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Whatsapp The results are in: learning philosophy in the classroom leads to sustained better results in other subjects, as well as leading to long-term school social cohesion

Aristotle thought that the young were too immature to wrestle with reason, their passions too strong for a clear mind. The burgeoning worldwide Philosophy for Children movement is proving the great sage wrong. Dr Laura D'Olimpio charts the rise of a radical movement in Australia.

Some people may wonder if young people can do philosophy. In his Nicomachean Ethics, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle writes that the young—and not necessarily the young in age—are not suitable students of ethics and politics because they lack experience and because they tend to follow feelings rather than reason.

Philosophy for Children is radical because it assumes that young people are capable of wisdom and can learn about difficult, abstract concepts.

Furthermore, in Socrates’ day, there was a concern that teaching the youth critical thinking skills would result in them being less obedient. If we teach students philosophy, will they simply argue for whatever they like, and be able to justify their arguments? Is the study of philosophy corrupting or empowering?

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a program that takes philosophy out of the academy and into the classrooms of primary and high schools. P4C started at Montclair State University, New Jersey in the 1970s, when Matthew Lipman and Ann Sharp decided that a pragmatic approach to doing philosophy was needed. Their vision was to train children to think critically, creatively and collaboratively so that they would be better democratic citizens.

Influenced by the pragmatism of the philosopher John Dewey, Lipman applied the term ‘community of inquiry’ to the pedagogy that is central to conducting philosophical dialogue with children. The community of inquiry sees participants seated in an inward-facing circle, allowing them to discuss philosophical concepts and ask questions of one another.

The role of the teacher is radicalised, as he or she becomes a facilitator of the community of inquiry, rather than the one source of all knowledge. The discussion that takes place in a community of inquiry is kept on-topic but allowed to flow, with the aim ultimately being shared knowledge and pluralistic truth.

Laurance Splitter brought P4C to Australia in the mid-1980s, and eventually a national body, the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations, was formed. Almost all Australian states now have P4C offered in some primary and high schools.

Queensland was the first state to offer philosophy as a non-compulsory secondary schools subject. Victoria followed in 2001, South Australia came next in 2003, Tasmania followed in 2006 and Western Australia introduced the ‘Philosophy and Ethics’ course of study for senior students in 2008.

Bringing philosophy into the high schools is a truly radical move that could certainly prove transformative. It’s radical because philosophy is a subject that asks people to think for themselves, rather than recite the correct answer to the question. So much of education today is ends-focused, with those ends being ‘good test results’ and ‘vocational skills’. What is truly missing is the focus on learning for its own sake—and the recognition that wisdom is more important than knowledge.

Read more: The history of education and religion in Australia

Wisdom involves practical knowledge—what Aristotle would call phronesis. This is not simply about knowing facts, but also how to be virtuous and behave in a way that allows for one’s own flourishing alongside the flourishing of others. After all, we are social creatures who live together in communities.

Philosophy for Children is radical because it assumes that young people are capable of wisdom and can learn about difficult, abstract concepts. Of course, the philosophical dialogue must be age-appropriate, yet teachers who work with students in communities of inquiry often report being astounded by the insights young people can have when discussing topics as diverse as ethics, religious belief, politics or epistemology.

An additional source of pleasure is seeing how participants who regularly contribute to a community of inquiry grow in confidence and curiosity over time. Here is a space created within a classroom where they are allowed to ask genuine questions—questions to which the teacher may not have the answer. And that’s OK!

Teachers can explore the answers together with their students and, even learn from them, all the while guiding the philosophical discussion in a safe environment. Everyone is aiming for the best answers we have to date, with a view to self-correction—that is to say that if new information comes to light, we should be open to reflecting upon and further refining our existing answers.

In a well-functioning community of inquiry, members will move on from considering themselves and their own ideas as all-important. They become conscious of other members’ contributions and allow for the transformation and refinement of their own ideas. They eventually recognise they are not isolated thinking things, but rather part of an interdependent whole. They are members of a group of people who think and feel. It is this deep understanding that changes them.

The results can be extraordinary—the children’s behaviour starts to change and you see, for example, less bullying in the school playground and rational resolution of disputes. However, in order for this to happen, the trust and care of a community of thinkers must be in place. Teaching philosophy in high schools using the community of inquiry pedagogy is a great way to achieve this.

One practical way that teachers can practice their skills build bonds of trust with other teachers is to create a community of inquiry of their own. The chance to participate in an all-teacher community of inquiry can help inform teachers’ practice by helping them gain a sense of what it is like to be a member rather than a facilitator.

Getting philosophy into schools is a great way to make it more accessible, which is vitally important if the discipline is to be recognised as valuable in the 21stcentury. The thinking skills philosophy promotes are essential to living a good life—and advocates of Philosophy for Children believe that by doing philosophy in a community of inquiry, children can become democratic citizens who think critically, creatively and collaboratively. Surely this is exactly what our society needs.

Dr Laura D'Olimpio is President of the Australasian Association for Philosophy in Schools and co-editor of the open access Journal of Philosophy in Schools. She teaches philosophy at the University of Notre Dame in Perth.

The young and the reasonable Listen to this episode of The Philosopher's Zone.

The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

