"A QUESTION NOT ASKED IS A DOOR NOT OPENED"
Marilee Goldberg,
THE ART OF THE QUESTION
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OBJECTIVES OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY
Elementary school philosophy draws students’ attention to philosophical concepts like fairness, person, mind, beauty, cause, time, number, truth, citizen, good and right – concepts that are already implicated in children’s experience, and that children need to make their experiences more meaningful, in both senses of that word: more understandable and richer, more worthwhile. The content of elementary school philosophy, therefore, is not the traditional philosophical problems and arguments that are the stuff of high school and college philosophy courses, or the traditional philosophical sub-disciplines of ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, political philosophy and logic, or even the important figures in the history of philosophy – though some of this may become meaningful for older children who have some experience with philosophy. An important objective of elementary school philosophy is to help children become conversant with philosophical concepts, and to discern them wherever they arise – sometimes referred to as developing “a philosophical ear.”
As we become more sensitive to the philosophical dimensions of our experiences, what we find are not fixed meanings, but questions, problems and vague opportunities that call for investigation, judgment and action—in a word, inquiry. As children learn to recognize when situations have an ethical dimension, for example, they begin to wonder about what is good, right or just in those situations, how to resolve conflicting ethical claims, and what kind of community and world they want to help to create. They begin to appreciate that the ways in which they respond in such situations will help determine their ethical outcome, both in terms of whether those situations become more or less good, right or just, and in terms of the kind of persons they are becoming.
The central method of philosophical inquiry is careful thinking, and helping children learn to think well is one of the most important objectives of elementary school philosophy. Philosophy has always been preoccupied with good thinking, logic being one of its oldest branches. While formal logic is beyond the ken of young children, they are very capable of the informal logical operations that constitute basic reasoning, including giving reasons, considering evidence, agreeing and disagreeing, giving examples and counterexamples, and making comparisons and distinctions. Elementary school philosophy should familiarize children with both the concept of inquiry – as an ideal of working toward reasonable judgment – and a number of practical methods and strategies for conducting their own philosophical inquiries. Reasoning, as just described, is one important method. Another is attempting to discover a wide range of ideas and points of view relevant to the question under consideration, so that our judgments will be well-informed as well as well-reasoned.
One of the most ancient, the most effective and the most widespread methods of philosophical inquiry is dialogue: a conversation centered on a particular question or problem, in which the participants share diverse views about it, clarify each other’s thinking, offer multiple possible answers, and test those answers by coming up with reasons for and against them. The teacher or “facilitator” of these dialogues neither leads the children to a predetermined answer nor attempts to validate every opinion as equally sound. Instead, she models and prompts careful thinking, helps the children to see the structure that emerges in each dialogue, and encourages them to follow the inquiry where it leads, i.e. in the direction of the strongest arguments and evidence. The goal of dialogue is not complete consensus, but that each participant be able to decide what s/he thinks is most reasonable, whether that judgment puts her in league with a majority of her peers, with a minority, or by her/himself.
Dialogue also provides a concentrated opportunity for children to practice important communicative and social skills, such as attentive listening, mindful speech, helping another person express his idea, building on the ideas of others, offering and accepting criticism respectfully, sharing important but unpopular opinions, and self-correcting. Many philosophers and educators have noted the pedagogical benefits of dialogue, which brings its own ethical and rational discipline. A successful dialogue has energy and a sense of adventure – something even young children avidly enjoy – but it also requires rigorous thinking, wide-ranging participation and the coordination of the participants’ various communicative strengths and points of view. Children who participate in disciplined dialogue learn to overcoming shyness, aggression and attention-grabbing behaviors for the sake of cooperating in a kind of group work they find meaningful.
Elementary school philosophy draws students’ attention to philosophical concepts like fairness, person, mind, beauty, cause, time, number, truth, citizen, good and right – concepts that are already implicated in children’s experience, and that children need to make their experiences more meaningful, in both senses of that word: more understandable and richer, more worthwhile. The content of elementary school philosophy, therefore, is not the traditional philosophical problems and arguments that are the stuff of high school and college philosophy courses, or the traditional philosophical sub-disciplines of ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, political philosophy and logic, or even the important figures in the history of philosophy – though some of this may become meaningful for older children who have some experience with philosophy. An important objective of elementary school philosophy is to help children become conversant with philosophical concepts, and to discern them wherever they arise – sometimes referred to as developing “a philosophical ear.”
As we become more sensitive to the philosophical dimensions of our experiences, what we find are not fixed meanings, but questions, problems and vague opportunities that call for investigation, judgment and action—in a word, inquiry. As children learn to recognize when situations have an ethical dimension, for example, they begin to wonder about what is good, right or just in those situations, how to resolve conflicting ethical claims, and what kind of community and world they want to help to create. They begin to appreciate that the ways in which they respond in such situations will help determine their ethical outcome, both in terms of whether those situations become more or less good, right or just, and in terms of the kind of persons they are becoming.
The central method of philosophical inquiry is careful thinking, and helping children learn to think well is one of the most important objectives of elementary school philosophy. Philosophy has always been preoccupied with good thinking, logic being one of its oldest branches. While formal logic is beyond the ken of young children, they are very capable of the informal logical operations that constitute basic reasoning, including giving reasons, considering evidence, agreeing and disagreeing, giving examples and counterexamples, and making comparisons and distinctions. Elementary school philosophy should familiarize children with both the concept of inquiry – as an ideal of working toward reasonable judgment – and a number of practical methods and strategies for conducting their own philosophical inquiries. Reasoning, as just described, is one important method. Another is attempting to discover a wide range of ideas and points of view relevant to the question under consideration, so that our judgments will be well-informed as well as well-reasoned.
One of the most ancient, the most effective and the most widespread methods of philosophical inquiry is dialogue: a conversation centered on a particular question or problem, in which the participants share diverse views about it, clarify each other’s thinking, offer multiple possible answers, and test those answers by coming up with reasons for and against them. The teacher or “facilitator” of these dialogues neither leads the children to a predetermined answer nor attempts to validate every opinion as equally sound. Instead, she models and prompts careful thinking, helps the children to see the structure that emerges in each dialogue, and encourages them to follow the inquiry where it leads, i.e. in the direction of the strongest arguments and evidence. The goal of dialogue is not complete consensus, but that each participant be able to decide what s/he thinks is most reasonable, whether that judgment puts her in league with a majority of her peers, with a minority, or by her/himself.
Dialogue also provides a concentrated opportunity for children to practice important communicative and social skills, such as attentive listening, mindful speech, helping another person express his idea, building on the ideas of others, offering and accepting criticism respectfully, sharing important but unpopular opinions, and self-correcting. Many philosophers and educators have noted the pedagogical benefits of dialogue, which brings its own ethical and rational discipline. A successful dialogue has energy and a sense of adventure – something even young children avidly enjoy – but it also requires rigorous thinking, wide-ranging participation and the coordination of the participants’ various communicative strengths and points of view. Children who participate in disciplined dialogue learn to overcoming shyness, aggression and attention-grabbing behaviors for the sake of cooperating in a kind of group work they find meaningful.