PLATO offers customized programs around the world for schools, organizations, teachers, administrators, parents and families, and other adults interested in facilitating philosophical inquiry with young people, including one-on-one coaching and training, workshops, public presentations, consulting, demonstration philosophy sessions in K-12 classrooms and other forums, and mentoring.

Programs are developed to fit the needs of each group or individual, and include whole school programs, individual teacher coaching, and a range of support and resources for the development of philosophy programs. PLATO also serves as an ongoing resource for educators, schools, and organizations interested in building a philosophical culture.

Past programs have included all or some of the following:

• Workshops for up to 16 teachers for anywhere from 3-15 hours
  
  
• Individualized coaching programs for teachers or groups of teachers
  
  
• Consultating sessions with individuals and schools
  
  
• Information evening for teachers and/or parents
  
  
• Public lecture (one hour plus, including Q&A)
  
  
• Demonstration classes (two, in different grades or age groups)
  
  
• Ongoing year-long mentorship for a school or organization (10 months), including unlimited email messages and a monthly online seminar for up to 16 participants

Have the forces of political polarization in our country made you nervous about allowing your students to explore controversial issues in the classroom? Are you someone who would like to guide your students through challenging conversations, but you’re not sure where to start? Are you looking for professional development workshops for your school focused on dialogue? PLATO’s one-on-one consulting services can help.

We offer consulting services designed to fit your needs, as well as day-long, in-person professional development workshops that include observations and one-on-one feedback.

Curriculum Design & Development — create new lesson material that meet your students’ interests and needs, or integrate philosophy into a pre-existing curriculum. 

Coaching & Mentorship — advance your philosophy practice with observations and feedback, custom-tailored training exercises, and/or model demonstrations for individual teachers or school-based teams. This can take place either in person or virtually.

Assemblies & Events — curated content for one-off events for students of any ages, based on a particular theme that can be executed by our trainers or by someone on your staff. This is a great way to refresh monthly programming that focuses on student interests and enhances student engagement.

Staff Workshops — introduce the philosophical inquiry techniques at the heart of PLATO’s approach into your organizational context to help tackle big questions and create opportunities for team bonding and dialogue.

Philosophical Children

Children and youth frequently ask big questions — Can you be happy and sad at the same time? Why do people die? Are thoughts real? Encouraging young people to articulate and discuss their questions opens spaces for them to think critically for themselves about their own experiences and encourages deep and well-reasoned reflection about some of life’s essential questions.

This talk will examine the importance of philosophical thinking in children and consider how adults can help cultivate young people’s wondering and questioning. The talk will also explore ways that children’s literature can be the perfect vehicle for stimulating discussion and critical thinking about the philosophical questions on young people’s minds.

Please contact us at info@plato-philosophy.org for more information about options and fees for these programs.