrend Contents: P4C-110 Philosophy Starter Kit.

Photos: Anna Khromova, Michał Parzuchowski / Unsplash