PHIL 398 A: Philosophy for Children Practicum

In this course, students explore methods for introducing philosophy to K-12 students. The seminar focuses on ways to establish classroom "communities of philosophical inquiry," and students develop an understanding of how to inspire philosophical discussions with K-12 students. The emphasis is on learning by doing, and in our Zoom sessions we will be creating a classroom community of philosophical inquiry, discussing such questions as: Why should I be moral?  What is art? Do animals have rights?

Each student is expected to engage in the following “field work”:

1. Each week read a story to or with a child in your life and discuss the philosophical questions raised by the story. A short (one to two paragraphs) written description of the conversation will be due each week. If this is not possible for any student(s) due to the pandemic, alternatives include writing about ideas for prompts for philosophical conversations with children and/or observing small group online classes with children.
   
   
2. For two credits: each week observe and report on one philosophy session with K-12 students being led by the Center for Philosophy for Children on Zoom.
   For three credits: each week observe and report on two philosophy sessions with K-12 students being led by the Center for Philosophy for Children on Zoom.
   Your reports will be oral and will be given at the beginning of each of our class sessions.

The syllabus and all readings for the course are in Files. Assignments for leading seminar sessions are in Pages.