Philosophy for Children Theories and praxis in teacher education

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a movement that teaches reasoning and argumentative skills to children of all ages. This book looks at the progress that P4C has made in the UK in addressing issues of literacy, critical thinking, PSHE, education for sustainable development and wider issues such as bullying.

Chapters identify the different theories and practices that have emerged and discuss the necessity for a reflective approach that P4C brings to education. The book highlights how this movement can fit into the early years, primary and secondary curriculum and the challenges and rewards that come with it. Chapters include:

• The Evolution of Philosophy for Children in the UK
• Pedagogical Judgement
• Negotiating meaning in classrooms: P4C as an exemplar of dialogic pedagogy
• The impact of P4C on teacher educators
• Being and becoming a philosophical teacher

This will be an invaluable guide for all those interested in P4C and studying courses on Early Childhood Studies, Education Studies and Initial Teacher Training courses.

List of Contributors

Foreword

Part 1: The context

1. The Evolution of Philosophy for Children in the UK

Roger Sutcliffe

2. Education as a philosophical endeavor

Naomi McLeod

Part 2: P4C as a pedagogical approach

3. The construct of the child: The ‘C’ in PwC

Sue Lyle

4. Pedagogical Judgment

Darren Garside

5. Negotiating meaning in classrooms: P4C as an exemplar of dialogic pedagogy

John Smith

Part 3: P4C in school

6. Philosophy for Children in Early Childhood Education

Fufy Demissie

7. P4C in the primary school

Kathy Stokell, Diane Swift and Babs Anderson

8. P4C in Secondary Science

Lynda Dunlop

9. An evaluation of P4C

Sarah Meir and Julie McCann

10. P4C and Education for diversity

Clive Belgeonne

Part 4: The Higher Education context

11. Philosophy for Children (P4C) in Higher Education

Lizzy Lewis and Grace Robinson

12. The praxis of P4C in Higher Education

Fufy Demissie

13. Challenging assumptions and making progress

Georgia Prescott

14. The impact of P4C on teacher educators

Babs Anderson and Karen Rogan

15. Being and becoming a philosophical teacher

Joanna Haynes

Babs Anderson is a lecturer in Early Childhood at Liverpool Hope University, UK and teaches on a number of Early Childhood undergraduate and postgraduate courses.