I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. McWalter) on securing this debate, and on the powerful, effective and entertaining case that he has just made.

I declare my interest in the subject. My mother's degree was in philosophy - she was tutored by Wittgenstein at university. She has been a constant pressure on me to raise the value and worth of philosophy in our education system - not only now, but for a long time. When I was involved in educational policy some 15 years ago, I remember her sending me newspaper cuttings detailing how philosophy had been brought into classes in primary schools in the Bronx in New York - precisely the kind of alienated area that my hon. Friend mentioned - because it developed the skills of thinking and articulacy which could counter the alienation that otherwise existed.

I am not quite sure whether I was the product of a Socratic midwife. However, I assure my hon Friend that I am wholly committed to the general approach that he set out so clearly today.

The Government attach great importance to teaching pupils to think flexibly and to make reasoned judgments. We consider those skills to be a vital part of young people's education and preparation for life, and for lifelong learning. To emphasise the quality of thinking skills is a critical means of raising standards in schools; it is a key element in our overall drive to raise educational standards.

I agree with what my hon. Friend said about the contribution that philosophy can make in developing pupils' thinking processes and skills. Those philosophical skills are already covered by a wide range of subjects throughout the curriculum. We develop children's thinking by making it more explicit; for example, by encouraging pupils to hypothesise, to experiment, to discuss and to reflect - all of which are key thinking skills. Modern information and communication technology frightens some people because of the obedience issues raised by my hon. Friend. However, it can be shown to provoke precisely the kind of thinking skills that must be a key part of our overall curriculum and of the educational process.

Several of our current policies aim to develop further the teaching of thinking skills - in many cases, in ways that will offer access to philosophical inquiry. We have specifically asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to consider ways of integrating thinking skills into the revised national curriculum - especially at key stage 3 - as part of the current review. The literacy and numeracy frameworks both include references to thinking processes, such as investigation and problem solving. This afternoon, I visited the "Tomorrow's World" exhibition at Earls Court, where I saw some exciting maths work that showed games of problem solving as a means of exciting children's interest in those important matters.

Moreover, our recent proposals for a framework for personal, social and health education and for education for citizenship, which are currently out for consultation, will encourage the development of the skills of inquiry, reflection and debate. Citizenship is not about the obedient citizen, as my hon. Friend might fear; it is about the active citizen, who is enabled to participate in, control and determine - in all the ways that we know - a fantastically rapidly changing society. Through that process, children will have opportunities to engage with some of the important moral, social and political issues of today's society - perhaps even with the eternal issues mentioned by my hon. Friend - and to practise the skills of citizenship through discussion and debate, and through active involvement in the life of their schools and communities.

"Articulacy" - a word that perhaps does not exist in the "Oxford English Dictionary" - is an exceptionally important part of our education. It is important to ensure that children are able to articulate their thoughts in a number of ways and, in so doing, to respect the articulate views of others. That is how we have to operate in our society; citizenship will play an important role in doing that. As an aside, I pay tribute to the work done by so many schools in developing school councils, which are an important part in the life of many schools. They fulfil precisely the kind of role recommended by my hon. Friend. I very much support the campaigns by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and other organisations to promote the activity of school councils.

The Government are currently considering the development of a strategy on the way ahead for thinking skills across existing and new policies. In October 1998, the Department for Education and Employment commissioned Carol McGuinness of the school of psychology at Queen's university, Belfast, to review the effectiveness of different approaches to the teaching of thinking skills in primary and secondary schools. The research report - a copy of which I have here - was published on 4 May this year, and my hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards attended the launch. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library for the convenience of Members and others.

The report is entitled "From thinking skills to thinking classrooms: a review and evaluation of approaches for developing pupils' thinking". It contains a great deal of interesting material. It reviews examples of structured thinking skills: some focus on a philosophical approach, such as Martin Lipman's "Philosophy for Children"; and others take subject-specific approaches, such as the "cognitive acceleration through science" education programme, which takes thinking skills forward in a science context but aims to accelerate thinking more generally and to infuse thinking skills throughout the curriculum.

It is the latter approach that the Government look to the QCA to take forward, but many schools already use that approach successfully as part of the curriculum. I am attracted to the idea of developing thinking classrooms in which philosophical approaches to learning play a part. We are considering how best to take that forward in the light of the report's detailed findings. My hon. Friend's success in securing today's debate and his powerful expression of these important issues will accelerate and help that process.

I am fortunate in having in my constituency, a few metres from my home, Tuckswood first school, which actively uses philosophy and thinking skills in the classroom, with five and six-year-olds. The head of the school, Sue Eagle, has been a pioneer in the field and has participated in many of our national discussions on the subject. The purpose of thinking skills is to help children to learn how to think for themselves, ask questions and develop their ability to listen, analyse and discuss. Those skills improve pupils' powers of reasoning and inquiry, which are relevant at all key stages of maths, science and other subjects. I welcome the school's initiative in introducing the scheme, which is representative of smaller scale teaching experiments that show that mathematical problem solving and scientific reasoning can be enhanced through cognitive learning.

A couple of months ago, I went to observe philosophy lessons in the school, so that I could see for myself how the subject could be taught to children so young. The experience reflected the points raised by my hon. Friend in his speech tonight. Discussions about what the children liked or did not like brought out a range of important and interesting perceptions. Another philosophy class looked at and discussed fossils, which led to creation issues and the other problematic philosophical issues inherent in that area of inquiry. At that age, children are perfectly able to question and think about such issues, and it is important that they do so.

I can give my hon. Friend the assurances that he seeks. The Government regard thinking as a key part of the national curriculum, and philosophy is critical in that respect. At A-level, philosophy is available as a separate subject and, of more than 1,500 A-level philosophy candidates last year, three quarters passed. Under the Government's A-level reforms, which are to be introduced from next September, philosophy will continue to be available as a separate subject both at full A-level and as one of the new AS-level qualifications. In addition, the QCA is considering proposals for a new AS-level in critical thinking. That is in response to a specific recommendation by Sir Ron, now Lord Dearing in his 1996 report on 16 to 19 qualifications, for a new qualification designed to develop critical understanding of the various forms of knowledge.

The main thrust of the Government's A-level reforms is to encourage young people to take a wider range of subjects than the traditional two or three A-level package. We hope that, in that way, more young people will have the opportunity to include an AS-level in philosophy or critical thinking alongside their main programme of study. I hope that I have been able to reassure my hon. Friend that I and the Government as a whole are strongly committed to the contribution that philosophy and thinking can make to our education system, and that we do not accept the ideology of past Governments. We hope to develop the subject further in the curriculum of the future. I thank my hon. Friend for giving me the chance to make these statements in today's debate.

Question put and agreed to.