Philosophizing with Children and Youth

Philosophy with Children and Young People in Austrian Schools

In 1982, the first pilot projects on “Philosophy with Children” were launched in Austrian schools. They were the first school-based initiatives of their kind in Europe. Children were encouraged to reflect on their own thinking.

The subject of “Philosophy” is particularly well suited to this purpose, as philosophy cannot be confined to a specific field of knowledge and provides both breadth and depth. Since children and young people are searching for wholeness, completeness, and understanding, philosophy offers a counterbalance to the specialization and detailed knowledge characteristic of individual school subjects.

Through philosophical dialogue, school classes were transformed into a “Community of Inquiry” in order to foster critical, creative, and caring thinking.

The fundamental learning objectives include:

• improving language development

• fostering critical thinking

• fostering caring thinking

• developing creativity

• fostering the ability to engage in dialogue and make judgments

• fostering the ability to reflect

• developing an understanding of democracy

• fostering resilience

• supporting personal and social development

• fostering tolerance

• developing media literacy, including media ethics

In pursuing these objectives, particular emphasis is placed on fostering independent thinking—for example, the ability to provide reasons, draw conclusions, plan, identify underlying assumptions, assess consequences, and so forth—as well as on personal development and the development of social skills.

Over recent decades, “Philosophy for Children” has established important foundations for beginning the philosophical-pedagogical process as early as childhood. This process aims to enable children to develop an independent personality, problem-solving skills, self-criticism, conflict-resolution skills, and empathy, while also supporting them in developing a differentiated perception of the world.

Philosophizing with children and young people promotes competencies and skills that are essential for shaping our future in accordance with the principles of “sustainable development.” These include both cognitive and social competencies: recognizing the future as a task requiring collective action; critically analyzing our perception of reality and our way of life; developing normative thinking and reasoning; recognizing paradigms and considering alternatives; engaging in holistic thinking; and acquiring the ability to participate in dialogue.

In a democratic society, it is essential to foster the ability to reflect and the competence to engage in critical inquiry and enlightenment, thereby enabling each individual to navigate life through independent thinking rather than through authoritarian prescriptions.

“Philosophy and democracy call upon us to make use of our capacity for judgment, to choose the political and social form of organization that is best for us, and, in short, to become fully what each of us is: a free human being.”
— Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO