ABSTRACT
Philosophy for Children (P4C) in the primary school is an approach that has been adopted by increasing numbers of primary schools in the UK since its inception. P4C as a community of practice offers an explicit means to examine conceptual understanding within a group situation for children in primary school. It enables this to be embedded within their own interests, and their desire to know about the world around them. The teacher makes choices as to how to engage with the children and the types of interactions they encourage. Alexander suggests: It is the principles by which productive teaching is underpinned, which should first command teachers' attention. P4C offers a means of examining these principles as key concepts related to this notion of productive teaching. These include scholarship and love of learning, which are related to the teachers' standards as designated by the UK government.
