Evaluation of the Philosophy for Children program: A novel approach to critical thinking

Since the early 1970s, there has been evidence of a growing movement to include thinking skills in more than an accidental way in the standard school curriculum. Philosophy for Children is a thinking skills program developed by Dr. Matthew Lipman, Director and Founder of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. His program introduces philosophical thinking to elementary students through a series of novels about children thinking about thinking. The design of this program provides a model for the inclusion of philosophy in the classroom grades K–12.; The author's purposes are: (1) to examine the design and goals of the Philosophy for Children as a general theory of education, (2) to describe and discuss the content of the novels and the methodology of the program, and (3) to evaluate the program as a vehicle to teach thinking skills.; The approach of the study is best discerned as two major emphases. The first emphasis is related to a discussion of Philosophy for Children as a theory of education. Included is the examination of the origin and foundation of the program. The second emphasis is a descriptive analysis of the novels and other IAPC materials, teaching methodology, interviews of educators and coordinators and classroom observations.; The evaluation reveals that the Philosophy for Children curriculum is a systematic, cohesive and comprehensive model for the inclusion of philosophy in the curriculum. The educational design of Philosophy for Children reflects a coherent philosophy of education suggestive of John Dewey.