‘Why do children have to hide their true selves in important places (like class)?’

Abstract

Background: Philosophy with Children (PwC) challenges the traditional adult-child binary by recognising children as capable thinkers and co-enquirers rather than passive recipients of knowledge. Philosophical enquiry remains rare in early childhood and primary education, particularly in South African classrooms, where traditional models often prioritise rote learning over critical thinking.
Objectives: Young children’s questioning, hypothesising, reasoning and analysing skills and how these enquiry skills emerge, when children are engaged in an enquiry-based pedagogy such as a community of philosophical enquiry (CPE), is explored. I show how children learn through critical, caring, creative and collaborative thinking and through having opportunities to practise these ways of thinking.
Method: A group of eight-to-nine-year-old children engaged in a CPE over four weeks. The children were presented with a provocation, a picture book, given time to think, to develop questions in small groups, to draw their thoughts and to engage in a philosophical discussion.
Results: The philosophical depth of the questions the children developed and their critical, caring, collaborative and creative thinking is clear. This is evident in the transcription of the CPE, an excerpt which is analysed in this article.
Conclusion: A CPE provides a powerful pedagogical process for teachers and demonstrates how enquiry-based approaches can create spaces and the conditions for children to show their thinking and engage in meaningful discussions.
Contribution: There are exciting implications for classroom practice and methodological insights for teachers when children are allowed to show how they think not simply that they are always thinking.