What can a group of long-dead philosophers teach a student today? The answer is plenty.

Amid the more prescriptive elements of the NSW curriculum, two Sydney Catholic schools have created imaginative and intelligent courses to develop their students’ critical thinking skills.

We take a look at the skills and concepts Our Lady of Mercy Catholic College (OLMC) Burraneer and Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich philosophy students take with them into a future of rapid change.

OLMC: PHILOSOPHY BY THE BAY

In 2015, OLMC Burraneer introduced the course Philosophy by the Bay, fusing the work of Renaissance philosophers with modern science, society and politics.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) endorsed the elective for students in years 9 and 10. 

Philosophy by the Bay’s first students with teacher Kerrie Ramsay in 2015. Photo: Kitty Beale

So what exactly can an OLMC girl learn from a bunch of dead philosophers?

It’s a question that the school’s philosophy teacher and gifted education facilitator, Kerrie Ramsay, asks students at the beginning of each year.

“Always for us the concept is first: ethics, power, legacy, truth,” Mrs Ramsay said.

“Then the philosophers’ opinions become ones to consider alongside our own, our family’s, our friends’. It’s a big melting pot of ideas.

“Philosophy by the Bay gives the gift of time, listening, and checking what you think about the world around you and your own values.”

“The students know they’re formulating their first beliefs and that their first beliefs won’t necessarily be their last beliefs”  –  Kerrie Ramsay

Mrs Ramsay said past students have been drawn to North Carolina …