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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsShould Philosophy be a Core Subject at School?
Philosophical questions for children
If I were given the chance to devise a philosophy programme for schools, I would begin with-six year-olds and the delightful play of ideas and questions they so enjoy. By drawing attention to what we take for granted, they begin to learn to think for real purpose. The question about the doughnut, for example, makes them consider even if they do not use these words themselves what we mean by space, time, things, relations, existence, change and more. They do not grasp these concepts fully or understand all their implications yet, but they would have begun the fascinating process of thinking outside of the box and constructively realising that not everything we take for granted should be.
From these beginnings, in asking questions and thinking through and around ideas, I would have the students move progressively into more detailed and in-depth stages of debate. This would eventually lead to reading and discussing some of the great philosophers of the past (most of the classics of philosophy are more accessible than people suppose) and relating them to the fields of study, such as science, which arose from philosophical enquiry and still prompt philosophical questions.
It has been amply proved by the excellent International Baccalaureate system that a strand of philosophical study in a curriculum (the IBs Theory of Knowledge, for example), when taught well, gives a huge boost to students capabilities in all other subjects. For this reason alone, philosophy should be a central school subject, from start to finish.
https://www.schoolhousemagazine.co.uk/education/philosophy-core-subject/?utm_content=buffere7087&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
vlyons
(10,252 posts)But I would also add classes about ethics.
ashling
(25,771 posts)a branch of philosophy.
MFM008
(19,823 posts)Should be. 1 years worth.
You get history. Philosophy. Art. Ideas. Etc.
Excellent stuff. I was top grade in my college class all 3 quarters.
My time in college are some of my happiest most self satisfying memories.
I would go back at 60.
LonePirate
(13,431 posts)Philosophical study could be one component of many in this endeavor. People graduate from high schools and colleges with their heads full of facts. An absurdly small percentage of them seem to be capable of analyzing both learned facts and new data to improve and inform themselves and the world.
MineralMan
(146,338 posts)For example, in the Geometry class I had as a HS sophomore, we studied formal logic all through the process. Philosophy was also a topic in English, History, and Civics classes on a regular basis. That's what a balanced education is all about.
Because you can't grade philosophy on a Scantron form, and that would reduce the potential to monetize these children.
malthaussen
(17,217 posts)discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,482 posts)Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)betsuni
(25,686 posts)Although for me, coincidentally, every psychology or philosophy class I've ever taken was terrible. In high school the teacher of my psychology class made us arrange our desks in a large circle and tried to force us to talk about our problems or whatever; we spent most of the semester in uncomfortable silence while the teacher smirked, then he tried to make us write journals. We learned nothing about psychology. In college my Philosophy 101 professor was a crusty old Christian who actually notified my father, concerned, when I wrote my final paper on Bertrand Russel's "Why I Am Not a Christian." Then I took a class on existentialism wherein the prof held up a Diet Coke and asked if it was real, that sort of thing. I was distracted because I knew from campus gossip that this guy was having a hot & heavy affair with a student, and there was a woman auditing the class who I suspected was the hot & heavy because the prof never looked at her, ever, and she was gorgeous, a breathtaking music major.
I love Voltaire, Schopenhauer, Sartre, but the heavy stuff gives me a headache. And I always think, oh sure, you have a lot of time to think and write because someone else is doing the cleaning, shopping, cooking, etc. In this way I admire Buddhism because cleaning the toilet is seen as the same importance as meditation.