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Erik Kenyon, Sharon Carnahan and Diane Terorde-Doyle of Rollins College
discuss how "engaging in useful
dialogue" with 4-year-olds can inspire
undergraduates to become problem-solvers.
Education Dive Opinion
In teaching philosophy to preschoolers, college students aim to mend breakdown in civic discourse
Erik Kenyon, Sharon Carnahan and Diane Terorde-Doyle
June 13, 2019
The American people are stuck. Careful listening, deep reflection and
efforts at civil persuasion are all but gone from public discourse.
Opinions are polarized on quite basic questions: Is scientific evidence
better than personal experience? What is our responsibility to people
on either side of our borders? Can individuals be good political
leaders without being fundamentally good people? With personal attacks
and name calling on both sides of the political spectrum, Americans
seem to lack the skills to come to consensus without coming to blows.
What role can our schools play in resolving this civic gridlock?
Imagine a world where high school graduates across the country were
adept at engaging civilly across the aisle, articulating and refining
their ideas and moving forward collectively on controversial issues.
This, sadly, is not the world we live in. Performance-based funding
models and a college admissions system based largely on standardized
test scores have ushered in a new era of rote learning in our schools.
In these zero-sum games, if it’s not assessed, it doesn’t make it onto
the schedule. The art of engaging in useful dialogue is simply not a
priority in American schools.
Philosophy for children and early-childhood education
At Rollins College, we are approaching these problems from either end
of the K-12 system. Bringing together expertise in philosophy (Kenyon),
early-childhood education (Terorde-Doyle) and developmental psychology
(Carnahan), we have developed a series of philosophy for children (P4C)
courses in which undergraduates guide preschool children through
discussions of ethical questions. What does it mean to be a friend? To
be brave? What makes an action fair?
Through a combination of games, carefully chosen picture books and art
projects, we provide rich opportunities for children to disagree with
each other. These lesson plans are now available in our book, "Ethics
for the Very Young: A Philosophy Curriculum for Early Childhood
Education," published by Rowman and Littlefield.
Our curriculum helps children practice the “philosophy rules” — listen,
think, respond. These rules for dialogue distill philosophical
techniques that go back at least as far as Socrates. They are also
deeply in line with current research into the development of executive
function skills. Young children are just beginning to learn the skills
of self-control, working memory and focused attention, organizing and
planning, regulating emotions and understanding different points of
view. These are the all-important executive function skills children
must have in order to be successful in school. Research supports the
practice of these skills during the preschool years as a protective
factor for future mental and physical health as well as academic
success through elementary school.
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