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Philosophy with children

Thinking for oneself and with others from an early age: this is the ambition of Philosophy for Children (PPE). Every autumn since 2019, Alexandrine Schniewind, Professor at UNIL’s Philosophy Department, has been offering a course for Master’s students wishing to discover and practice philosophy for children. This new philosophical practice, which until now has had little presence at university, is nevertheless strongly encouraged by UNESCO in its latest report on the teaching of philosophy in Europe and North America (2011).

What is philosophy for children?

First used in the 1970s by American philosophers and educators Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp, co-founders of philosophy for children, the term refers to an educational practice designed to stimulate children’s thinking and questioning. Practised today throughout the world, including in the Canton of Vaud, philosophy for children does not aim to pass on to younger generations the ready-made answers provided by the philosophers of past centuries. It is not, therefore, a history of philosophy course whose content is adapted to children. On the contrary, Philosophy for Children starts from children’s own experiences and conceptions, to teach them to think for themselves.

In other words, this new philosophical practice seeks to develop the faculty of thought based on the questions children ask themselves about existence. It’s a pedagogy of questioning that stimulates reflection and encourages children to think freely about philosophical subjects: What is friendship? What are rules for? Can we choose to be happy? How can we live well together? What is an emotion?

Philosophy workshops and research communities

Philosophy for children is generally characterized by a series of philosophical workshops or discussion circles. The formation of a genuine research community, whether in or out of school, enables the exchange of ideas while respecting and listening to what others have to say. The aim of the various approaches that exist is to teach people to think for themselves, of course, but also with others.

Dialogue, facilitated by the presence of an adult, is the key to encountering others and developing responsible, independent citizens of the future. The constant exchange of points of view helps to develop a critical distance from one’s own opinions, and encourages collective reflection and the peaceful management of conflicts.

Here are just a few of the approaches available:

Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp’s method, currently being developed by Michel Sasseville at Université de Laval in Quebec, is based on the pre-reading of philosophical novels as a starting point for collective reflection on the questions raised by the reading. The method is also characterized by the progressive learning of numerous thinking skills mobilized during discussion circles to answer the questions posed by the novel (defining, comparing, classifying, looking for an example and a counter-example, evaluating a reason, nuancing, etc.).
Oscar Brenifier’s Socratic method, inspired by Socrates’ maieutics, aims to question the child’s thinking through questioning, reformulation and adult objections. Here again, the aim is to develop a number of philosophical attitudes and skills in children: suspension of judgment, astonishment, confrontation, distancing; explaining, arguing, synthesizing, identifying presuppositions, etc.
The democratic and philosophical discussion proposed by Michel Tozzi also aims to teach democracy through the distribution of different roles played in turn by the children and the adult (observation, reformulation, synthesis, distribution of the floor, etc.).
Trained by Michel Tozzi, Edwige Chirouter has held the first UNESCO chair dedicated to the practice of philosophy with children since 2016. Her approach is characterized in particular by the reading of children’s literature as a starting point for philosophical discussion. Johanna Hawken has also become a leading figure in philosophy for children. Editor-in-chief of the magazine Diotime, author of theAbécédaire de la philosophie pour enfants, she leads numerous workshops at the Maison de la Philo in Romainville.

Here are some examples of philosophical discussions

How does a philosophy workshop with children work in practice?

Many examples of philosophical discussions can be seen in these three documentaries made in recent years:

This is just the beginning, and shows the value of doing philosophy with children as early as kindergarten.
Des enfants philosophent is a documentary in which Michel Sasseville explains how to set up a research community, with numerous sequences filmed in a Quebec elementary school.
Le cercle des petits philosophes shows how Frédéric Lenoir, co-founder of the SEVE (Savoir-Être et Vivre Ensemble) association, combines the practice of meditation and philosophy with children in French elementary school.

Finally, here are two examples of workshops led by Johanna Hawken and Michel Tozzi, using the democratic and philosophical discussion method.

Further information

There are now many online resources for discovering and practicing philosophy with children. There’s no shortage of choice!

To raise awareness of this approach to teaching philosophy, the BCUL has put together a selection of books on the subject, as well as a range of teaching aids for use at school or at home. A thematic selection to discover on the Unithèque website from September 12 to 23, 2022, as well as in the Renouvaud catalog.