The effect of philosophy practices with children on psychological well-being and perspective taking skills

This study, which aims to examine the effect of philosophy practices with children on their psychological well-being and perspective-taking skills, was conducted using a nested mixed model that combines qualitative and quantitative dimensions. The quantitative dimension of the study used a "pre-test-post-test-control group quasi-experimental design." The research was conducted with a total of 63 children aged 60-72 months, including 40 experimental and 23 control groups, who were enrolled in preschool education in the central district of Denizli during the 2024-2025 academic year. The qualitative dimension of the research consists of reflective diaries recorded by the researcher and interview records of teachers' end-of-process observation evaluations. The Personal Information Form, Psychological Well-Being Scale for 5-6 Year Old Children, Perspective Taking Test for Children, Income Level Determination Questionnaire, and Observer Evaluation Form (Facilitator Evaluation) were used as quantitative data collection tools. The stimuli for the Philosophy with Children Program were prepared in accordance with expert opinions. The program was planned to last 8 weeks (16 sessions). The philosophy program was implemented with the experimental group children on 2 days of the week. According to the findings, there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group in the intergroup and intragroup analyses of the total scores of the experimental and control group children's perspective-taking skills. However, no statistically significant difference was found in favor of the experimental group in the total score analyses of the psychological well-being scale. When quantitative and qualitative data were interpreted together, it was observed that the program had an effective result on the children's perspective-taking skills. The sustainability of this increase was also determined to be achieved through a follow-up test. The difference between the experimental and control groups indicated that the program did not have the expected effect in terms of psychological well-being levels. Keywords: Philosophy with children, psychological well-being, perspective taking skills.