The effect of the philosophy program for children on critical thinking skills of 10th grade students

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the "Philosophy for Children" program on students' critical thinking skills. In this research, which was carried out in a public high school in the Western Black Sea region in the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year, a convergent parallel mixed design from mixed method research was used. The research was carried out on a total of 68 students, 34 in the experimental group and 34 in the control group. Some of the data of the study were obtained from the quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group. The experimental and control groups of the research were determined by considering the students' 9th grade grade point averages, philosophy 1st semester exam grades and critical thinking written pre-test scores. There was no statistically significant difference between the Critical Thinking Written Test 1 pre-test scores; in other words, it was observed that the experimental and control groups were equivalent groups. The philosophy teacher working at the school conducted the experimental and control group lessons. The study, in which the researcher was a participant observer, lasted a total of 8 weeks. Philosophy for Children lesson plans prepared by the researcher were taught in the philosophy lesson once a week in the experimental group. Critical Thinking Written Test 1 was administered to the students in the experimental and control groups as a pre-test and Critical Thinking Written Test 2 as a post-test. In the experimental group, reflective diaries were filled by the students every week and lesson observation forms were kept by the researcher. At the end of the research, the opinions of the students and teachers about the research were obtained by using the teacher interview form and the student interview form. The quantitative data obtained from the research were analyzed with the statistical package program. Independent groups t-test was performed to analyze whether there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups scores. It was concluded that the critical thinking post-test scores of the experimental group students were higher than the pre-test scores and the effect size was above medium. As a result, it was seen that the Philosophy for Children program increased students' critical thinking skills. No significant difference was found between the critical thinking written pre-test and post-test scores of the control group students. In the control group, the current education was continued and it was observed that the current education did not develop critical thinking in students. The qualitative data of the research were analyzed by content analysis. The interview data from the interviews with experimental group students and the teacher who carried out the practice with reflective diaries were analyzed by content analysis. These data are collected under six themes. Philosophy Practice for Children, Stories in Practice, Questions in Practice, Discussion Process, Contribution of Practice to Students, Contribution to Critical Thinking. As a result, Philosophy for Children program is a practice that improves 10th grade students' thinking skills, critical thinking skills, reasoning skills, philosophical inquiry skills, cooperation skills, personal, social and emotional skills, discussion maturity, learning skills, and communication skills. It is interpreted that teaching Philosophy for Children is a useful, effective and good practice, contributing to the student and that it should reach more people. Keywords: Philosophy for Children(P4C), Critical Thinking,High School,Philosophy