Philosophy for/With Children for/With Teachers

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching as Philosophical Practice: From Philosophy for Children to Philosophy for Teachers

Abstract

Aims
The aims of this paper are to (a) describe a graduate course for teachers that introduces the practice and theory of Philosophy for Children (P4C); (b) share student reflections and evaluations on the course; and (c) argue that P4C has the potential to revitalize educational foundations courses and teacher education (Siegel 1981).

Materials and Methods
The paper gathers and critically analyses key findings from the Philosophy for Children (P4C) literature, and the recent literature on the role of philosophy of education in teacher education. I take as a case study, a P4C graduate course that I taught in the United States in the summer of 2018 (Daniel 1998; Daniel 1992). I present an overview of the syllabus, explain the pedagogy and assignments, and offer brief profiles of the students. I share their evaluations of the course and the impact that it had on their teaching practice and their sense of themselves as teachers.

Analysis
There is already an extensive literature by philosophers of education who engage in conceptual analysis of the fundamental terms of teaching. They examine differences, for example, between educating and indoctrinating, teaching and socializing, and teaching and parenting. Conceptual analysis in philosophy of education importantly encompasses conceptual ‘disclosure’ – that is, paying close heed to the concepts that teachers, school administrators, parents, and others deploy to represent their views, actions, and concerns.

Philosophers of education have sought to draw out the meaning and significance of such educational concepts as ignorance, potential, talent, formation, maturity, learning, teaching, artistry, vocation and play. These concepts acquire meaning in the complex interplay of thinking and acting, and give shape to the interactions and lives of teachers.And yet, rarely are teachers given the opportunity to engage with questions that originate in wonder: What does it mean to educate?Is there such a thing as teaching? Who or what is the learner beholden to? (Laverty 2014; Malpas 2006)).

Results

I argue that learning how to teach philosophy to children (P4C) in graduate school can invite current and prospective teachers to deeply engage with educational concepts (Lipman 1988). Liberated from professional discourses and pretensions, they are permitted to revisit and revise their fundamental conceptual understandings.The P4C curriculum uniquely invites teachers, as it does the children, to ask genuine questions and to employ metaphors, analogies and images to represent their thinking. Participation in the community of philosophical inquiry encourages teachers to share what they wonder about, honestly and clearly (Ellis, Hart and Small-McGingley 2002; Hill 1999; Poppin 1996).

Significance
P4C has the potential to revitalize educational foundations courses and teacher education programs. It shows that all practice, including educational practice, is always already saturated with actions and thoughts that cry out for philosophical consideration, pertaining to their warrant or justification, to their meaning and human importance, and to what they disclose about the values at play. Put another way, philosophy of education can be enriched when it takes its point of departure from the practices of pre-college philosophy teaching.

Author

• Megan J. Laverty, Teachers College, Columbia University