This Christmas edition of the bulletin features a festive stimulus in which some elves approach Santa asking for a pay rise, leading into a discussion about what should determine the value of a job. There’s a PDF of the dialogue on our Christmas Specials page, along with other Christmas themed issues going back to 2010!
ELF 1 Santa, can we have a word?
SANTA Sure, I’m all ears.
ELF 2 You’re all ears? Try working in a toy factory all day with ears this size. The noise is deafening.
ELF 3 We have to use car sponges as ear plugs…
ELF 1 …and that means we can’t hear each other speak.
SANTA I’m sorry to hear that.
ELF 2 Are you trying to be funny?
SANTA No, not at all. Just not choosing my words very well. Sorry, busy time of Year.
ELF 3 Tell me about it! I was wrapping presents in my sleep last night.
SANTA Well, we are a seasonal business. But soon it’ll be over for another year. You’ll be able to have a nice holiday.
ELF 2 Holiday! You think we can afford a holiday on what you pay us?
SANTA Well, it’s not about the money. Think of the joy we’re bringing.
ELF 1 Actually, Santa, it is about the money. That’s what we came to see you about. We want a pay rise.
SANTA A pay rise! I don’t know about that. I mean, every time we advertise for new staff, I get hundreds of applications from elves who wold be quite happy with the pay. Not to mention the gnomes – there’s more money in factory work than in fishing or gardening these days.
ELF 2 So if we’re not happy with the noise, the long hours and the poor pay, you can just get rid of us and find some gnomes to replace us, hey?
SANTA That’s not what I meant.
ELF 3 We thought this would happen. That’s why we’ve started the EUU – The Elf Unsafety Union. If you go bringing in other workers to keep down our pay and working conditions, we’re all going on strike.
ELF 1 I put our demands into a list. You should like it, you’re good with lists.
SANTA Ho, ho, ho.
What makes something fair pay for the job?
This could be great fun performed by four staff as a stimulus for a philosophy assembly, but in a class, have them read it in groups of four. Then they can continue the dialogue in character, with the elves justifying their demands and santa coming up with objections. (You might play the “Yes, but…” game at the very start of the session, as a warm-up)
After you’ve heard back some of the exchanges, “What were some of your most interesting/funny disagreements?” you could move on to an enquiry about, “How should the pay for a job be decided?”
• What other people get paid for the same job
• The most the owner of a business can pay
• The least the owner needs to pay to get workers
• An amount that fits how hard workers work
• An amount that fits how skilful workers are
• An amount that fits how much work workers get done
• The most the employees can persuade the owner to pay
Then at the end of that, come back to the story and get them back in their groups to decide how the conversation between the elves and santa ended, and share some performances. Many good sessions go from a specific stimulus to a general question and back to a specific stimulus, and there’s also something satisfying about ending a session with something creative in the same form as the stimulus.
What’s new in the Philosoverse?
Tom’s been enjoying a break. I’ve been to St Nicholas Primary School in Marston for day 2 of an Embed P4C course for Thoughtful – more on some sessions from their curriculum in a future issue. I’ve also been taking lots of calls about work next year, with the schools outreach team at Oxford University, international schools in Hong Kong and China eyeing a March visit, as well as some of the primary and secondary schools we’re working with in January.
We’ve still got plenty of capacity to work with more schools in 2026, running workshops with your students so that staff can see the principles of deeper, more inclusive oracy and P4C in action, or for your INSET day or conference. But some months are getting quite congested now.
If you’re thinking of getting some support for P4C or to start getting your oracy pedagogy ready for the new curriculum, use this contact form to get in touch.