A Comparative Study of the Views of Multi-National Teachers on Methods of Teaching Philosophy to Children

Given the importance of teaching philosophy to children in recent years, this study compared the views of a number of teachers from America, England, Australia, France, and Denmark concerning the methods of teaching philosophy to children. The comparative-qualitative method was used to collect and analyze the research data.The obtained results indicated that the most important methods of teaching philosophy to children in the view of American teachers included story-telling, research, discussion, and community of enquiry. In England, teachers preferred the telling of philosophical and real stories in the class; creating a community of enquiry; using music, television, video cassettes, and picture books. Australian teachers advocated story-telling and group research, while French teachers, in addition to story-telling, found painting, asking questions, using the Socratic method, and creating a research community useful for their purpose. Finally, Danish teachers believed that story-telling, dialogs, painting, and watching movies and video films were the best methods of teaching philosophy to children. Moreover, the findings clearly demonstrated that the teachers in all the target countries use the methods of telling philosophical stories and creating the community of enquiry for teaching philosophy to children. The difference between American and European (English, French, and Danish) teachers is that the former use philosophical stories at the beginning, while the latter start with philosophical questions. Furthermore, in America they use some supplementary activities and practice, while in Europe they mainly benefit from dialogs to teach philosophy to children.