Investigating the influence of philosophical work with children from the primary school student's viewpoints

Since philosophical work with children both reinforces the skills like reading and thinking and increases the independence in their thinking, in recent years the interest in this issue has been developed. Considering this issue by the educational systems of different countries on the one hand, and the existing problems in our education system on the other hand, made the researchers to study the effects of philosophical work with children in Esfahan primary school through experimental method. Since the project was experimental, a primary school in district three of Esfahan was selected and the researches carried out this research in grades two to five of the school for eight months. The testees of this research were 102 students in grade two to five. The tool for gathering the information was a questionnaire with 35 questions which was graded from one to five according to Leakert scale. The questionnaire assessed the effects of philosophical work on students based on their own views. Validity of the questionnaire was investigated by the experts in education at several stages and got approved. Its reliability was figured out to be 0/91 in order to analyze the data, the 2 methods of descriptive and inferential statistics were used. In order to investigate the students, attitude towards the effectiveness of the project, one tailed t-test, Chi square, Pearson correlation coefficient tests were used. The results of this research showed that the student had developed qualities such as keeping good discipline in class, having respect for their elders, good relations with children, understanding the lessons better, taking responsibility, self- confidence, self – respect and creativity and this project had been effective in their academic progress.