Thinking About Thinking

   What children learn in school has become a question of debate (Nutbrown, 1999) due to the introduction of the national curriculum in 1988. As this curriculum set out a guideline of what teachers should be teaching their pupils, people have been debating over what knowledge children need to know to prepare them for the future.
   Nottingham (2013) has suggested that a lot is debated in the media about what children learn in school, but little is asked about why children learn. It is a natural process for children to think and they want and need to learn about the world, to prepare them for the future.


   Philosophy for children (P4C) is a programme designed to introduce pupils to thinking about and questioning ideas, and as a group, feeding back and sharing those ideas. The programme is designed by Matthew Lipman, and it can be taught to both primary and secondary school pupils.
  Despite this, according to Daniel and Auriac, (2011), Lipman's approach to teaching philosophy for children is 'not philosophical in their essence.' The authors then go on to mention 'Piaget's theory of cognitive development', and that a child is not able to 'think critically and reflexively.' This argument suggests that the way that many children are taught Philosophy for Children around the world, is not logical, due to the fact that the children are not capable of thinking to that level.
   A typical session of the philosophy for children programme would involve the group of children sitting around in a circle, with the teacher. The lessons are very specifically designed to ensure that philosophical discussion reaches the highest quality. A book would be read, a different book is suggested for each age category. Everyone would be expected to allow others to speak when submitting their thoughts and questions back to the group, and the only way to be allowed to speak would be through a pupil putting their hand up.


Mind Map created by amybalsdon22 with ExamTime


Daniel, M. Auriac, E. (2011) ‘Philosophy, Critical Thinking and Philosophy for Children’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, Volume 43 Issue Number 5, pp. 415- 435. EBSCO [Online]. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.v-ezproxy.smu.ac.uk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2ee110a1-0c32-484c-b280-3e433735e078%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4109 (Accessed: 08/12/2014)

Nottingham, J. (2013) Encouraging Learning: How You Can Help Children Learn. Oxon: Routledge

Nutbrown, C. (1999) Threads of Thinking. 2^nd edition. London: Sage.