Pre-College Philosophy: Defined and Defended
Keywords:
Philosophy for children, Critical thinking, Reading comprehension, Philosophy curriculumAbstract
This paper argues the importance of teaching philosophy in the pre-college classroom. It is urged that the close connection between logical thinking and reading comprehension suggests the importance of teaching philosophical skills to the elementary school child; furthermore, the inseparability of value issues from most secondary school subject areas suggests that certain philosophical skills are a necessary condition to the secondary school student's understanding of such basic subjects as mathematics and history. This thesis is further developed through an examination of some current examples of philosophy offerings in the pre-college curriculum; special attention is paid to the work of the American Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children and the Canadian effort to establish moral education in the schools.
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