Philosophy for Children in Transition E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Journal of Philosophy of Education
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 550

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Philosophy for Children in Transition presents a diverse collection of perspectives on the worldwide educational movement of philosophy for children. Educators and philosophers establish the relationship between philosophy and the child, and clarify the significance of that relationship for teaching and learning today. * The papers present a diverse range of perspectives, problems and tentative prospects concerning the theory and practice of Philosophy for Children today * The collection familiarises an actual educational practice that is steadily gaining importance in the field of academic philosophy * Opens up discussion on the notion of the relationship between philosophy and the child

Leseprobe

Contents

Notes on Contributors

Preface

Introduction: What is Philosophy for Children, What is Philosophy with Children—After Matthew Lipman?

Chapter 1: The Experience of Childhood and the Learning Society: Allowing the Child to be Philosophical and Philosophy to be Childish

Introduction

The Discourse of The Learning Society and The Logic of Bare Life

The Experience of The Lifelong Learner As An Experience of Omnipotentiality

The Experience of Childhood As An Experience of Totipoteniality

Neoteny For Beginners?

When Philosophy Becomes Childish (Again)

Notes

References

Chapter 2: Philosophy for Children and its Critics: A Mendham Dialogue

Introduction

The Dialogue

Notes

References

Chapter 3: The Play of Socratic Dialogue

Introduction: Young People and Philosophy

The Layers of The Text

Reading Plato

Seriousness and Play

Unstable Conclusions

Notes

References

Chapter 4: Childhood, Philosophy and Play: Friedrich Schiller and the Interface between Reason, Passion and Sensation

Introduction

Philosophy For Children As A Critical Thinking Programme: Implications and Problems

Friedrich Schiller: Towards A ‘Sensible Sensitivity’

Conclusion

Notes

References

Chapter 5: Transindividuality and Philosophical Enquiry in Schools: A Spinozist Perspective

Spinoza and Individuality

Imagination and Reason As Transindividual Systems

Conclusion: The Politics of Thinking

Notes

References

Chapter 6: Community of Philosophical Inquiry as a Discursive Structure, and its Role in School Curriculum Design

A Working Definition

Some Characteristics of The Discourse

The Conceptual Work

Cpi Across The Disciplines

The Case of Mathematics

Philosophical Dialogue Across Curriculum and School

Notes

References

Chapter 7: The Provocation of an Epistemological Shift in Teacher Education through Philosophy with Children

Positive Challenges

Teaching Through Democracy

A Philosophical Framework For Practice—Some Obstacles

The Educator in Philosophical Practice

Recurring Themes in The Practice of PwC Educators

The Value of Ongoing Practitioner Action Research

Notes

References

Chapter 8: Philosophy, Exposure, and Children: How to Resist the Instrumentalisation of Philosophy in Education

What Might Philosophy Achieve?

Philosophical Enquiry or Scientific Enquiry?

A Performative Contradiction

The Trouble With Humanism, Particularly in Education

A Post-Humanist Theory of Education: Action, Uniqueness and Exposure

A Different Philosophy For Different Children

Notes

References

Chapter 9: Philosophy with Children as an Exercise in Parrhesia: An Account of a Philosophical Experiment with Children in Cambodia

Introduction

A Philosophical Experiment With Children in Cambodia: The Introduction of A Truth-Telling Practice Beyond Dialogical Procedures and Strategies

Three Forms of The Practice of Truth-Telling

Parrhesia Versus Dialogical Procedures and Strategies As Truth-Telling Practice

Ascetic Practices As A Preparation For Parrhesia

Concluding Thoughts

Notes

References

Chapter 10: Childhood, Education and Philosophy: Notes on Deterritorialisation

Philosophy and Childhood Education: The Traditional Relationship

Alternative Concepts of Childhood

Deleuze and Becoming-Child

Lyotard and Infantia

Thinking The Experience of Philosophical Thinking in The Context of Brazilian Public Schooling

What is Philosophical Education About? Two Pedagogical Paragons

Philosophical Experience and The Childhood of Education: Some Final Examples

Speaking With The Head

In Conclusion

Notes

References

Chapter 11: ‘In Charge of the Truffula Seeds’: On Children’s Literature, Rationality and Children’s Voices in Philosophy

Introduction

The Lorax and Responsible Children

Reconsidering Gareth Matthews’ Philosophy of Childhood

Imagination, Community and Literature: Living With Animals

Rationality and Children’s Legal Rights

Children’s Literature and Children’s Reasons: Where is My Sister?

Philosophy and Children’s Voices: Establishing A Community of Reason

Telling A Story About Children and Philosophy: Matthews and Cavell

Notes

References

Chapter 12: Brilliance of a Fire: Innocence, Experience and the Theory of Childhood

Mythologies of Innocence

Histories of Innocence

Innocence Reclaimed

Innocence, Experience, Competence

Notes

References

Index

The Journal of Philosophy of Education Book Series

The Journal of Philosophy of Education Book Series publishes titles that represent a wide variety of philosophical traditions. They vary from examination of fundamental philosophical issues in their connection with education, to detailed critical engagement with current educational practice or policy from a philosophical point of view. Books in this series promote rigorous thinking on educational matters and identify and criticise the ideological forces shaping education.

Titles in the series include:

Philosophy for Children in Transition

Edited by Nancy Vansieleghem and David Kennedy

Reading R. S. Peters Today: Analysis, Ethics, and the Aims of Education

Edited by Stefaan E. Cuypers and Christopher Martin

The Good Life of Teaching: An Ethics of Professional Practice

Chris Higgins

The Formation of Reason

David Bakhurst

What do Philosophers of Education do? (And how do they do it?)

Edited by Claudia Ruitenberg

Evidence-Based Education Policy: What Evidence? What Basis? Whose Policy?

Edited by David Bridges, Paul Smeyers and Richard Smith

New Philosophies of Learning

Edited by Ruth Cigman and Andrew Davis

The Common School and the Comprehensive Ideal: A Defence by Richard Pring with Complementary Essays

Edited by Mark Halstead and Graham Haydon

Philosophy, Methodology and Educational Research

Edited by David Bridges and Richard D Smith

Philosophy of the Teacher

By Nigel Tubbs

Conformism and Critique in Liberal Society

Edited by Frieda Heyting and Christopher Winch

Retrieving Nature: Education for a Post-Humanist Age

By Michael Bonnett

Education and Practice: Upholding the Integrity of Teaching and Learning

Edited by Joseph Dunne and Pádraig Hogan

Educating Humanity: Bildung in Postmodernity

Edited by Lars Lovlie, Klaus Peter Mortensen and Sven Erik Nordenbo

The Ethics of Educational Research

Edited by Michael Mcnamee and David Bridges

In Defence of High Culture

Edited by John Gingell and Ed Brandon

Enquiries at the Interface: Philosophical Problems of On-Line Education

Edited by Paul Standish and Nigel Blake

The Limits of Educational Assessment

Edited by Andrew Davis

Illusory Freedoms: Liberalism, Education and the Market

Edited by Ruth Jonathan

Quality and Education

Edited by Christopher Winch

This edition first published 2012

Originally published as Volume 45, Issue 2 of The Journal of Philosophy of Education

Chapters © 2012 The Authors

Editorial organization © 2012 Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Philosophy for children in transition : problems and prospects / edited by Nancy Vansieleghem and David Kennedy.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4443-5040-1 (pbk.)

1. Children and philosophy. 2. Early childhood education–Philosophy. I. Vansieleghem, Nancy. II. Kennedy, David, 1943-

B105.C45P4555 2011

108.3–dc23

2011042651

Notes on Contributors

Aurelia Armstrong School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.

Barbara Weber 3581 West 1st Avenue, V6R 1G9 Vancouver, BC, Canada.

David Kennedy Department of Educational Foundations, Montclair State University, Montclair NJ 07042, USA.

Gert Biesta The Stirling Institute of Education, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK.

Joanna Haynes School of Secondary & Further Education Studies, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.

Joris Vlieghe Laboratory for Education and Society, K. U. Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 2, Box 3761, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Juliana Merçon Calle Argentina 70, Depto. 4, Col. Benito Juarez, Xalapa, Veracruz, C.P. 91070, Mexico.

Karin Murris University of the Witwatersrand, Wits School of Education, P Bag 3, P O Wits 2050, Johannesburg, SouthAfrica.

Maughn Gregory Department of Educational Foundations, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07042, USA.

Nadia Kennedy Department of Mathematics, SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.

Nancy Vansieleghem Department of The Foundations of Education, Ghent University, H. Dunantlaan 1 9000 Gent Belgium.

Richard Smith University of Durham, School of Education, Leazes Road Durham, DH1 1TA, UK.

Robert A. Davis University of Glasgow, School of Education, Eldon St, Glasgow, G3 6NH, UK.

Thomas Storme Laboratory for Education and Society, K. U. Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 2, Box 3761, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Viktor Johansson Department of Education, Stockholm University, Fack 710 400, 106 54 Stockholm, Sweden.

Walter Omar Kohan Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro UERJ/PROPED, S. Francisco Xavier 524, Sala 12037 F, 20550-013 Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Preface

Inventive geniuses, such as Pestalozzi, Bronson Alcott, Rabindranath Tagore and Socrates himself, have inspired practices of teaching and learning fit for democracy: it is through them that children can become active, creative and curious citizens, capable of resisting authority and peer pressure; and there is, to this end, a contemporary source of practical guidance for teachers in the work that has become known as philosophy for children. This at least is the view expressed by Martha Nussbaum in her recent Not for Profit: Why Education Needs the Humanities (2010, Princeton University Press), a work in which she connects philosophy for children with the progressive tradition, with critical thinking, with Socratic pedagogy and with what she cares about most in the idea of a liberal education. She praises the pioneering insights of Matthew Lipman and Gareth Matthews into the capacity children have for interesting philosophical thought, and she commends the innovative resources in Lipman—s Harry Stottlemeier—s Discovery and its sequels. Not everyone can be an inventive genius, but here we have the methodology and curriculum materials that ordinary teachers need.

It is sad to record that, during the time that this special issue has been in preparation, both Lipman and Matthews have died, respectively on 26 December 2010 and on 17 April 2011. The tributes to them have been legion. Matthews—ground-breaking work in thinking, writing and teaching about philosophy and children was disseminated in particular through three books—Philosophy and the Young Child (1980), Dialogues with Children (1984) and The Philosophy of Childhood (1994), all published by Harvard University Press—and his influence spread world-wide. Lipman—s considerable output and dedication to the cause originated, according to Douglas Martin in the New York Times obituary (14 January 2011), in the contentious years of the Vietnam War: Lipman had found that many Americans were having trouble presenting their views about the conflict cogently. This distressed him deeply and led him to the view that if the ability to think critically was not established in childhood, it would be unlikely later to flourish. Hence, he hit upon the idea of teaching philosophy to children, and the course that he developed spread, in its original or derivative forms, to more than 4,000 schools in the United States and more than sixty foreign countries, its materials translated into forty languages.

The legacy of this work is surely plain enough to see, in the various pedagogical movements that have sought to address philosophical questions with children, and in the increasing extent to which policy-makers are turning to this work to explore its potential enhancement of mainstream education. Part of the appeal is perhaps what Nussbaum finds in Lipman’s writings and pedagogical style—its familiarity and gentle humour. Indeed the success of the movement in promoting its work has come in part from its understandable exploitation of this image, as is captured perhaps in its displacing of the cumbersome word ‘philosophy’ with the text-style, child-friendly ‘P4C’.

But the legacy has not been without its ideological disputes, with leading proponents zealously defending their preferred methodology and practice, and it has not been without its critics. What is it, then, it is sometimes asked, that philosophy for children does that is different from what good teachers have always done? Does the movement depend upon contrasting itself with a picture of traditional, supposedly uncritical teaching and learning that is little more than caricature? Why does it tend to insist upon its particular procedural protocols? Thus, to what extent does it end up, in spite of itself as it were, being overly directive? And how far, in its preoccupation with the procedures of thinking, does it hide the importance of attention to the objects of study? Finally, a classic criticism of the progressive educator, does friendliness become sentimentality? These are the kinds of questions that are not really entertained in Nussbaum’s somewhat bland, eulogistic remarks and in the connections she too quickly draws.

Paul Standish

Introduction: What is Philosophy for Children, What is Philosophy with Children—After Matthew Lipman?

NANCY VANSIELEGHEM AND DAVID KENNEDY

Philosophy for Children1 arose in the 1970s in the US as an educational programme, initiated by Matthew Lipman (1922–2010), which was devoted to exploring the relationship between the notions ‘philosophy’ and ‘childhood’, with the implicit practical goal of establishing philosophy as a full-fledged ‘content area’ in US public schools—a goal that has, with time, become an increasingly distant one. This is not so much the case in the UK, Europe and Latin America, however, where the theory and practice of doing philosophy for or with school age children appears to be of growing both interest and concern in the field of education and, by implication, in society as a whole. Examples of this emergent interest can be found not only in the growing number of curriculum materials published in this area, but in the many workshops and teacher training courses devoted to practical philosophy that are organised for educational practitioners, managers and teacher trainers.

This volume focuses on the emergence of this ‘philosophy/child’ relation, and more precisely, on the horizon against which it has been born and has taken shape. We attempt to locate the arguments that make it reasonable to think through the relationship between philosophy and the child, and that clarify its significance for teaching and learning today. Our aim is twofold: first, to become familiar with an actual educational practice that is not at all well known in the field of academic philosophy itself; and second, to offer an invitation to rethink the relationship between philosophy and the child ‘after Lipman’. In this article, and as a means of contextualising the different contributions to this issue, we provide an introduction to some of the main arguments and ideas that have given shape to the idea of philosophy for children in recent decades. In doing so, we follow Ronald Reed and Tony Johnson (1999) in subdividing the history of the movement into a first and a second generation. Characteristic of the first generation was its emphasis on a strategic uniformity of approach, given its ambitions for a place in public schooling, while the second broke with this mode of thinking, and welcomed difference as a principle of growth. This in fact fits our own purposes, in that we are interested in envisaging philosophy for children not so much as a totality, but rather as an assemblage of moving elements that forms a particular horizon—and thus as ‘some-thing’ that is in movement and can turn toward thought (cf. Deleuze and Guattari, 1994, p. 38). Hence, in what follows we focus not on one particular author or on one ideological or methodological subgroup within the movement, but rather attempt, first, to map the epistemological and pedagogical discourses within which this set of discourses emerged.

ON PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN: A FIRST GENERATION