2018 Volume 2018 Issue 69 Pages 53-57
The “Working Group for Philosophy Education”, which promotes philosophy education under the aegis of The Philosophical Association of Japan, has been holding regular annual “Workshops for Philosophy Education”. Though the topics of the workshops are wide-ranging, the topic most frequently taken up so far is philosophy education in senior high schools. This is natural, considering the fact that “Ethics”which is taught in high schools is the only “philosophical” subject taught in primary and secondary education in Japan. Other topics are philosophy education in universities, elementary schools and junior high schools, and philosophical dialogue among citizens. Philosophy education in elementary and junior high schools and philosophical dialogue among the citizens may need some explanation as they are not so familiar as philosophy education in universities or senior high schools.
tween philosophical dialogue among laypersons and research and education in philosophy among experts.
This feature article on philosophy education consists of four papers contributed by the speakers of past workshops featuring philosophy education in senior high
schools, in universities, and in elementary and junior high schools, and teacher training for philosophy in schools in Australia.
Mayumi WATAUCHI’s paper, “Let twisted flowers be twisted: a report on philosophical dialogues in ‘Ethics’”, reports her practice of philosophical dialogue based on “p4c Hawai’i” in the “Ethics” course in a senior high school. She presents her conception of philosophical dialogue in secondary education, her teaching plan and materials, excerpts from students’ dialogues and essays, observations from her colleagues, and her own reflections.
Takeshi KIKUCHI’s paper, “Making good use of written dialogues and comments among the students in an introductory course on critical thinking”, discusses teaching critical thinking in higher education not only in terms of the skills and knowledge of critical thinking but also in terms of the attitude of critical thinking.
Tomoyuki MURASE and Yohsuke TSUCHIYA’s paper, “What “Philosophy for Children” challenges us about: its theory of education and philosophical questions”, gives an overview of the history, ideas, methodology, and recent developments in Philosophy for Children, and reflects on some philosophical challenges Philosophy for Children raises.
Tim SPROD’s paper, “Training teachers of philosophy in schools: thoughts from Australia”, discusses formal and informal forms of teaching philosophy in schools, naming the latter “P4C style”, and discusses the role of teachers in P4C style teaching and the training of the teachers, referring to some actual cases of teacher training in Australia.
