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Meno and Demos

Department staff

The Meno Programme

Meno is the name of one of Plato’s dialogues.  It is a dialogue between Socrates, the philosopher and mentor of Plato, and Meno, a young Thessalian aristocrat. The Meno is about whether virtue can be taught: by virtue, the Greeks understood physical and intellectual excellence, which gave the ability to take a leading role in politics, in war and in athletics.  Norwich School has adopted the name Meno for its ‘horizon broadening’ and PE teaching because the dialogue focuses on the two halves of the whole, i.e. the physical and the intellectual. 

Much of the dialogue focuses on whether virtue, as contemporary readers would have understood it, can be taught.  What is interesting is the fact that Socrates’ method is its conversational style.  For Socrates, enquiries about the truth or falsity of an opinion or the justice or injustice of an action are best conducted in conversation.  Thus the intention of the Meno Programme is that lessons take the form of discussion, allowing pupils to develop their own opinions about a range of moral, ethical and philosophical issues.  It is hoped that this spirit of enquiry will rub off in mainstream lessons and on the way pupils learn.

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a pedagogical method developed by Matthew Lipman and the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for children at Montclair State University in New Jersey.   This is the method which is being rolled out across all of our Meno teaching.

The Demos Programme

“There are matters which it is important to study, not for the gaining of qualifications, but for their own sake;  for the good they can do us, and for the evil they can help us avoid.”

Demosis the name we have adopted at Norwich School for the strand of learning which encompasses personal and social well-being, and economic and moral independence.  This includes sex and relationships education, citizenship, health education, risk awareness, an introduction to aspects of psychology and emotional intelligence, and a detailed consideration of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

“Demos means People – the citizen body.  In the Demos programme, we cover material which it is vital for everyone to know about, including PSHE, welfare, citizenship, and sex & relationships education.”

Demos courses are taught on a rotating basis, each course lasting for four weeks (three weeks in U5).   As a timetabling quirk, P.E. is included in the Demos rotation for L5.   Each year has different but related elements, with succeeding years building upon ideas introduced earlier.  Some elements of the Demos Programme, including the mechanics of sexual reproduction, are delivered primarily in Biology and in Religious Studies.  The relevant Heads of Department liaise with the Assistant Head (Learning Extension), who coordinates the Meno and Demos Programmes. 

In the Sixth Form, aspects of Demos are covered in the ‘Futures’ programme, and parts of the General Studies and Cultural Studies programmes.  ‘Futures’ runs throughout the Lower Sixth and the first two terms of the Upper Sixth.  While its emphasis is preparation for higher education and employment, issues relating to sexual health, stress and personal responsibility are addressed.

Teaching groups are House-based (the exception being in L4 Meno, where random groups are used to give the pupils another chance to make some new friends).   House Tutors are the people who get to know the members of their Tutor Groups best, as individuals, and so Tutors are asked to do a number of follow-up sessions during Friday tutorial periods, enabling these important and sometimes emotive topics to have another airing in a different, but always supportive, atmosphere.

Housemasters also have a key role to play in the pupils’ experience of these ideas.   As well as developing a detailed familiarity with all the pupils in their House, Housemasters each have oversight of a year-group and can act as conduits for the exchange of productive techniques and activities, and the promulgation of best practice.

Responsibility for ‘horizontal’ oversight of year-groups

            L4        Humphrey Bedford-Payne (with Nicola Hill)

            U4       John Fisher

            L5        Graham Hanlon

            M5       Graham Downes

            U5       David Bateman

            L6        Fran Ellington and Andrew Curtis

            U6       Ian Grisewood (with Craig Hooper)