Two of the trustees of the foundation (Lilly Corbett and Brian McGeough) travelled to Belfast on Tuesday May 13th to meet with Kevin McArevey. Kevin is the Headmaster at Holy Cross school for boys in Ardoyne. Holy Cross is a Catholic Primary School with 400 boys and Ardoyne has historically been a very disadvantaged area in North Belfast with high intergenerational unemployment among other social ills. Kevin was very generous with his time and attention and the school itself is patently alive with teachers and pupils in a busy happy atmosphere.
Kevin studied Philosophy and History at Queen’s and went into primary teaching immediately after his degree. As assistant principal some years ago, he conceived the idea of using philosophy to inspire the boys of Holy Cross, to help them to think for themselves and in so doing to break the cycle of destruction and desperation that he saw in the community.
Kevin is quite the storyteller and spoke of how he got the teachers onboard with this project by running an impromptu philosophy class with a bunch of pupils and a donut as a prop. With that prop and such interesting questions as “is the hole a part of the donut” he facilitated a conversation that surprised the teachers looking on. The pupils were engaged and contributed questions and answers that were unexpected and imaginative.
From the beginning he has found a way to make philosophy accessible for teachers and students and all appear to be on board with its significance and importance. Whilst there is an appeal to a range of philosophers, the focus is Plato and his teacher Socrates and pupil Aristotle.
Kevin said “ the only hope for these children is to change their thinking and the only way to achieve this is through Plato”
Although his primary aim is not academic achievement it appears his approach has had a positive knock-on impact in this regard with up to 40% of pupils sitting the Grammar School entrance exams from a very low base. He remarked that the pupils have no fear of this exam, the focus on developing critical thinking has given them a self confidence that carries through to many aspects of their lives.
Kevin’s focus is on dialogue, in particular, encouraging the pupils to ask questions and examine their own views on every topic. Before the boys go out to play sport they meet in the sports hall under a large mural which he has called the ‘Stoic Mantra’. It has four virtues listed and a brief explanation of what that looks like when you are in full flight on the sports field. After the game they do a review of how they got on with living up to those virtues. Altercations in the playground are dealt with by the warring parties using a white board to discuss what happened with each rating their own behaviour and arriving at a resolution. We did see some evidence of this on our visit – looks like it is not an uncommon occurrence (there are 400 boys), but the white board method appears to work well!!
Kevin is most known outside the Ardoyne for being the star of the documentary ‘Young Plato’ in 2022 on the work he is doing in the school. This documentary appears to have gone somewhat viral with people from Japan, USA and Georgia amongst other places inviting him over to speak to teachers about the work he is doing. Though the problems can be very different in different places the Plato inspired method of open enquiry through dialogue can offer a way through those difficulties.
Kevin is fearlessness, full of belief and enthusiasm and we left his company very uplifted and inspired.
