A Critical Approach to the Content of Cyberspaces in Philosophical Communities of Inquiry

Philosophical communities of inquiry enjoy a practical, rational and philosophical attitude toward the development of critical, creative, and controlling insight into the surrounding issues. Since a great deal of people’s ideas, beliefs, thoughts, and worldviews are under the influence of cyberspaces in the present time, particularly in modern communities, it is necessary to develop a critical approach among children in dealing with the contents of the cyberspaces, and teach them how to confront with these immense information provided by these centers. The present paper, as carried out with the participation of children in philosophical communities of inquiry, is an attempt to enhance the critical, creative and accountable ability of children in confronting with the content and existing information of the cyberspaces. An analysis of the data as collected by Covariance method with %99 certainty in twelve sessions indicate that the participation of students in philosophical community of inquiry can affect their critical thought skills including the skills of inductive and deductive reasoning, analysis of media messages, enhancing self confidence, and increasing hypothesis making in internet(p≤0.01). Accordingly, we can benefit from the teaching program of “philosophy for children” in deepening our understanding of information in cyberspaces and reducing the destructive impacts of this invaluable and overall media.