Conceptions Of Childhood And Moral Education In Philosophy For Children

Philosophy for Children (P4C) has long been considered as crucial for children’s ethical and moral education and a decisive contribution for education for the democratic life. The book gathers contributions from experts in the field who reflect on fundamental issues on how childhood and ethics are interrelated within the P4C movement. The main interest of this volume is to offer an understanding of how different philosophical conceptions of childhood can be coordinated with different ethical and meta-ethical philosophical considerations in P4C addressing topics such as P4C and relativism, P4C and Virtue ethics, ethics and emotions in P4C, philosophical commitments and P4C application, and Socratic practice within a pragmatist framework. A thought-provoking collection about how assumptions of particular philosophical conceptions of childhood modify moral and ethical education and a testimony of the undeniable contribution of P4C for moral education and reconceptualization of childhood.

Philosophy for Children in Transition presents a diverse collection of perspectives on the worldwide educational movement of philosophy for children. Educators and philosophers establish the relationship between philosophy and the child, and clarify the significance of that relationship for teaching and learning today. The papers present a diverse range of perspectives, problems and tentative prospects concerning the theory and practice of Philosophy for Children today The collection familiarises an actual educational practice that is steadily gaining importance in the field of academic philosophy Opens up discussion on the notion of the relationship between philosophy and the child

The United Nations' designation of 1979 as the International Year of the Child marked the first global effort undertaken to heighten awareness of the special needs of children. Activities initiated during this special year were designed to promote purposive and collaborative actions for the benefit of children throughout the world. Michigan State University's celebration of the International Year of the Child was held from Septem ber 1979 through June 1980. A variety of activities focused attention on the multiplicity of factors affecting the welfare of today's children as well as the children of the future. Many people involved with the university were concerned that benefits to children continue beyond the official time allocated to the celebration. The series Child Nurturance is one response to this concern. The first five volumes of Child Nurturance reflect directly the activities held on the Michigan State University campus and consist of original contributions from guest speakers and invited contributors. Subsequent biennial volumes will present original contributions from individuals representing such fields as anthropology, biology, education, human ecology, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and medicine. We hope the material presented in these volumes will promote greater understanding of children and encourage interdisciplinary inquiry into the individual, family, societal and cultural variables which influence their welfare and development. We would . like to express both our thanks and our admiration for who not only typed the camera-ready copy for each of Margaret Burritt the volumes, but also served as general manager of the entire project.

The public outcry for a return to moral education in our schools has raised more dust than it's dispelled. Building upon his provocative ideas in On Becoming Responsible, Michael Pritchard clears the air with a sensible plan for promoting our children's moral education through the teaching of reasonableness. Pritchard contends that children have a definite but frequently untapped capacity for reasonableness and that schools in a democratic society must make the nurturing of that capacity one of their primary aims, as fundamental to learning as the development of reading, writing, and math skills. Reasonableness itself, he shows, can be best cultivated through the practice of philosophical inquiry within a classroom community. In such an environment, children learn to work together, to listen to one another, to build on one another's ideas, to probe assumptions and different perspectives, and ultimately to think for themselves. Advocating approaches to moral education that avoid mindless indoctrination and timid relativism, Pritchard neither preaches nor hides behind abstractions. He makes liberal use of actual classroom dialogues to illustrate children's remarkable capacity to engage in reasonable conversation about moral concepts involving fairness, cheating, loyalty, truthtelling, lying, making and keeping promises, obedience, character, and responsibility. He also links such discussions to fundamental concerns over law and moral authority, the roles of teachers and parents, and the relationship between church and state. Pritchard draws broadly and deeply from the fields of philosophy and psychology, as well as from his own extensive personal experience working with children and teachers. The result is a rich and insightful work that provides real hope for the future of our children and their moral education.

This book outlines the key findings from the ADVOST project and other international projects that examine how educational practitioners have utilised theoretical notions of voice and agency to enhance the social inclusion and wellbeing of children within their settings. Bringing together findings from three project case studies that are each placed in a different national context, chapters explore theoretical principles of space, audience and influence to facilitate and enhance the voices of very young children. Focusing on diversity as an opportunity rather than a challenge, the book provides collaboratively written and regionally diverse chapters that ultimately contribute to a growing field on literature examining how young people might be included in culturally sensitive and responsive ways within education, recognising the diversity that young people, their families and communities bring to educational processes to provide an inclusive education for all. Offering multiple perspectives and insights into our growing understanding of children’s voice and agency in diverse settings, this book will be of relevance to scholars, researchers and academics in the fields of primary education, multicultural education, early years and educational research, and child development studies.

A companion volume to Moral Judgement from Childhood to Adolescence specially written for teachers and students of education. This volume includes analysis of the broad stages in the developmental pattern; of the key variables that must shape it, and of their function in moral judgement; and of the principles that must lie behind a moral education that has autonomy as its goal. The book concludes with practical proposals for a sequential pattern of moral learning, and the methods of approach appropriate to it.

Teaching for Moral Imagination: An Interdisciplinary Exploration examines the multifaceted nature of morality and ethics, moral development, and moral education so to provide educators with a clear yet complex understanding of theories, issues, practices, and curricular content. This text is intended to be an accessible work of academic significance that inspires educators’ deliberation about personal and societal values as well as approaches for fostering children’s and adolescents’ moral development, cultivating ethical classrooms and schools, and creating transformative moral education curricula. Teaching for Moral Imagination will be a pertinent text for teacher preparation courses that specifically focus on the moral dimensions of education as well as more comprehensive classes about teaching, teachers, and classroom culture. Such classes are offered in undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs, professional studies for experienced teachers, educational studies classes in the liberal arts, and doctoral seminars for students becoming teacher educators and educational leaders. This book also is intended as a source for teachers’ professional development in schools and for reading groups. Finally, in our contemporary societies emphasizing extreme individualism, competition, conformity, and prejudice as well as unexamined beliefs leading to violence in words and actions, it is crucial to consider how schools can encourage ethical reasoning, compassion, and transformative alternatives for moral education. ENDORSEMENTS: "Teaching for Moral Imagination is a remarkable book and a wonderful contribution to the field. It is a must read for anyone trying to make sense of the multi-faceted moral nature of schooling. Everyone who pursues a career in teaching is fundamentally drawn to the moral dimensions of their work, but there is little, if any, emphasis given to those fundamental moral features in teacher preparation programs and teacher professional development. In this book, Dr. Joseph does the difficult work of both conceptualizing the moral domain and illustrating these dimensions in way that will uniquely help teachers and school leaders develop elegant moral language and fully understand their role as moral educators and moral agents. It is an outstanding contribution from a scholar who brings the philosophy of morality and the psychology of moral development to bear on life in classrooms." — Rich Osguthorpe, Brigham Young University "In her book, Teaching for Moral Imagination, Pamela Joseph shows profoundly how moral values are embedded in education and in the pedagogical role of teachers. Joseph brings together many different perspectives on moral education, including philosophical and psychological foundations, and develops her interesting own position with a focus on moral imagination. She argues for “widening ethical perspectives, encouraging critical reflection on values, stimulating new perspectives about how to be moral human beings, and creating just and caring classroom and school communities”. Joseph’s book can inspire teachers and researchers in their work on preparing young people for future society." — Wiel Veugelers, University of Humanistic Studies "This is an incredibly complex and wonderful book. When you read Teaching for Moral Imagination, what will become clear is what educators need to learn and do to transform the wider ethical environment all around us. This is invaluable reading for all teachers, school and district leaders and teacher educators who realise the significance of ethics in education and who seek to critically engage with the potential of human and social moral development. Joseph offers a rich vision of interdisciplinary scholarship and on her horizon is nonviolence for all forms of life on the planet. The book conceptualises how moral imagination generates powerful insights into individual, social and cultural normative diversity and explores a range of transformative moral curricula to grow future generations’ capacities for tackling complex relations and global challenges." — Daniella J. Forster, University of Newcastle, Australia

This book explores the contribution to education contained in the theoretical work and teaching practice of Matthew Lipman (1923-2010) and Ann Margaret Sharp (1942-2010). Their long-lasting cooperation gave rise to the well-known “Philosophy for Children” (P4C) curriculum, which is nowadays globally widespread. P4C basically relies on the following innovations: firstly, the unprecedented connection between philosophy and childhood; secondly, the reframing of philosophy in practical, viz., not reductively theoretical terms; thirdly, the employment of philosophy to foster democracy and moral capabilities through the development of children’s thoughtfulness and autonomous thinking, which would eventually result in empowering children’s social abilities and increasing their self-defence against consumerism, propaganda, and manipulation; finally, the stand against a strictly cognitivist approach to education. More than just contextualizing these innovations in the coeval historical and social context, the author shows that P4C’s revolutionary stance on education relies on the fruitfulness of Lipman and Sharp’s intellectual cooperation and on their manifold abilities as researchers, teachers, trainers, communicators, motivators, and community-builders. The book analyzes their philosophical-educational vision and the scholastic curriculum they developed jointly; additionally, it provides a critical appraisal of P4C’s achievements as well as of its future perspectives.