Philosophy for children achieves these aims by giving students the opportunity to think for themselves about ideas and concepts that they themselves select as the ones which are interesting and worthwhile pursuing.
Examples might be:
What has a mind?
How should we treat our friends?
Should we always think for ourselves
What would a fair society be like?
Do we own our bodies?
What does it mean to know something?
What counts as a good reason for something?
A typical session consists of a group reading of a source text, followed by the gathering of students’ questions that have been stimulated by the reading. These questions form the agenda for discussion. Each reading usually generates enough questions for several subsequent discussions in the community of inquiry. The students’ collaborative inquiry can be facilitated by the use of appropriate discussion plans and exercises, which function to maintain focus and encourage depth of discussion. Purpose written texts are just one possible source material. Other written material, images and recordings can also be used to stimulated philosophical inquiry. Drawing and drama can also be used as a springboard for discussion.
Discussion in the community of inquiry is not just a process of swapping opinions. Classroom discussion is aimed at the construction of the best answer to the questions raised. This best answer is not provided or validated by the teacher. Instead, the class has the responsibility for both constructing and evaluating the range of possible responses to a question. Philosophy for children is not based on the assumption that there are no right or wrong answers. Instead, it is based on the belief that, even if final answers are difficult to come by, some answers can reasonably be judged better – more defensible – than others.
Philosophy for Children emphasizes a conversation and dialogue based process of inquiry. As all participants share their own ideas so each individual must consider many different perspectives. Many students have the experience of seeing that what they thought was obvious is not obvious to people who have different perspectives. This encourages tolerance of others ideas, and increases students ability to work together.