Current members of the P4C.COM Co-operative
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Directors:James Nottingham, Steve Williams and Roger Sutcliffe
James Nottingham began his professional life as a teaching assistant and sports coach at a 3-18 residential school for deaf children. He then trained as a teacher, studying P4C as part of his university degree before working in primary, middle and secondary schools across the UK. Soon after appearing in a televised documentary about P4C in 1999 (see clip here), James left full-time teaching to focus on the development of a P4C network.
A year later, he co-founded a social enterprise project to regenerate areas of North East England characterised by under-employment, low aspirations and lack of community engagement. Using P4C as the catalyst for change, this project grew into a multi-million pound, award-winning initiative working with families, schools and local enterprise. Today, James supports schools in the development of leadership, learning and innovation; is regularly invited to give keynotes at education conferences across the world and is the European coordinator for the international network of Community Designed Schools.
Steve Williams taught English and media studies for 14 years in secondary schools and served for five years as head of an English department. He helped to found SAPERE, the Philosophy for Children network in the UK, and was the first person in Britain to introduce P4C as curriculum subject in a secondary school. Over the years, he has worked with children of all ages in a wide variety of schools. He has helped many teachers to start Philosophy for Children through the courses and support he provides.
He is also very interested in Readers Theatre, writing for learning and online education. He has been involved with national and international projects in these fields. He has worked for five years as a full-time senior editor for an educational publishing company, editing books and magazines including 'Teaching Thinking and Creativity', a well-respected publication with a world-wide reputation. He now works as a freelance teacher, writer, and editor and he’s returned to education part-time to work for a master's degree in philosophy.
Roger Sutcliffe read philosophy and modern languages at Oxford, graduating in 1975. After teaching for 5 years in a junior school, he joined the maths department at Christ's Hospital School, Horsham, where he also took an Open University degree in maths and educational management. In the early 90's he left full-time teaching for private study, and trained in Philosophy for Children with Matthew Lipman in New Jersey, and Creative Thinking in Malta with Edward de Bono.
After another spell at Christ's Hospital - this time in the English department - he became a freelance trainer in philosophical inquiry and thinking skills, especially critical thinking, with teachers at all levels. He was a founding member of SAPERE, and has served as both Chair and President. In 2003 he was elected President of ICPIC, the International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children. He has been evaluator of two Geographical Association projects, and co-designer of an International GCSE titled 'Global Perspectives', being piloted by Cambridge International Exams. He has published articles in numerous journals, and serves on the editorial boards of Teaching Thinking and Creativity and the Philosophy of Management journal.