That’s Not For Our Kids: The Strange Death of Philosophy and Ethics in a Low Socioeconomic Secondary School

This paper is a critical reflection on the teaching of the new Philosophy and Ethics course in a low socioeconomic context in Perth, Western Australia. It charts the successes and failures of the Philosophy and Ethics course, leading to the eventual demise of the subject at the end of 2010. We frame this reflection within Deleuzean notions of geophilosophy to advocate for a Philosophy and Ethics that is informed by nomadic thought as this offers potential for students to become innovative and creative of their selves – the critical freedom we see as potentially transformative for contemporary society. We see the strange death as being influenced by many factors, but that it is best considered as a ‘missed opportunity’ because it has so much potential to be transformative of student subjectivities in schools. We see that this critical reflection could be invaluable in a reconsideration of the scope and focus of the subject often viewed as elitist and impractical.