The Challenges of Philosophy for Children (P4C) and the Need of Philosophy for Teachers (P4T)

• 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 paper examines the challenges of current and prospective teachers learning to do Philosophy for Children (P4C)).It investigates their conceptions of what it means to be a teacher and a child learner which underlie their perceptions of the challenges experienced in their p4c classrooms.Based on my findings and relevant literature, the paper constructs a rationale and a framework for developing P4T (Philosophy for Teachers) in teacher education and teacher professional development to foreground their examined life of teaching.

Materials and Methods:
The paper reviews the P4C literature regarding the challenges of facilitating P4C classroom inquiry (Farahani, 2014; Cauto, 2015; Maikaiau et. al., 2018). It gathers data from 1) my undergraduate and graduate courses on the theory and practice of P4C in years 2016 through 2018 in Taiwan, including students’ written reflections and practice portfolios; and 2) from informal interviews with prospective and current teachers about critical events in p4c teaching, and 3) from my own teaching memos and field notes as a p4c teacher educator. It presents an analysis of the data using the method of self-study through narrative inquiry (Beck, Freese, & Kosnik, 2004; Clandinin & Connelly, 2004).

Analysis
The pedagogy based on community of inquiry in P4C marks a radical departure from traditional approaches focusing on transmission of knowledge. It requires a “epistemological paradigm shift” (Haynes, J. & Murris, K, 2011) for teachers when they first learn about the pedagogy. Teachers who have not had the opportunity to experience this type of open inquiry often struggle to translate their knowledge about P4C into viable classroom practice. This is why Lipman (1998) describes P4C teacher preparation as “an Achilles’ heel” of his P4C program (p. 151).

Results
A major finding of my paper is that teachers experienced great difficulty in asking thoughtful or extended questions during open inquiry. The reasons may be manifold: their own experience of schooling that fails to nurture a sense of wonder; ingrained beliefs about what it means to be a teacher and a child; and beliefs about how a teacher should relate to children and to subject matter.Taken together, their habitual behaviors and unexamined beliefs build up an invisible wall in the classroom that blocks genuine communication and meaningful co-creation. Hence there is an urgent need to develop a practical and theoretical framework of philosophy for teachers (P4T), inspired by the problems and prospects of doing P4C.

Significance
Like their children in P4C, the teachers in P4T should be given a space and place to revitalize their own sense of wonder and to learn to become child-like educators. When becoming child-like, the teachers will cultivate an inquiring mind toward themselves, their students and their subject matter and begin to see the art of education as more letting happen and less making happen. This new image of child-like teacher will serve as the driving force behind the teacher’s life-long learning.

Author

• Jessica Wang