Our objectives
Thoughtful is the Society for Philosophical Enquiry. Established in 1992 as SAPERE we believe that too few people have the opportunity to think for themselves and with others, especially the most disadvantaged in society, to the detriment of everyone’s learning and life chances because this exacerbates educational and social inequality.
Our vision is a future in which everyone has the opportunity to engage in the philosophical discussions and public discourse that matter to them – conversations that inspire curiosity, deepen understanding, strengthen relationships, and influence how people think, feel, speak, and act in the world. We believe that philosophical education is both a personal and a public good and we work to ensure its benefits are realised as widely and as equitably as possible.
Our mission is to create and sustain spaces for philosophical reflection and enquiry, especially where young people gather and learn. We champion philosophical dialogue and its power to support personal development, lifelong learning, civic discourse, and thoughtful action.
We prioritise the education of disadvantaged learners and those who support them.
Our programmes reach thousands of beneficiaries each year. Among them are the 1.67 million children who have taken part in regular P4C as a result of our teacher training provision over the last 35 years.
We aim to be thoughtful by name and by nature. Our educational approach cultivates critical, creative, caring, and collaborative thinking within communities—and we strive to embody these values in everything we do as a charity.
Our activities
The key elements of work for our charity are training for people on our quality-assured courses; offering experiences directly to people in various settings (including cultural and site-specific spaces); granting Awards to schools and individuals to help encourage and celebrate excellent practice, which work alongside our programmes that sustain and deepen practice in schools over many years; we provide high quality resources that respond to the needs of our beneficiaries through a subscription (both free and paid-for) site; our fundraising supports our core work, but also enables us to research our practice and impact as well as develop projects that can test new ideas and meet significant needs. As a collaborative organisation we have and nurture partnerships with Universities and other allied organisation to secure the future of philosophical education, we host events and groups to bring together our trainers, teachers, schools and practitioners to build a strong community and together we have a stronger voice to campaign about the importance of philosophical enquiry in education and the wider community.
