EPIX

Exploring Pupil’s Inquiries on eXistential themes

epix@humanistsmalta.org

EPIX

Who am I? Why am I here?

Exploring pupils’ inquires on existential themes

The project seeks to collaborate with a secondary school on deepening their students’ inquiry of existentialist themes beyond the curriculum. Students who participate in the project will benefit from a challenging course on existential inquiry, taught by experts in their field.

Existential questions are relevant to the education of Year 9 to Year 11 students in particular, who will be starting to grapple with profound existential topics such as the meaning of existence, the nature of personal identity, authenticity, the possession of free will, discomfort or fascination with ambiguity and death.

If dealt with at all, these challenging questions typically arise in the context of religious education but curriculum constraints means that students’ existential questions often go unexplored. The course proposed here will be an extra-curricular which gives students space to engage with and express their existential questions over five dialogue-based, small-group tutorials and two student-led sessions. The aim is thus to foster existential inquiry for children in a safe but challenging space.

The project has been concluded in February 2023 but we’re looking forward to continue exploring future directions. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on epix@humanistsMalta.org should you wish more information.

During their first session, Year 10 students were invited to consider the fundamental existential question: "Who am I?", leading them to reflect on our freedom and capacity of defining ourselves in the practical context we find ourselves in.

Students reflected on the interplay between intimacy, passion, and commitment in romantic/love relationships and the messages we get on these topics through culture, society, family, and friends.

During this EPIX tutorial, students reflected on the interplay between intimacy, passion, and commitment in romantic/love relationships.

On Tuesday we introduced students to the idea of journaling - the ability to reflect on important life questions and arranging the bits and pieces which surface into notes.

Publication: The Pedagogical Role of Philosophy in a Community of Inquiry

Happy to announce that lessons learnt and reflections from the EPiX project have just been published in the Malta Review of Educational Research Journal (MRER).

Read the paper here: http://www.mreronline.org/issues/issue-1-june-2023/

This project has been funded by the Small Initiatives Support Scheme (SIS) managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) supported by the Ministry for Inclusion, Voluntary Organisations and Consumer Rights (MIVC).

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