Provides reflections on the characteristics of a 'community of inquiry' and how it is formed with elementary school children. (JDH)

Moral education at its most effective is philosophical education taught to elementary school children using inquiry. Children can discuss ethical issues in a thoughtful, objective, and reasonable manner. Such an education is the antithesis of indoctrination and gives children the intellectual tools they need to think autonomously about moral…

Examines whether elementary school children have the interest or ability to understand philosophy. Suggests that philosophical thinking among children should be encouraged and that it should take place in the terms and concepts of ordinary language with which children are comfortable. (Author/DB)

The teacher's role is not one of a supplier of values. Rather it is that of facilitator and clarifier of the valuing process. Philosophical reasoning, disclosure of differences, and moral significance of those differences can be used to further understanding of a moral dilemma. (JN)

At Montclair State College, New Jersey, the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children is designing a curriculum in philosophy for children from grades K-12, as well as conducting experimental research to show that the study of philosophy can make a qualitative difference in children's reasoning, reading comprehension and…

Assumptions about nature and personhood and the relationship between the two are implicated in the aim of doing philosophy with elementary school students and transforming classrooms into communities of inquiry. Assumptions are also made about dialogue; truth; knowledge; and the ability of children to form communities that will engender care for…

Designed to accompany "Pixie," a philosophy reader for students in grades three and four, this instructional manual presents discussion plans, games, philosophical activities, and reasoning exercises so that the concepts in the reader can be readily operationalized in the classroom. The "Pixie" program focuses on abstract reasoning, ambiguity, and…

This booklet introduces elementary school teachers to the methodology, climate, aims, and objectives necessary for the teaching of philosophical thinking to grade schoolers. The methodology casts the teacher as a facilitator whose primary task is stimulating children to reason about their own problems. The discussion process with hints and guides…

This manual contains classroom exercises which can be used to supplement each chapter of the story "Mark," (ED 189 016) designed to help adolescents formulate a philosophy of values. The purpose of both "Mark" and "Social Inquiry" is to identify key social issues in the social sciences and expose students to the conflicting concepts at the heart…