Philosophy and Education: Introducing Philosophy to Young People

✍ Scribed by Roberta Israeloff (editor)

• Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
• Year: 2012
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 234
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Are children natural philosophers? They are curious about the mysteries of the human experience and about questions such as the meaning and purpose of being alive and whether we can know anything at all. Pre-college philosophy takes as a starting point young people's inherent interest in large questions about the human condition. Philosophy and Education: Introducing Philosophy to Young People seeks to illuminate the ways in which philosophy can strengthen and deepen pre-college education. The book examines various issues involved in teaching philosophy to young people at different grade levels, including assessing what teachers need in order to teach philosophy in schools and describing several models for introducing philosophy into schools. Ways to inspire young students to explore specific branches of philosophy - ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, and logic - through literature, thought experiments, and games and activities, as well as traditional philosophy texts, are described. The book's final section considers student assessment and program evaluation, and analyzes the contributions pre-college philosophy can make to education in general. Teachers and educators - and parents - all want young people to grow up with the skills they need to pursue their own goals and become productive and successful adults. Thinking independently and reasoning clearly are central to these objectives. Philosophy helps students develop some of the analytic skills they need to engage in thoughtful decision-making throughout their lives, and the richness of the questions involved can help young people maintain their awareness of the world as marvelous and mysterious.

✦ Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PLATO, THE SQUIRE FAMILY FOUNDATION AND RECLAIMING EDUCATION
PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION
PART I
TEACHING PRE-COLLEGE PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHICAL SENSITIVITY
PHILOSOPHY BEYOND BOUNDARIES
A TEMPORARY FICTION
PART II
ETHICS AND THE YOUNG STUDENT
ETHICS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM
BEYOND GOOFUS AND GALLANT
PHILOSOPHY FOR CITIZENSHIP
PART III
TEACHING EPISTEMOLOGY
SOME CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES TO EXPLORE EPISTEMOLOGY WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
WHAT DO YOU KNOW? EPISTEMIC ADVENTURES IN THE CLASSROOM
PART IV
THE BEGINNINGS OF PHILOSOPHY
METAPHYSICS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM
PART V
TEACHING THE PHILOSOPHY OF ART IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
SCIENTIFIC AND MATHEMATIC AESTHETICS
PART VI
HELPING STUDENTS MOVE BEYOND SKEPTICISM AND RELATIVISM
A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING REASONING IN PRE-COLLEGE CLASSROOMS
PART VII
PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT ASSESSMENT
WHAT CAN PSYCHOLOGY CONTRIBUTE TO THE TEACHING OF PHILOSOPHY?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONTRIBUTORS