Can bringing philosophy into the classroom yield benefits for kids? Yes. There have been numerous studies supporting the claim that philosophy for kids is a worthwhile venture, including a recent study conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation in the UK and reported by Peter Dockrill of Science Alert. With over 3,000 students across over 48 primary schools taking weekly lessons in P4C ( a.k.a. philosophy for children or philosophy for kids), the study was designed to encourage healthy, reasoned dialogue by exploring thought-provoking philosophical issues & concepts like justice, friendship, fairness, and truth. (The full study & report is available on Education Endowment Foundation‘s website). Not only did kids in the study show increased math & reading scores, they also showed improvements in several personal development-related areas, such as patience, confidence & self-esteem. Read more…
Thank you to Martin Richard of Martin’s Wines for bringing this article & EEF study to our attention.