This week, we’re sharing another set of ideas that worked very effectively at Georgian Gardens Primary School, near Brighton.
The school gave us the topic for each year group and asked us to create an oracy activity. In both Tom and Jason’s sessions, a general theme emerged of making decisions within a co-created story. We explained one process in last week’s bulletin, so we’ll use this one to extend it with a few more examples, and further advice on using the technique with older children.
Year 1: Castles and Dragons
Set up: You can get the group in the mood by asking what they would take with them.You’re a band of heroes sent to expel a dragon from an ancient castle. The dragon has been using the castle as a base for terrorising the local villagers, who have asked for your help (see this bulletin about how to set up your own story).
You tip-toe down to the dungeon and hear the dragon snoring loudly. The only other noise is the sound of gold coins clinking over eachother as they are pulled by the dragon’s breathing in and out. It must be sitting on its hoard of treasure! So what now? Do you:
- Surround the dragon and get ready to fight it.
- Wake the dragon up so you can talk to it.
- Sneak off with as much treasure as you can without waking the dragon.
Of course, you can’t write a whole choose-your-own-adventure story in advance, and unless you’ve got Dungeon Master experience improvising a story that could go anywhere can be challenging. But all you need is an idea for the next beat of the story for each of the choices.
You’ve decided to talk to the Dragon. You wake it up by…. (let them fill in the gap)… but what are you going to say now. What’s the best way to persuade the dragon to leave?
- Offer it another castle (which you don’t have!)
- Threaten it with death
- Tell it a sob story about why someone else should have the castle.
If they decide to fight, the choices could be sneak up on it and try to plant a mortal blow while it sleeps, fire arrows from a distance, or all charge at it together. If they decide to sneak off with some treasure, the dragon can wake up, in which case they’re down to fight or talk, so you don’t need more choices.
For each choice, you can do a “vote with your feet” with them standing in zones to show their preferences, then giving reasons that might sway the other adventurers. And when you run out of choices you’ve planned or are comfortable making up on the spot, you can pause the adventure on a cliffhanger, giving you plenty of time to prepare (perhaps with the aid of your AI of choice) the next options in the story.
Notice how you can include some juicy philosophical conceptes within the story – so far, fair play, honour, ends justifying means, property, risk…
Year 4: Ancient Egyptians
Set up: You’re a group of archaeologists who’ve just discovered an undisturbed tomb beneath the pyramids. Before you step in, you see a sign on the door that says Keep Out. Do you:
- Ignore the sign and proceed
- Open the door to take photos, then leave
- Obey the sign and turn back
In this case, the pupils decided to proceed, so I asked them what rule we should to obey once we’re in there. Here were their suggestions:
- Look, but do not touch or photograph anything
- Take photos only
- Take objects back for display in museums
- Move the entire tomb to a museum so everyone can see it
Year 6: Extreme Weather
Set up: Scientists believe that pollution coming from richer countries is in part responsible for the extreme weather being experienced in poorer countries. What should richer countries do?
- Pay for all the damage to poorer countries
- Pay a fixed annual amount
- Give an amount proportionate to how bad the damage is
- Put the money into research to find out how responsible their pollution is
For Older Children
The same kind of “What should be done” approach can be taken with any moral dilemma. The news may be a particularly good source of content. We recommend Tom’s old employers The Economist Educational Foundation for the world’s best news resources (completely free).
When you reach an important choice, the key is to give the opportunity for paired talk to decide upon proposals. Then, when you hear back, you’ll have a range of different ideas to place around the room.
What’s On in the Philosoverse?
Jason spent Monday training students, researchers and access officers from the University of Oxford outreach team. He wasn’t quite as animated as usual, having sprained an ankle after an evening singing sea shanties. Checking emails while resting at lunchtime required an unusual desk arrangement…
Tom’s also running an online oracy INSET with Ashdown Primary School this afternoon, and is busy arranging other Spring-term workshop days in schools. Learn more at www.thephilosophyman.com/oracy-training