Filosofie in het basisonderwijs met P4C

Abstract

Half a century ago, Dutch schools had a uniform structure, which reflected a society that was not highly multicultural. Today, children are entering a complex and dynamic society shaped by forces such as globalization, social media, and increasing immigration. These issues are the result of political and economic conditions across the globe. Given this background, the thesis investigates the benefits of incorporating philosophy into the curriculum of Dutch elementary schools with the aim of promoting good citizenship. The educational system of interest is Philosophy for Children (P4C), which originated in the United State and is implemented in many other countries, but not in the Netherlands. It focuses on practical philosophical issues through a community of inquiry rather than teaching the ideas of great philosophers.
P4C engages children’s natural curiosity by fostering philosophical discussions and encouraging them to reason, structure their arguments, and appreciate diverse perspectives. According to the Institute for Advanced Philosophy for Children (IAPOC), P4C enhances children’s verbal and non-verbal skills, numeracy, literacy, emotional awareness and cognitive abilities.
In the thesis are five groups of scientists and an individual scientist mentioned, Roberto Colom, Felix García-Moriyón, Carmen Magro en Elena Morilla (2014), Felix García-Moriyón, Irena Rebollo en Roberto Colom (2005), Sijin Yan, Lynne Masel Walters, Zhuoving Wang en Chia-Chiang Wang (2018), Kerstin Michalik (2018) en Frank Fair, Lory Haas, Carol Gardosik, Daphne Johnson, Debra Price en Olena Leipnik (2015). These groups have looked for standardised uniformed methods to investigate the effect of P4C for pupils of four year onwards. They did this by doing tests at the beginning and at the end of a certain period. they compared groups of pupils who were using the P4C-system and the groups who didn’t used it. Another group of scientists, Keith Topping, Steve Trickey and Paul Cleghorn, have written for UNESCO in 2020 an essay about the practical way to implement P4C.
Research has shown that the community of inquiry model has a positive effect on both cognitive skills and social-emotional development. This promotes critical and creative thinking, which, in turn, yields benefit for subjects such as mathematics, economics, and physics. Additionally, P4C boosts pupils’ self-confidence, self-awareness, and problem-solving skills, and helps them discover their strengths. All of these outcomes are beneficial to a multicultural democratic society.
Critics have questioned young people’s ability to philosophize. While proponents argue that P4C aims to foster age-appropriate philosophical discussions, its primarily goal is to cultivate good citizenship rather than philosophical expertise. It is widely acknowledged that today’s multicultural society encompasses cultural and religious diversities, which poses a challenge to the existing educational system. People who still favor traditional educational norms, such as parents with traditional mindsets, need to understand that a changing society requires an evolving educational system. It is crucial to address the concerns of those individuals while also demonstrating the importance of teaching democratic values and norms in a multicultural society.
The concept of good citizenship is multifaceted. It requires actively contribution to the community, engaging socially, offering mutual aid, being open to other cultures, demonstrating decency, and showing respect for diversity. Given the changing social landscape, educational policy reform appears to be necessary to prepare citizens of the future adequately. If the education system does not evolve, it may hinder the functioning of a multicultural democratic society.
In this thesis, the P4C-system is investigated to determine whether it can help pupils become good citizens. The findings indicate that P4C is beneficial for promoting citizenship and enhancing cognitive skills and traditional knowledge transfer. The system also offers a cohesive educational approach that is applicable to all schools.
However, to establish appropriate guidelines, a national meta-planning and further research are necessary. Overall, P4C’s introduction into Dutch primary schools is positively associated with fostering good citizenship and helping pupils become independent thinkers in a democratic society.
 

Date of Award	17 Sept 2024
Original language	Dutch
Supervisor	Jeroen Vanheste (Supervisor) & Herman Simissen (Examiner)