Big Ideas for Little Kids: Teaching Philosophy through Children's

165 Pages·2009·0.72 MB·English

by  Thomas E. Wartenberg

B I G I D E A S F O R
L I T T L E K I D S
Teaching Philosophy through
Children’s Literature
Thomas E. Wartenberg
Rowman & Littlefield Education
A Division of
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Lanham (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education
A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.rowmaneducation.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2009 by Thomas E. Wartenberg
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and
retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a
reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wartenberg, Thomas E.
Big ideas for little kids : teaching philosophy through children’s literature /
Thomas E. Wartenberg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-1-60709-334-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-335-0
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-336-7 (ebook)
1. Philosophy—Study and teaching (Elementary) 2. Children’s literature—
Study and teaching (Elementary) 3. Interdisciplinary approach in education.
I. Title. B52.W378 2009
372.8--dc22
2009015581
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
For Jake,
who first showed me what young children are capable
of doing, and
for Gary Matthews,
who showed me what to do with that knowledge

CONTENTS
List of Tables vii
Preface ix
PART I T EACHING PHILOSOPHY IN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOLS
1 Natural-Born Philosophers 3
2 How I Became a Children’s Philosophy Teacher 9
3 Learner-Centered Teaching 15
4 The “Game” of Philosophy 25
PART II PREPARING TO TEACH
5 The Elementary-School Introduction to Philosophy Course 37
6 Preparing a Lesson Plan 47
7 Leading a Philosophical Discussion 55
v
vi CONTENTS
PART III THE STORIES
8 “Dragons and Giants”: Teaching Ethics 63
9 Frederick: Teaching Social and Political Philosophy 73
10 The Important Book: Teaching Metaphysics 81
11 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Teaching the Philosophy
of Mind 89
12 The Giving Tree: Teaching Environmental Philosophy 95
13 Morris the Moose: Teaching Epistemology 103
14 Knuffle Bunny: Teaching the Philosophy of Language 115
15 Emily’s Art: Teaching Aesthetics 125
PART IV IMPLICATIONS
16 Suggested Follow-Up Activities after Philosophy Discussions 135
17 Conclusion 139
Appendix 143
References 149
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Two Models of Learning 18
Table 4.1 Rules for Doing Philosophy 33
Table 5.1 The Basic Fields of Philosophy 38
Table 5.2 How We Do Philosophy! 41
Table 6.1 How Frog and Toad Try to Figure Out Whether
They Are Brave 51
Table 7.1 The Six Pieces of Advice for Facilitators 60
Table 8.1 How Frog and Toad Try to Figure Out Whether
They Are Brave 66
Table 9.1 A Comparison of What Frederick Does with
What the Other Mice Do 76
Table 10.1 The Important Things about . . . 85
Table 11.1 How the Tin Woodman Differs from Normal
Human Beings 92
Table 12.1 How the Boy Treats the Giving Tree 99
Table 13.1 Is the Cow a Moose? 107
Table 14.1 Is Trixie Really Talking? 119
Table 15.1 Comparing Emily’s Painting with Kelly’s 128
vii

PREFACE
T
his book contains everything necessary for teaching an introduction
to philosophy class in elementary schools. It is the result of my own ex-
perience discussing philosophical issues with young children, from first
to fifth graders, over the past twenty years. Since the very idea that kids
are capable of taking part in a philosophical dialogue will surprise many
of you, the book also explains quite carefully the rationale for discussing
philosophy with them and, indeed, the importance of doing so.
My goal in introducing philosophy to young children has always been
to encourage and support elementary-school classroom teachers in their
efforts to bring philosophy into their classrooms. Because my hope is that
this book will spur the efforts of teachers to do so, I emphasize the fact
that you do not have to have a background in philosophy to become an
elementary-school philosophy teacher. All you need is a genuine inter-
est in fostering the independence, creativity, and inquisitiveness of your
students—as well as patience and a sense of humor! If you possess these
and are interested in introducing philosophy into your elementary-school
classroom, you’ll find everything you need to do so in this book.
Although I began by working with teachers to help them introduce
philosophy into their classrooms, for the past decade my primary in-
volvement has been through a course that I teach at Mount Holyoke
ix