Meta-analysis of the effect of philosophy for children program on developmental dimensions )cognitive, social, emotional and moral( of children and adolescents in Iran

The aim of this study was to meta-analyze the effect of philosophy for children program on developmental dimensions) cognitive, social, emotional and moral( of children and adolescents in Iran That, meta-analysis method and effect size index of Hedgesʹs g were used as a common scale in this study. In the statistical population , 119 studies were identified and based on the exclusion criteria, 48 studies were excluded and a total of 71 studies with 237 sizes were included in the meta-analysis. Findings showed that the size of the total combined effect (0.877) is evaluated according to the optimal Hattieh criterion and Cohen the Great criterion. Also in examining the role of moderating variables, the desired effectiveness results on each of the cognitive, social, emotional and moral outcomes; And showed mixed gender groups, boys, and girls, but the difference between them was not significant. On the other hand, the age of the subjects with a coefficient of 0.033 significantly (P <0.001) predicts the amount of effect size. Considering the high effectiveness of philosophy for children program on the developmental dimensions of children and adolescents in general and cognitive, social, emotional and moral outcomes in gender groups, it is suggested that this program be included in formal and informal education for children and adolescents, following its basic principles and foundations.