Examining the experiences of practitioners of philosophy for children in primary school

This research was conducted to examine the experiences of classroom teachers implementing "Philosophy for Children (P4C)" in primary schools in Türkiye. A phenomenological design was employed. The study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of teachers' interpretations of P4C, the strategies they adopted during its implementation, and the ways they coped with the challenges they encountered. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants, and the researcher's diary was also included in the data set. Data were analyzed using content analysis, and the findings were categorized under four main themes: Child, Teacher Competencies, Teaching-Learning Processes, Philosophical Understanding, and Society. The findings reveal that the P4C approach develops children's critical, creative, reflective, argumentative, analogical, rigorous, and collaborative thinking skills, while teachers play a facilitating and guiding role in this process. The importance of classroom teachers' philosophical competence is emphasized in the implementation process; the lack of adequate educational infrastructure, time constraints, inadequate culturally specific stimuli, and problems with curriculum integration are cited as key challenges. In this context, the study presents original findings regarding the pedagogical dimension of P4C practices and teacher experiences in Turkey and develops recommendations for the integration of the approach into the education system.