The Impact of Philosophy for
Children.
A now famous piece of research by Dundee
University, published in 2006, investigated
the impact of philosophical enquiry in
Clackmannanshire Schools. The study found that
after 16 months of weekly enquiry, children made
average gains of 6 standard points on a measure of
cognitive ability.
After a period of just six months pupils increased
their level of participation in discussion by half as
much again and supported their views with reasons
twice as frequently. In addition to this, teachers
doubled their use of open-ended questions and
both teachers and pupils ‘perceived significant
gains in communication, confidence, concentration,
participation and social behaviour