MESSAGE
Childhood is a golden age to nurture students’ curiosity, wonder and character. Their minds are now more open and eager to learn than ever. Children naturally ask many questions such as “What is love?”, “What is time?”, “What is the difference between grown-ups and children?”, “Is it right to do this?”, “Do we have souls?”. Didactic answers from adults never satisfy these “little philosophers”. A new approach to find out the answers to their inquiries needs to take place.
PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN (P4C), which was started in the United States in 1970s and has been spread around the world, applies Socratic dialogue as its methodology to give children easy access to authentic philosophy. It lays the first stone for them to explore concepts such as friendship, love, fairness, rightness, and beauty. Unique stimuli such as picture books, paintings, video clips excite children to raise questions and discuss openly with the support of their teacher’s facilitation, thus sowing the seeds of the four top skills of a global citizen in the 21st century, i.e. Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Caring Thinking and Collaborative Thinking.
OBJECTIVES
- Nurture curiosity, wonder and a disposition towards goodness
- Form logical thinking, questioning, and reasoning skills
- Develop empathic and confident communication skills
- Practice collaborating and creating with each other
CONTENTS
Philosophical topics include but are not limited to the following concepts: Friendship, Family love, Braveness, Intelligence, Honesty, Fairness, Identity and Beauty.
METHOD
Viện IRED ứng dụng phương pháp “Philosophy for Children”/ “Triết học cho Trẻ em” (P4C) do TS. Mathew Lipman thuộc Đại học Moinclair State University, Hoa Kỳ sáng lập và được thực hành rộng rãi trên toàn thế giới.
Phương pháp này được kế thừa và phát triển bởi Hiệp hội The International Council of Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC), mà Viện IRED là một thành viên. ICPIC và phương pháp P4C có lịch sử 50 năm phát triển, với gần 100 nước thành viên, trong đó có Mỹ, Úc, Anh, Canada… và được UNESCO công nhận là phương pháp đóng góp cho sự phát triển của thế hệ trẻ hướng đến chân dung công dân toàn cầu.
- IRED Institute adopts “Philosophy for Children (P4C)” approach founded by Prof. Mathew Lipman at Moinclair State University, United States and practiced around the world. Thanks to this approach, philosophical topics are accessible and fun to children.
- The method is preserved and expanded by The International Council of Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC), of which IRED is a member. ICPIC has a history of 50 years with nearly 100 members, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada. P4C is recognized by UNESCO as a contribution to the development of global citizens.
