The effect of philosophy practices with children on third grade primary school students' critical thinking and democratic attitudes

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of philosophy with children practices on the critical thinking dispositions and democratic attitudes of third grade primary school students. The study was designed using the explanatory sequential mixed methods design. Quantitative data were collected through the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale and the Democratic Attitude Scale, which were administered as pre-test, post-test, and retention test. Qualitative data were obtained using a semi-structured interview form. The study group was determined in a public primary school located in the Yenişehir district of Diyarbakır during the 2024–2025 academic year. Sampling was conducted in two stages: criterion sampling in the first stage and simple random sampling in the second stage. The study group consisted of 51 students, 24 in the experimental group and 27 in the control group. The intervention was carried out over a period of nine weeks, with two sessions per week, each session lasting 40 minutes (two class hours). Quantitative data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), while qualitative data were subjected to content analysis with the aid of a data analysis program. The quantitative findings revealed that, when pre-test scores were controlled, the post-test scores of the experimental group on both scales were significantly higher than those of the control group, and this significant difference was observed across all sub-dimensions. Retention test results showed that while the experimental group maintained their gains, there was no statistically significant difference compared to the control group. The qualitative findings indicated that nearly all students in the experimental group enjoyed the philosophy with children practices and expressed their wish for the sessions to continue. Furthermore, the students' statements supported the sub-dimensions of both critical thinking dispositions and democratic attitudes through the codes and themes that emerged. Based on these results, it is recommended that philosophy with children activities be integrated into primary and middle school curricula. Keywords: Philosophy for children, critical thinking, democratic attitude