Felsefi Düşün - Akademik Felsefe Dergisi, no.20, pp.65-84, 2023 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Philosophy for Children is a program and pedagogy originally developed by
Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp to teach children and
adolescents to think philosophically. This approach is often presented as a
valuable form of education for democratic citizenship. It has been
developed in order to enable children to think critically and to establish
dialogue with others as a distinctive feature expected from citizens in the
democratic system. The aim of our study is to examine the functionality of
innovative educational approaches such as Philosophy for Children and
Youth in being a democratic citizen. In addition, it will be emphasized that
the application of this pedagogy plays an important role in shaping the
secular worldview, which is a feature that the democratic citizen should
internalize. Because philosophy for children prepares them against all kinds
of dogmatic understanding with the critical thinking skills it provides to
students. In our study, first of all, John Dewey’s ideas, which we found the
philosophical basis of this pedagogy, will be included, and then the
development adventure of Lipman and Sharp’s Philosophy for Children
pedagogy will be conveyed in terms of presenting the most important
evidences for the functionality of this pedagogy. Finally, it will be tried to
show that if we want to meet each other as democratic citizens living in a
democratic system, the Philosophy for Children method should be included
in the education process.