The Effect of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) Approach on Critical Thinking and Critical Speaking Skills

ABSTRACT Philosophy for children emerges as a method that develops children's critical thinking and critical speaking skills through the philosophical dialogue method. This method, which actively uses children's innate curiosity and questioning ability, shows children different perspectives with the discussion environment it offers and gives them the opportunity to question the information they have acquired. The aim of this study is to measure the effect of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach on critical thinking and critical speaking in 6th and 7th grade middle school students. The study was conducted with the participation of 116 students and P4C sessions were implemented for 40 minutes per week for 36 weeks. A semi-experimental mixed design was preferred in the study. In the quantitative dimension of the study, the Critical Thinking Tendency Scale for Middle School Students and the Critical Speaking Tendency Scale were applied as pre-test and post-test. In the qualitative dimension, a semi-structured interview was conducted with the participation of 35 students and the data were analyzed using the content analysis method. At the end of the process, it was determined that there was a positive change in the students' critical thinking and critical speaking skills regardless of gender, grade level and parental education. While the students' views against dissenting ideas showed that their reasoning skills had improved, it was observed that their approaches to ideas were objective. It was observed that they explained their differences of opinion with multi-dimensional thinking, based the abandonment of existing ideas on valid arguments and gave importance to ethical principles as well as clear, simple and understandable expression when expressing themselves. The students stated that they acquired a strong method in terms of thought from the Philosophy course, understood the importance of questioning and discovery, acquired more ideas to distinguish correct information and gained different perspectives. According to the findings obtained, it can be said that these changes occurred not only at the level of knowledge but also in social, ethical and personal dimensions. This study demonstrates the positive impact of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach on children's critical thinking and speaking skills, while highlighting the necessity of early, consistent, and sustained engagement with philosophical inquiry for fostering a meaningful relationship with philosophy. Key words: Critical Speaking, Critical Thinking, Education, Mathew Lipman, Philosophical Inquiry, Philosophy for Children, P4C