Philosopher's Club update

On Tuesday mornings, 5G has been spending some time grappling with life's big questions. So far, we have wondered

• what came first, the chicken or the egg?
• what is philosophy?
• what is violence?

and today we will turn our attention to whether or not the glass is half empty or half full. These questions are directly taken from a wonderful children's book of the same name, and have inspired some incredible discussions that explored whether or not time has a beginning, questioned human beings free will, wondered if washing hands to kill germs is a type of violence and therefore if we need violence to survive (is chopping down trees a type of violence?). As a woman who is passionate about peace, this particular conversation was so interesting as the children really questioned war, peace and the gray areas in-between. These conversations strengthen our Reading Power skills of Questioning, Connecting, Inferring and Transforming, as well as offer opportunity to practice active listening, building upon other ideas to communicate your own and communicating in a group setting without raising a hand (it can be difficult to learn when another person is done speaking and when it is appropriate to share your own idea!). The quality of ideas shared in these discussions is incredible, and I hope that over the course of the study (there are eight big questions I'd like to tackle), 5G achieves the ultimate goal of understanding "what I believe, and why I believe it"