The main impulse for children's philosophy came from America, where intensive studies have been conducted since the late 1960s. Matthew Lipman, Professor of Logic and Philosophy at Columbia University (New York, USA) was a pioneer in this field for twenty years, In 1968, during the student unrest, he realised that something fundamental needed to be changed in the field of education. He recognised that children have many ideas, abilities and talents of their own, are curious and inquisitive and ask many questions, but the natural desire to ask questions is stifled by the artificial compulsion at school.
Lipman founded the "Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children" (IAPC) at Montclair State University (New Jersey, USA) in 1974. Matthew Lipman, Ann M. Sharp and numerous colleagues have developed comprehensive curricula. Philosophical books for children and young people have been developed. Not theoretical texts, but stories that deal with the everyday life situations and problems of children and young people. For each of these books a handbook has been published for adults to help them recognise philosophical content and respond to the philosophical dimensions of children's questions.
In 1982, the first "Philosophising with children" school experiments took place in Austria, which was the first school experiments in this field in Europe. Children were encouraged to think about their own thinking.
The subject of "philosophy" is particularly suitable for this, as philosophy cannot be narrowed down in terms of subject matter and provides an overview and depth. As children and young people are in search of wholeness, perfection and understanding, philosophy offers a counterbalance to the specialisation and detailed knowledge of school subjects.
School classes have been transformed through philosophical dialogue into a "community of inquiry" in order to promote critical, creative and empathetic ("caring") thinking.
In addressing the fundamental learning objectives
- Improve language development
- Promoting critical thinking
- Promotion of empathetic thinking ("caring thinking")
- Developing creativity
- Promoting the ability to engage in dialogue and make judgements
- Promoting the ability to reflect
- Promoting an understanding of democracy
- Promotion of resilience
- Promoting personal and social development
- Promoting tolerance
- Promoting media literacy - media ethics or media literacy
the emphasis is on promoting independent thinking (e.g. reasoning, drawing conclusions, planning, recognising prerequisites, assessing consequences, etc.), promoting personal development and developing social skills.
In recent decades, "children's philosophy" has laid important foundations for starting the philosophical-pedagogical process in the early childhood - which aims to enable children to develop their own personalities, problem-solving skills, self-criticism, the ability to deal with conflict and empathy, and to support the development of differentiated perception.
Philosophizing with children and young people promotes competences and skills that are essential for achieving our future in accordance with "sustainable development". These are both cognitive and social skills: recognising the future as a task of collective action, critically analysing our perception of reality and our way of life, normative thinking and argumentation, recognising paradigms and the ability to consider alternatives, holistic thinking and the ability to participate in dialogue.
In a democratic society, it is essential to promote the ability of reflecting and enlightening in order to enable each individual to orientate themselves in life through self-thinking rather than through authoritarian guidelines.
"Philosophy and democracy call on us to use our judgement, to choose the best form of political and social organisation for us, to recognise our own values, in short, to become in a comprehensive way what each of us is, namely a free human being." Federico Mayor Secretary-General of UNESCO
Austrian Center of Philosophy with Children and Youth
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kinderphilosophie-gesellschaft.uni-graz.at