The effect of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) education program on the philosophical attitudes and behaviors of 6-year-old children

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the "Philosophy for Children (P4C)" approach on the philosophical attitudes and behaviors of 6-year-old children. This study was conducted using the "pre-test - post-test control group experimental model", which is one of the quantitative research designs. A total of 60 children (30 experimental and 30 control group) attending a kindergarten affiliated to Karatay District Directorate of National Education in Konya province in the 2023-2024 academic year constituted the study group of the research. The dependent variable of the study was philosophical attitudes and behaviors, and the independent variable was the Philosophy for Children (P4C) Education Program. P4C sessions lasting 8 weeks were applied to the experimental group, while no intervention was applied to the control group. The research data were collected using the Checklist for Determining Philosophical Attitudes and Behaviors of Preschool Children (Deniz & Dirican, 2017); the findings revealed that P4C significantly improved children's philosophical attitudes and behaviors.