Meeting of Minds 2025

Last week, a group of Year 8 students attended the Meeting of Minds, held at Newington College’s Critical Thinking and Ethics Quarter. This event consisted of three sessions, each asking students to consider separate stimulus materials and issues arising from these. This year’s topics were Knowing and Perceiving, Mind and Body and Identity. 

Students had their perception challenged when wearing some upside-down goggles and reflected upon how we know how to do things such as riding a bicycle. Newington College’s Principal, Mr Michael Parker, expertly led the group through a Philosophical Thought Experiment involving a brain swap and then students returned to small groups to engage in a ranking task and Community of Inquiry. 

A reflection from some of the students who attended follows.

“Today we went to this event called Meeting of Minds with some friends from school, and it was a fun and interesting day. We had three sessions all up. In one of them we were given these cards and had to pair up with people from other schools. There were about 8 people in the room, two from each school, and we got mixed around so we weren’t with our own friends so we could make new ones. Each card had a topic on it, and we talked about it with our partner. It was really cool hearing other people’s perspectives because everyone saw things a little differently, and it made the conversations a lot more interesting and engaging.

After that session, we had a break and some snacks which was a nice rest. Then everyone came together in the big hall for a talk with the headmaster. He spoke about this idea of switching minds and it was such an unusual but interesting concept. We got to answer questions while thinking about people’s minds being switched. It really made us think about how we see other people and how different situations can look if you imagine them from another perspective.

Next was a well needed lunch break, where we got to meet people from other schools. A few of us played sports on their massive sports court which was super fun. Then in the final session we looked at lots of photos and talked about the stories and meanings behind them. The discussion even led to talking about colours and how they affect how we see the world. It all connected back to the idea of looking at things through other people’s perspectives, which was such a good way to end the day. Finally, we said our goodbyes to the people we’d met and then headed home. 

Overall, it was such a great experience, we learnt a lot, met new people, and had fun at the same time. We were very appreciative that we got to attend this event and hope to do something similar soon!” Zoe, Bailey and Chloe 

Ms Sarah Thompson, Leader of Innovative and Global Connections