P4C Efficacy and Agency: The Problem of Outputs in P4C Projects. A Case Study

• Authors: Elvis Lucy , O'Donovan Annie
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper is a reflection on a recent project that was conducted using the Philosophy for Children (P4C) pedagogy to explore issues of climate justice with young people. Taking place in 2022 and 2023, the project, entitled Fierce Close, aimed to use the Community of Philosophical Inquiry as a space for young people to identify concepts germane to their experience of the climate crisis and formulate questions about these ideas that they answered together. At the end of the project, the participants created a podcast informed by their philosophical inquiries, now available as two “seasons.” While it is true that Ann Margaret Sharp, in particular, allowed everything from “dance” to “creative work” as an emergent product of inquiry, the relationship between outputs and inquiry itself can become strained. Matthew Lipman characterized inquiry through the analogy of a “boat tacking in the wind,” a kind of free progress towards a temporary destination. In this paper, we reflect on our experience of designing P4C projects that should result in a particular creative outcome and their relationship to the notionally “free space” of inquiry.

Keywords

EN

Philosophy for Children; P4C; freedom; inquiry; outputs; partnership; project design; instrumentalization

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Warszawski. Wydział Filozofii
• Journal: Edukacja Filozoficzna
• Year: 2023
• Issue: 76
• Pages: 145-159

Contributors

author

Elvis Lucy

author

O'Donovan Annie

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