Philosophy For Children Research Articles

The Hikmah Model as a Means for Interconvictional Dialogue and Citizenship Education in Francophone (Belgian) Secondary Education

Much attention has been given to interreligious dialogue in recent decades. However, less attention has been devoted to models that support citizenship through Islamic religious education in secondary education. Based on Lipman’s Philosophy for Children, Hashim developed the Hikmah model. This model contributes to cognitive, social, and affective skills of Muslim pupils. A theoretical framework regarding interreligious education and the Hikmah model exploring the didactic opportunities is given. The explorative qualitative research aims to explore the potential of the Hikmah model for Islamic religious education (IRE) in Francophone secondary education.

Responding to climate change ‘controversy’ in schools: Philosophy for Children, place-responsive pedagogies & Critical Indigenous Pedagogy

Despite the scientific consensus, climate change continues to be socially and politically controversial. Consequently, teachers may worry about accusations of political indoctrination if they teach climate change in their classrooms. Research shows that many teachers are using the ‘teaching the controversy’ approach to teach climate change, essentially allowing students to make up their own mind about climate change. Drawing on some philosophical literature about indoctrination and controversial issues, we argue that such an approach is inappropriate and, given the escalating crisis that is climate change, potentially dangerous. Instead, we propose integrating three well-established educational practices, Philosophy for Children, place-responsive pedagogies, and Critical Indigenous Pedagogy, to help teachers and students critically examine climate change controversy while still meeting the key goals of climate change education.

Philosophical Activity of Students with Different Educational Needs

Philosophy for children has long been an element of pedagogical research in which children's philosophizing is treated as a method of their educating. The conducted research shows that philosophical reflections of children bring benefits in the implementation of some teaching content or support the social and emotional development of children. This study presents the results of qualitative research carried out to understand the philosophical activity of younger school-age children with different educational needs. The main problem was included in the question: What is the philosophical activity of students of younger school age with different educational needs? Participant observation was used in the conducted research procedure. The results of the research carried out in a group of 15 students of the second integrated grade showed that, in most cases, the philosophical activity of the respondents was very diverse, regardless of their educational needs. The only exception included students with a certificate on the need for special education who attended the philosophy classes in a very limited scope. The conducted research is an example of children's philosophical reflections.

Din Eğitiminde Çocuklar İçin Felsefe (P4C): İmkânlar ve Sınırlılıklar

Çocuklar için felsefe, akıl yürütme ve yargılama becerilerini geliştiren öğrenciler yetiştirmek amacıyla felsefi yaklaşımın eğitime uygulanmasıdır. Bu yaklaşımın temel amacı, grup tartışması ve sorgulama yoluyla felsefi araştırmayı teşvik etmektir. Bu yaklaşım, aynı zamanda öğrencilerin kendi ve diğer öğrencilerin sorularını, fikirlerini sorguladıkları ve bu konularda derinleştikleri becerileri kazandırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Din eğitimi uygulamalarının öğrencilerin kavrayışını, değerlerini ve inançlarını içselleştirmesini kolaylaştırması beklenir. Aktarıma dayalı yaklaşımın bu kazanımları sağladığını söylemek mümkün değildir. Çocuklar için felsefe, öğrenci katılımına dayalı diyalog temelli bir uygulamadır. Yapılandırılmış metinlerin kolaylaştırıcı olarak kullanıldığı bu uygulamanın özellikle soyut dini kavram ve inançların anlaşılmasında, temellendirilmesinde ve içselleştirilmesinde önemli katkılar sağlaması beklenmektedir. Din eğitiminde çocuklar için felsefenin yaratıcı, eleştirel, özenli ve işbirlikçi anlayışından yararlanmak, din eğitiminin özellikle dini akıl yürütme becerilerinin geliştirilmesi açısından çeşitli katkılar sağlayabilir. Bu çalışma çocuklar için felsefe yaklaşımının söz konusu ilkelerinin ve uygulamalarının din eğitimine muhtemel katkılarını ele almak amacıyla hazırlanmıştır. Bu çerçevede P4C yaklaşımı tanıtıldıktan sonra din eğitimine katkıları ve muhtemel sınırlılıklar ele alınacaktır.

Can We Teach Non-Cognitive Outcomes? A Quasi-Experimental Study of Philosophy for Children

Non-cognitive learning taking place at school helps form dispositions that can be as important as cognitive outcomes in terms of lifelong relevance. There are diverse interventions and school-based programmes targeting non-cognitive skills, but the evidence of their impact is, so far, unclear. To help increase the evidence bases, we conducted a quasi-experimental study involving 486 pupils in 18 primary schools in North Yorkshire, England, wherein 11 schools participated in Philosophy for Children (P4C), and 7 schools formed a control group that received lessons as normal. At the baseline, the two groups were not equivalent, which means the results need to be treated with appropriate caution. Pupils who received the P4C intervention scored higher on all attitudes and views than they had at the start and improved more than comparator pupils in terms of empathy and fairness. However, they were behind the comparator group in terms of teamwork and democracy, and there was little difference in terms of their self-reported ability to communicate with others. In general, the P4C approach was found to be feasible, and was generally liked by teachers and pupils. Teachers reported improvements in pupil conduct and confidence in P4C sessions and in other learning activities. The indications are that non-cognitive skills are potentially malleable and might be improved through a dialogic approach, such as P4C.

Describing the Current Situation Based on “Philosophy for Children” in Preschool Institutions

Araştırmada okul öncesi kurumlarında “çocuklar için felsefe”ye dayalı mevcut durum betimlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Çalışma durum çalışması (örnek olay) yöntemi ile desenlendirilmiştir. Katılımcıların seçiminde “kolay ulaşılabilir durum örneklemesi” kullanılmıştır. Kocaeli ilinin Derince ilçesinde bulunan devlete ait bir okul öncesi eğitim kurumunda gerçekleştirilen çalışmada; gözlemin yapıldığı çalışma grubunu bir öğretmen ve 5-6 yaş düzeyi toplam 22 çocuk (11 erkek, 11 kız) oluşturmuştur. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak yapılandırılmış gözlem/katılımcı olmayan gözleme başvurulmuştur. Çocukların düşünme becerilerini (eleştirel düşünme, yaratıcılık vb.) gözlemlemek için veri toplama aracı olarak gözlem formu kullanılmıştır. Buna ek olarak, öğretmenin soruları tek tek not alınmış, Gallagher ve Aschner’ın soru sınıflaması çerçevesinde değerlendirilmiştir. Gözlem çocukların oyun saatleri ile öğretmenin sınıfta uyguladığı Türkçe, fen, sanat ve drama etkinliklerini kapsamaktadır. Verilerin analizi sürecinde ise betimsel analize başvurulmuştur. Araştırma sonucuna göre okul öncesi öğretmeninin Türkçe, sanat, fen ve drama etkinlikleri bağlamında çocuklara yönelttiği sorular özellikle alt düzey yakınsak alan 84/103 (yani 5/6’dan fazlasının) ile ilişkilidir. Dolayısıyla öğretmenler hatırlama basamağına dayalı sorulara daha fazla yer vermektedir. Fen, Türkçe gibi derslerde gerçekleştirilen etkinliklerde çocukların soru sormasına, fikir üretmesine yeterince izin verilmemektedir. Çocuklar eleştirel düşünme becerisi kapsamında yer alan “neden-sonuca” dayalı ifadeleri daha sık kullanmaktadır. Erken çocukluk döneminde en çok kullanılan beceriler yaratıcı düşünme, problem çözme gibi beceriler olmasına rağmen bu becerilere ilişkin etkinliklere süreçte yeterince yer verilmemektedir.

The Effectiveness of "Philosophy for Children-Based Educational Program" on Breakfast Consumption of Elementary Students: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Attention to children's nutrition is important; since they are the most sensitive and vulnerable group in the community against malnutrition and food shortages. Therefore, this study aims to design, implement, and evaluate the effect of educational programs based on (philosophy for children) on thinking skills about healthy breakfast consumption of sixth-grade elementary school students in Yazd. Methods: The present clinical trial study was performed on 120 sixth-grade students of public schools in Yazd. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire in control and experimental groups before and after the educational program. Results: The results showed that the mean score of critical thinking after the intervention (38.7 ± 81.1) in the experimental group (EG) increased compared to before the intervention (29.2 ± 96.4), which was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Based on the results, the difference observed in the mean score of critical thinking, caring, and creative thinking of sixth-grade students before and after the intervention in the two groups was significant (P < 0.001). On the other hand, the mean score of students' critical, caring, and creative thinking in the EG increased. In other words, the designed educational program improved all three skills in the EG. The mean scores of critical, caring, and creative thinking of sixth-grade students in the control group (CG) before and after the educational program in two stages were not significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion: According to the obtained results, the implementation of philosophy education programs for children raises the level of critical thinking, caring, and creative skills in students to eat a healthy breakfast. Therefore, increasing philosophical thinking in students and improving the studied skills through education, even virtually, can be very valuable and effective.

Pedagogical Conditions of Formation of Moral Feelings in Children of Senior Preschool and Primary School Age

The article objectifies the problem of formation of moral feelings in children of senior preschool and primary school age. The author's definition of the concept of moral feelings is offered “moral feelings of children of senior preschool and primary school age we consider to be emotional attitudes to the behavior of others and to their own, which reflect social morality, moral traditions, the real attitude of people to each other”. The main types of moral feelings that should be formed in children at the stage of senior preschool and primary school age are outlined. These include feelings of truth, trust, justice, empathy, kindness, commitment, dignity, friendship and camaraderie, fear, shame, guilt, conscience, altruism, responsibility, duty, success (failure), and civic feelings. Theoretical analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature showed that at the present stage of development of Ukrainian society scientists have paid insufficient attention to the development of theoretical and experimental model of moral feelings of preschoolers and primary school students, did not study the pedagogical conditions of their formation. The article highlights theoretical substantiation and development of pedagogical conditions for the formation of moral feelings in older preschool children. Here the researchers mean deepening and expanding children's knowledge and ideas about moral and ethical categories and their characteristics; emotional saturation of the content of tasks aimed at stimulating the manifestations of children's moral feelings in interaction with the social environment; acquisition by children of moral experience by involvement in various kinds of activity (game, educational-cognitive, pictorial, communicative, estimation-orientation, charitable, socially useful); maintaining a positive emotional state of each child; systematic diagnosis and correction of negative experiences. Various forms and methods were used for their implementation: reading and discussion of fiction and fairy tales, staging, puppet theatrical performances, fairy-tale game technologies and psychological technologies, ethical conversations, moral choice situations, building classes on the methodology of "philosophy for children", ethical training, various games, exercises, project and volunteer activities. Among the pedagogical conditions for the formation of moral feelings of junior students are identified: sufficient comprehension of moral knowledge, norms and rules of conduct by children of primary school age; development of the emotional sphere as a basis for the inclusion of students in educational and cognitive and diverse extracurricular activities, which is based on the principles of personality-oriented approach; gradual process of education of moral feelings of moral schoolchildren with systematic diagnosis and correction of negative experience. Their implementation is ensured by the propaedeutic course "Steps to Responsibility" and the club of extracurricular reading of children's works "Grammar of Morality".

The efficacy of the "philosophy for children" program by enriching digital technologies on cognitive distortions and perceived competence of orphaned and abused male children

The efficacy of the "philosophy for children" program by enriching digital technologies on cognitive distortions and perceived competence of orphaned and abused male children

Програма «Філософія для дітей»: історія виникнення та структура проведення заняття

The article is devoted to the world-famous program for the development of thinking skills "Philosophy for Children" by Matthew Lipman, which was formed in the early 1970s. The program is outstanding in that it develops three types of thinking – critical, creative and caring. The article gives a brief overview of the history of the program and its formation. In particular, the article notes that Matthew Lipman, as a professor at Columbia University, realized that students are not able to formulate their own judgments and ask questions. He saw the root of the problem in school education, which does not develop the skills of critical thinking. According to Lipman, logic is at the heart of the program which teaches these skills. He saw introducing the study of logic in the school curriculum as his task. To make it effective and interesting, Lipman wrote the philosophical novel Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery, which was build around the exploration of Aristotle's logic. The success of an educational experiment with reading this novel at a school in Montclair (USA) in 1970 over a period of six months inspired Lipman to continue writing texts for children of all ages and to develop manuals for teachers. Lipman's educational project began to bring together fellow educators, the first of whom was Anne-Margaret Sharp. Together with her, in 1974 Lipman founded the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC). The article notes which scientists (philosophers, psychologists, linguists) influenced the formation of Lipman's theoretical views.
 The second part of the article describes the step-by-step plan of the lessons and explains in detail the importance of each of its elements. Emphasis is placed on the role of the facilitator and the qualities he should possess. The context of positioning critical thinking in contemporary education in Ukraine is also analyzed.

On the theoretical foundations of the ‘Philosophy for Children’ programme

Abstract According to Matthew Lipman, one of the founders of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) programme, critical thinking improves reasonableness and the exercise of good judgement, both of which Lipman takes to be necessary to sustaining a democratic society. Against his view, I argue that although critical thinking can be done well or badly, it does not necessarily lead to the exercise of good judgement given that the value of judgements is not purely a matter of mere algorithmic calculation or instrumental means/end reasoning. The fact that Lipman's critical thinking approach does not justify the values that guide the community of inquiry may potentially lead to epistemic injustice within the community. One way to avoid this threat is to justify the programme's meta-philosophical assumptions by articulating and seeking to justify its epistemological foundations. I discuss different attempts to do this, arguing that none of the epistemological foundations offered can support P4C's basic assumption that critical thinking entails good judgement (where this is conceived of as a constitutively normative ability that meets the standards of ‘practical wisdom’ or moral virtue). Given these inconsistencies and lacunae, I offer a new perspective on how the process of inquiry could be conceived. Developing ideas outlined by Gilbert Ryle and Ludwig Wittgenstein, I argue that the process of inquiry may be valuable if conceived of as conceptual analysis that aims at perspicuous representations.

Creating counter-publics through deliberation in the classroom: The case of philosophy for children

In recent years, the ‘deliberative turn’ of political theory has travelled to the classroom. The predominant approach focuses on the ‘educative’ aspect of deliberation by simulating a fictional public debate in which students discuss controversial political questions given by adults. However, such practice tends to pay scant attention to the critical aspect of deliberation that enables students to challenge and examine unjust socio-political structures and dominant discourses in their lives. This article cautions that classroom deliberation without its critical edge makes deliberation more tokenistic and students less agentic. To show the democratic dynamics of critical classroom deliberation, this article draws insights from the author’s fieldwork on Philosophy for Children (P4C) implemented in two Japanese schools. The case study shows that students’ engagement in critical deliberation facilitated their creation of two types of counter-publics, namely, pedagogical and political, that helped them formulate counter-strategies and counter-voices differently.

Philosophy for Children (PFC) as an educational practice to promote peace and non-violent coexistence

The purpose of this article is to show the efficiency of “Philosophy for Children” (PFC) in their spiritual development and its impact on promoting peace and coexistence with others, both coreligionists and non-coreligionists. While analysing the concept of spirituality, the article also explores the basics, and the goals and methods of the PFC programme. It then examines the influence of this educational programme on fostering children’s prosocial behaviours and strengthening their communication skills with others to develop peace and denial of violence. The results show that the PFC training model strengthening skills (such as creating an acceptance spirit), enhancing the child’s emotional intelligence and teaching moderation in belief and practice and commitment to rationality and morality of belief, can improve their relations with fellow human beings in a rational space associated with compassion, and as a result, reduce tension and violence.

The Importance of Philosophy for Children

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a student-centered pedagogy created by Matthew Lipman that uses dialogic teaching and Community of Inquiry (CoI) as an essential teaching and learning method. In P4C classrooms, children and teachers freely talk about a concept, a phenomenon, a law of a matter, a piece of song, a painting, etc. There are no unified answers, which inspires students’ thinking skills, autonomy, creativity and imagination, dialectic language development, open- mindedness, and multi-abilities. Moreover, confidence and courage are simultaneously developed and maintained. In P4C it is important for teachers to have growth mindsets and behave as facilitators. This enables students to discover their best selves. Socratic dialogue is widely used in P4C. Socrates never assumed the role of information giver. Instead, he was a good listener, questioner, and guide; he was someone who explored the interlocutor's inner potential and innate wisdom. In this thesis, I explain and analyze P4C, its importance, and its possible practical application in kindergarten classrooms, particularly in my home of China. I believe there is endless wisdom within each child and that a school based on Philosophy for Children (P4C) would encourage students to explore these reservoirs of wisdom.

When Children Die, What Can Theater Do?

At the height of the Nazi Holocaust in 1942, children in an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto performed Rabindranath Tagore’s 1912 play Dak Ghar (The Post Office). They were in the care of Janusz Korczak, a socialist, pedia­trician, and one of the world’s first child rights advocates. The play centers on a young boy, Amal, who is confined in quarantine and on his death bed. This article attempts to understand why Korczak may have chosen Dak Ghar and how this play may have resonated in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he confronts two painful questions: is there anything worse than death? And, how to prepare children for death? This essay draws on Walter Benjamin’s concept of play, Han Jonas’s concept of eternity, Tagore’s expansive sense of humanity, and Korczak’s philosophy of child rights to argue the following: that in choosing a play from another time and place, Korczak empowers the children of the Warsaw orphanage to experience the radical unity of all humanity as inhabitants of this earth—and our arts as a way to transcend the boundaries of space and time. In consequence, the children may have tasted eternity through a play and memorialized in community that which would be denied by the Nazis—their deaths and, thus, their existence.

The Great Gap in Basic Education

Despite claims that education is not addressing basic education and so-called life skills, such claims must be weighed against what various constituencies count as basic and more so, life-skills. Most decidedly the inclusion of instruction first in natural frequency evaluation and then in Bayesian reasoning is critical as Gigerenzer et al. (2015) have shown. Certainly, there is a cost to the inclusion of any material especially as proposed herein. But the cost when it leads to more effective evaluations of truth across the curriculum is worth it considering the “Law of Figuring it Out, LFTO as proposed by Wagner et al. (2018). This article explains why Gigerenzer’s focus on statistical reasoning across the curriculum advances the concept behind a generalized commitment to evaluative reasoning as is proposed in the LFTO. The sketch to follow proposes that the fourth “r” reasoning includes instruction in statistical thinking to make all students more mindful of LFTO practices when seeking understanding rather than mere recollection skills. Modification of material in mathematics, social studies, science and, where it exists, philosophy for children, can emphasize the importance of justification as indispensable to genuine insight.

Respect, Resourcefulness, and Empathy

Using picture books to prompt philosophical conversations with children is an effective means to raise awareness of environmental issues and invite children to think creatively about their responsibility for their community and environment. In our Philosophy for Children (P4C) program at Kern County Public libraries in Bakersfield, we address environmental ethics issues as part of our regular curriculum as well as for Earth Day conversations. Children discuss how they may reuse and recycle objects that they ordinarily discard, how small acts of care may have big consequences for their community, and how they share reciprocal relationships to other living creatures, even insects. Most importantly, during such conversations children reflect and deliberate on how they can act on their insights to expand their moral imagination and empower them as citizens of their community and the world.

P4C as Microcosm of Civil Society

Philosophy for Children (P4C) practice and its distinctive method of cultivating communities of philosophical inquiry model two main functions of democratic civil society. Civil society makes explicit the implicit agreement of communal membership and common belonging and mediates the diverse interests and values of community members. An essential principle of civil society that underlies these two functions is that its members possess intrinsic and political equality, fostering a unique space for civic engagement and democratic will-formation. P4C programs enact these functions of civil society: as children encounter philosophical questions, speak their minds, listen to one another, disagree, and puzzle out the reasons for their disagreements, the main aim is that they engage in collaborative inquiry. I argue that free and open-access P4C programs at public libraries are microcosms of civil society in the serendipitous accidental coming together of strangers. These programs enact civil society insofar as they motivate and exercise civic virtues of collaboration and critical reflection by practicing community of inquiry through self-correcting dialogue.

The Nigerian Girl Child and Reality of An Abusive Absurdity: A Reflection on Philosophy for Children in Higher Educational System

One of the social ills in contemporary Nigeria state is the abusive condition of the girl child. She has been abandoned, starved, beaten, enslaved and sexually molested by the society that ought to care about her but instead tames and guides her. Hence the paper attempts a social re-engineering process through philosophy for children dimension in higher education with a view to minimising, if not curbing, this ugly tragedy. The study employed both philosophical analysis and descriptive survey type. Philosophy for children is not an effort at teaching children the philosophical jargons but rather towards enablement of philosophical skills and its applications to questions of personal significance to the student. Findings revealed that the girl child abuse, though on the rise recently, but could be reversed where she is well trained in philosophical mindset at early age. Also, justice prevails when the abuse is timely reported to the law enforcement agents. Further, the establishment of victim-friendly court system would go a long way in facilitating quick dispensation of justice. Nevertheless, the vigorous pursue of ethical genuine poverty alleviation programmes would undoubtedly reduce the trend of the abuse in the society. The paper concluded that society should endeavour to nip the problem in the bud through conscientious philosophical guidance of Nigerian girl child at all time by all stakeholders. It is stated that the involvement of higher educational system will assist the parents, guardian, girl child, law enforcement agents, the law makers, the clinicians, the theoretician, the researcher and all other concerned with children’s welfare in such a way to shed light on a path of progress in decreasing and preventing this affront on our girl child in particular and children in general.

New co-design techniques for digital game narrative design with children

This paper aims to develop new co-design techniques for narrative design from scratch in the digital game design process with children. Designing from scratch requires the plain preferences of children and creativity (creative contributions) from their intrinsic drives. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and leverage “children’s imagination”. To trigger children’s imagination, we proposed three novel approaches to develop new co-design techniques that are based on (1) game elements, (2) narrative models, and (3) Philosophy for Children (P4C). Using these approaches, narrative design processes for digital games were performed by an intergenerational design team that included eight children aged 7–11. Children played the role of design partners in the participatory design setting. Data analysis was performed using an analysis framework with two domains: co-design process (implementation, involvement of children, and involvement of adults) and game narrative design (involvement of children and product features). The first technique, Five Elements, was based on game elements and had many strengths in game narrative design and the involvement of children and adults. There are some challenges in implementation because it requires a substantial time commitment, it is not easy to allocate adult team members, and it is difficult to arrange the environment. The second technique, Game Motif, was based on narrative models and had many strengths in all of the criteria, except variety in game genres, which is related to product features. The third technique, Superhero Enquiry, was based on P4C and had limited strengths, including the involvement of children in the co-design process and game narrative design. This paper indicates the strengths and challenges of the new techniques and presents the techniques themselves. It offers some improvements to use these approaches in more effective ways. Consequently, academia and industry can benefit greatly from the contributions of children’s imagination when designing digital games for children using these new techniques appropriately in a given context.