어린이 철학교육의 교재와 방법론 논의

Abstract

This paper is about the text and method of philosophy for children. It offers ways to facilitate philosophical enquiry with groups of children at home or school, encouraging children to think critically and creatively through dialogue. One of the most successful attempts to create a coherent programme in teaching thinking is the Philosophy for Children programme, devised by Matthew Lipman(1922-2010) and colleagues at Montclair University. The programme has been developed to provide a curriculum for philosophical enquiry for children from nursery to college level, and is use in an increasing number of countries around the world. Although Lipman’s philosophy for children has achieved great success, it has not been succeeded in the Korean public schools. This paper aimed to discuss on the text and method of philosophy for children to facilitate it in Korea. As far as text in philosophy for children is concerned, all the experts, Lipman, Matthews, Fisher, about child philosophy proposed stories in which children are interested and philosophical points of view are abundant. Because stories have long been seen as a natural stimulus for discussion, investigation and problem-solving in schools and provide the most common starting point for philosophical with children means for developing thinking, learning and language skills. As far as method in philosophy for children is concerned, all the experts proposed the Socratic dialogue and Dewy’s how to think. In America the tradition of community of enquiry developed by Lipman, Ann Sharp and others was influenced by the philosophies of Socrates, Dewey and Peirce. The Lipman Philosophy for Children programme shares many similar features of pedagogic practice derived from the Socratic method, while there are some differences and commonness between the Philosophy for Children approach and the Europen tradition of Socratic dialogues. Nevertheless the differences and commonness of the methods, child philosophy stressed on dialogue and common enquiry influenced by Socrates and Dewey. Philosophical dialogue can help develop conceptual understanding in all areas of the school curriculum. The use of discussion is essential for developing understanding of the structure of any discipline. To do this, this paper suggested some procedures for child philosophy in school. A community of enquiry can be described as a thinking circle. The seating of participants in a circle, or its near-equivalent such as a horse-shoe shape, allows for equality of position with maximum vision within the group. Once the setting is established, the usual stages in organizing a community of enquiry can be summarized as follows: community setting, agreeing rules for enquiry, presenting a stimulus (stories, text), listening & discussing questions, choosing a question for discussion, leading the discussion, reviewing the enquiry, and extending the enquiry.