Philosophize with Children and Teenagers
An American philosopher makes the beginning
Essential impulses for children's philosophy came from America, where intensive studies have been conducted since the end of the 1960s. Matthew Lipman, professor of logic and philosophy at Columbia University (New York) for twenty years, did pioneering work in this field. In 1968, during the student unrest, he reflected that something fundamental should be changed in education.
He recognized that children have many ideas and inclinations of their own and heard the philosophical dimensions in children's questions.
The natural desire to ask questions was stifled by the school's artificial compulsion to ask.
Lipman founded the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC) at Montclair State University (New Jersey) in 1974. Matthew Lipman, Ann M. Sharp, and numerous collaborators have since developed comprehensive curricula. Philosophical children's books have been developed-not theoretical introductions, but stories that deal with children's everyday life situations and problems. An adult handbook has been published to accompany each children's book to help adults recognize philosophical content and better respond to the philosophical dimensions in children's questions.
Philosophizing with children and young people in Austrian schools
In 1982, the first attempt was made in Austria to bring philosophizing closer to children in elementary school. Children were encouraged to think about their own thinking.
The subject of "philosophy" is particularly suitable for this, because philosophy cannot be confined to a specific subject and brings oversight and depth. Since children and young people are searching for wholeness, perfection and understanding, philosophy offers a counterbalance to the specialization and detailed knowledge of school subjects.
In addressing the basic learning goals
- Improving language and thinking development
- Promotion of critical thinking
- Promotion of empathetic thinking ("caring thinking")
- Development of creativity
- Promotion of the ability to dialogue
- Promotion of the ability to reflect
- Promotion of the understanding of democracy
- Promotion of resilience
- Promotion of personal and social development
- Promotion of tolerance
- Promotion of media competence
the emphasis is on the promotion of independent thinking (e.g. reasoning, deducing, planning, recognizing preconditions, assessing consequences, etc.), the promotion of personality development and the formation of social skills.
In recent decades, children's philosophy has laid significant foundations for beginning the philosophical-pedagogical process in early childhood - which aims to enable children to develop their own personality, problem-solving skills, self-criticism, the ability to deal with conflict, and empathy, as well as to support them in developing differentiated perception.
Philosophizing with children and adolescents promotes competencies and skills that are essential to recover our future according to a "sustainable development". These are both cognitive and social competencies: recognizing the future as a task of collective action, critically analyzing our perception of reality and our way of life, normative thinking and reasoning, recognizing paradigms and the ability to consider alternatives, holistic thinking and the ability to participate in dialogue.
In a democratic society, it is imperative to promote reflective and enlightenment skills in order to empower each individual to navigate life through self-thinking rather than authoritarian dictates.
"Philosophy and democracy call us to use our judgment, to choose the best form of political and social organization for us, to recognize for ourselves our 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