This clip is from a training video called 'Intelligent Learning' that I wrote for schools. Here, Doug Paterson, a history teacher in Northumberland, has asked his class to come up with some philosophical questions about war prior to studying World War One. Attachment: Leaflet about the Intelligent Learning Training Course
After some discussion they decide on the question: 'In war, who is innocent and who is guilty?' This clip shows a section of that discussion. In previous lessons, Doug has intervened in classroom dialogue to encourage pupils to question each other in reasonable ways and to deepen discussion through clarifying ideas, thinking of alternatives, speculating about consequences and so on.
After an interesting discussion, pupils were still talking about their ideas while leaving the room. To some, such a discussion might seem superfluous to the pupils' study of World War One. However, discussions like these can stimulate pupils' interest in the topic and motivate them to find out more about the War. Their new knowledge will, in turn, enrich their developing ethical and political views about war in general and inform their opions about a very current issue: whether one can speak of a 'just war'.
