Abstract
John Dewey wished to place development of the ability to think at the core of school education. The kind of thinking that Dewey had in mind was based on his conception of scientific inquiry. Matthew Lipman was likewise committed to an education centred on thinking, but he claimed that we should turn to philosophy rather than to science in order to secure this end. In his view, philosophy has a stronger claim to this mantle than does science, or any other subject, when it is appropriately reconstructed and taught. He developed various arguments to that effect, but the one considered here is that philosophical thinking has a generic character that especially suits it for the role. I examine this argument to see how compelling a case it makes for the inclusion of philosophy in the school curriculum.
Highlights
John Dewey famously proclaimed that ‘all which the school can or need do for pupils, so far as their minds are concerned ... is to develop their ability to think’ (1966, p. 152)
When he says that schools need to develop the ability to think, he is stressing the need for inquiry-based teaching and learning in schools
While acknowledging his debt to Dewey, Lipman claimed that we should turn to philosophy rather than to science in order to promote thinking in education
Summary
John Dewey famously proclaimed that ‘all which the school can or need do for pupils, so far as their minds are concerned ... is to develop their ability to think’ (1966, p. 152). The most obvious contrast to be made with developing the ability to think is treating the mind as a storehouse to be filled with knowledge, as if the well-educated student were a talking encyclopaedia rather than a thinker. We could treat the word ‘think’ as an umbrella term with which to provide shelter for the likes of ‘remember’, ‘recall’, ‘recite’ and ‘affirm’. It is important to note that Dewey’s standard substitute for ‘think’ is ‘inquire’, a term that stands in opposition to memorisation, recitation and learning by rote. When he says that schools need to develop the ability to think, he is stressing the need for inquiry-based teaching and learning in schools
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