We underestimate our children’s capabilities to learn. Consequently the teaching of critical thinking skills is almost totally absent in our school systems. In order to think clearly, children need examples and practice in good reasoning, thinking, comprehension and understanding, all good philosophical concepts. One of the best ways to teach such things, according to Philosophy for Children advocates, is through guided participatory discussions, commonly referred to as a community of inquiry. P4C can dramatically improve the thinking skills of children.
To quote Dr. Matthew Lipman, founder of P4C, What is important is “having a questioning teacher and a group of students prepared to discuss things that really matter to them. The teacher is there to stimulate and facilitate the discussion, and not the arbiter of what’s right and wrong. In an atmosphere of give-and-take, students who were withdrawn or reserved begin to express their opinions, because they realize that in such an atmosphere, each point of view will be respected and taken seriously. Gradually the children in the classroom begin to discover that a philosophical discussion has a different style from any other type of discussion. It’s not just a matter of getting things off their chest, or being able to indulge in self-expression. They begin to compare notes, experiences and perspectives with one another. Gradually they perceive pieces fitting together into an objective picture of the way things might be. They begin to understand the importance of recognizing other people’s point of view, and of giving reasons for their own opinions. There emerges a sense of the value of impartiality, and a need to think problems through rather than be satisfied with superficial or glib expressions of opinion.” 1
Why P4C at the Bergen Ethical Culture Society
P4C is an impressive and proven idea that fits remarkably well with the philosophy of the Ethical movement and its religious education objectives. If you look at publicity for our Sunday School curriculum you’ll find words like “encouraging each child to seek personal answers to questions of ethics.” That is exactly what P4C is about, and much more. Our teachers have already been using some P4C concepts in their own way in many of their classes. So we have used some of our existing curriculum materials with the P4C methodology. It is also being used with story books and literature having content that invites questioning, contains moral dilemmas and everyday encounters that require children to think.
According to Dr. Lipman: “We spend a great deal of time helping children see the difference between well-constructed and badly constructed prose, or between properly executed and improperly executed exercises in arithmetic, but we hardly devote any time at all to teaching children to tell better reasoning from worse. “Just as children must be taught the difference between using language well and using it badly (or ungrammatically), so they must be taught the difference between reasoning soundly and reasoning sloppily.”
What are these reasoning skills? They include: learning to search for alternative views; learning to be impartial; learning to be consistent in what we think and say; learning the importance of having good reasons for our beliefs; learning to think comprehensively and to see connections between different ideas. These are skills that we all know about, but all too often ignore. Maybe we adults need a P4A course as well.
If you doubt that children can deal with ‘philosophical’ questions, here is a simple bit of logic that my 2-year old grandson already understands: “If you don’t behave, then you will be punished.” He also seems to have learned the inference in that sentence: “If you do behave, you won’t be punished.” I’ll bet you can think of some impressive reasoning skills your amazing child or grandchild has already learned.
Behavioral skills
Another aspect of P4C is that it can help children develop good behavioral skills. For example: good inquiry skills means asking relevant questions, avoiding sweeping generalizations and expecting claims to be supported by evidence. Learning to be open-minded and considerate means the ability to hear the other side of an issue, accepting reasonable criticism and respecting the rights of others. Learning good reasoning skills means offering appropriate analogies, giving convincing reasons to support your ideas and drawing suitable inferences.
Are any of these ideas too complex for children to grasp and to learn to use? I think not.
Origins of P4C
Dr. Matthew Lipman, now Professor at Montclair State University, conceived of the idea 20 years ago while at Columbia University. He transferred to Montclair State where he founded the Institute for Advancement of P4C (IAPC) including Masters and Doctorate programs. Prof. Lipman is familiar with the Ethical Culture movement. He knew many of its leaders in the New York area, and once taught a class at the NY Society. He spoke to us one morning at the workshop.
Montclair State University is the international headquarters of the IAPC. It has 70 affiliated centers throughout the world which train instructors in P4C as well as teach children in hundreds of public and private schools.
In addition to its use in regular K-12 classrooms, P4C has been successfully employed with street children, gifted children and in English as a Second Language courses for adults as well as children with disabilities. It has been translated into 20 languages and published or used in 40 countries. It is taught locally in several NJ schools and in many states across the country.
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1 Philosophy in the Classroom, Lipman, Sharp Oscanyan,
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