Philosophy for Children (PHIL P383: Topics in Philosophy) Syllabus

Course Description: Philosophy began as a way of life, but, some say, has lost touch with concrete reality. In response, Lipman and Sharp created a curriculum and new way of engaging children, rooted in the American Pragmatist tradition. Philosophy for Children (or ‘P4C’) is a growing movement that promotes a community of philosophical inquiry among children as young as three years of age, and has several cognitive benefits. This course focuses on the practice of P4C: you how to lead a community of philosophical inquiry. You will work in groups of 3 at Elwood Haynes Elementary School leading P4C sessions. Of course, no philosophical practice can be divorced from theory entirely! Along the way, we will read texts about different approaches to facilitating P4C discussions, to what extent P4C is compatible with alternative philosophical traditions, and examine empirical data on the effectiveness of P4C.

Your Instructor: My name is Joshua Mugg. I have a PhD in philosophy from York University, which is in Toronto, Canada. However, I’m originally from St. Louis. I work mostly in philosophy of mind, psychology, and religion. I’m interested in whether truth is valuable for its own sake, how it relates to morality, and whether it is ethical to believe without sufficient evidence. You can check out my published philosophical work on my webpage here: https://iuk.academia.edu/JoshuaMugg. I am married, and have two kids named Corin and Maddy. I became interested in P4C around the time that my son was born 5 years ago. In my free time, I enjoy brewing beer. You can contact me by email at joshmugg@iuk.edu, or through Canvas Inbox.

Office Hours: I’m around campus Monday-Friday, 8:30-5. Feel free to stop by and continue our discussion from class, or dive into philosophical discussion of something we aren’t talking about in class. If you are having trouble or want to take your philosophy skills to the next level, I am here to help. My official office hours (when you are guaranteed I will be here) are Monday/ Wednesday 4-5. My office number is East Building (KE) 362. I make time for my upper-level student!

Matthew Lipman facilitating discussion

Time: Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-3:45 [P4C Sessions at Elwood Haynes will run from 2:30-3:25, we will then meet as a group from 3:30-3:45 at Elwood Haynes in TBA]. Plus some ‘optional’ additional activities. Elwood Haynes is close to campus, and it is imperative that you arrive at the classroom, ready to start the activity, by 2:30.

Location: KO-102 AND Elwood Haynes Elementary School (Map here).

Required BooksLipman, Sharp, and Oscanyan. 1980. Philosophy in the Classroom. Gopnik. 2009. The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life. Additional books and readings will be available on Canvas, including Elfie (for grade 1), Kio and Gus (for grade 2-3), Pixie (for grade 3-4), Nous (for grade 4-6)

Recommended [~1 copy per group]: These texts have lesson plans. Not everyone needs each book, but each group should have at least one copy of each book.Wartenberg. 2014. Big Ideas for Little Kids: Teaching Philosophy Through Children’s Literature.Costello (ed). 2012. Philosophy in Children’s Literature.Goering, Shudak, Wartenber. 2013. Philosophy in Schools: An Introduction for Philosophers and Teachers.Lone and Burroughs. 2016. Philosophy in Education: Questions and Dialogue in Schools.

Suggested Further Reading: [On hold at the IUK Library]Lipman. 1988. Philosophy Goes to School. Lone. The Philosophical Child.

Schedule:You will have a lot of reading outside class, but in-class work will focus on practice of the art of leading a discussion. I have noted the activities we will be doing, but be aware that these may change. Activities outside the Registrar’s designated class time (2:30-3:45) is in BOLDDay Topic Reading/Link to Video/ActivityAug 22

Jumping in

Read: Syllabus [But you may want to get a start on Aug 24 reading] Watch: Peter Worley’s Ted TalkIn Class: Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CPI) Session: [Questions Exercise] No prep required.

Aug 24

What is P4C?

Read: Oyler (2016) Philosophy in the Classroom ch 1-3 ‘Philosophy with Children: The Lipman-Sharp Approach to Philosophy for Children’;Watch: Philosophy for Children in the BorderlandsRecommended: Video on Lipman (in several YouTube parts): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp5lB3YVnlE&list=PLW_sWubF4pjsAg4r7_BryoQOWXWdXFGWI

Aug 29

Leading a Discussi

Read: Philosophy in the Classroom ch 5-7; Gregory 2007 A Framework for Facilitating Classroom Dialogue; Kennedy ‘Developing a toolbox of philosophical moves’; Gregory

on ‘Normative Dialogue Types’; Jackson “Philosophical Rules of Engagement”

In-Class: 35 min clarification of readings.In-Class: WRAITEC and Diagraming a CPI Session. Mugg will provide the initial question. 20 min inquiry, 20 min metacognitive reflection.

Aug 31

Let’s Try: Leading a Discussion

Read: Philosophy in the Classroom ch 8-9In Class: CPI ‘Plain Vanilla’ Lead by Mugg (using Pixie)

Sept 5 Creating CPI

Read: Kennedy ‘Five Communities’; Philosophy in the Classroom ch 10, Dewy ‘Thinking in Education’Optional: PixieIn Class CPI Practice Lead by Mugg (using Pixie)

Sept 7 Prep Read: Pixie (if in 5th Grade Group); Kio and Gus (if in 3rd Grade Group).In Class: Assessment of CPI Groups Explained

Sept 12

You Try! In Class CPI Group 1 (Talk to Mugg about stimulus text)After Class: Group 1 talks to MuggRead: Gregory (2011) ‘Philosophy for Children and its Critics: A Mendham Dialogue

Sept 14

You Try! In Class CPI Group 2 (Talk to Mugg about stimulus text)After Class: Group 2 talks to MuggRead: Philosophical Baby ch 1

Sept 19

You Try! In Class CPI Group 3 (Talk to Mugg about stimulus text)After Class: Group 3 talks to MuggRead: Philosophical Baby ch 2

Sept 21

You Try! In Class CPI Group 4 (Talk to Mugg about stimulus text)After Class: Group 4 talks to MuggRead: Philosophical Baby ch 3

Sept 22

Walk into My Future

Optional: Help me do P4C activities with kindergarteners here at IUK as part of the ‘Walk into My Future’ Program. 9:45AM-11:30AM and 12:30PM-2PM

Sept 26

Visit Schools for First Time/ Watch P4C Exercise [Fish Bowl]Read: Philosophical Baby ch 4-5

Sept 28

In Class: Group Assessment of School VisitRead: Philosophical Baby ch 6-7

Oct 3 Read: Review materials so far, especially [TBA]

Group PrepOct 5 Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities [Questions Exercise]Oct 10

Group Prep

Oct 12

Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities [Hopefully Pick Question]

Oct 17

FALL BREAK NO CLASS

Oct 19

In-Class Group Assessment of P4C Group Activities [Review and Inquiry]

Oct 24

Group Prep

Oct 26

Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities [Open]

Oct 31

Group Prep

Nov 2 Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities [Open]Nov 7 Group PrepNov 9 Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities [Open]Nov 14

Group Prep

Nov 16

Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities [Open]

Nov 21

Group Prep

Nov 23

THANKSGIVING BREAK NO CLASS

Nov 28

Group Prep

Nov 30

Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities [Open]

Dec 5 Group PrepDec 7 Elwood Haynes P4C Group Activities

Please write a thank you note for the teacher you have been working withOptional: Pizza at Oscar’s Pizza in Downtown Kokomo @4

Course Objectives: While philosophical courses tend to focus on content and writing, this course focuses on discussion and living—both in our classroom and at Elwood Haynes. While the goal of this class focuses on the fostering of CPIs at Elwood Haynes, you, your peers, and I will be forming a CPI together. Class time will be largely dedicated to doing CPI, focusing on metacognitive reflection: we will be practicing how to do P4C by doing CPI with on another. Walking away from this course, you will 1) know how to facilitate a philosophical discussion, including a philosophical discussion with children; 2) be able to identify the stages of a discussion in theory and practice; 3) be able to articulate the philosophical assumption in the Lipman-Sharp approach and CPI; and 4) be able to articulate and defend the importance of philosophical inquiry to a general audience.

Grading Information

Note: If you are taking this course as part of the Honor’s Program, contact the Professor in the first week of the course to discuss additional assignments.

Participation (30%): Your group and the children at the school are relying on you. I expect every student to attend ALL P4C sessions and preparation meetings. In the first half of the course, you will post a response (~200-300 words) in the discussion boards on Canvas. In this response, you should briefly summarize the reading and then comment on what we should discuss in class. We may use your comments to start our discussions in August and September. In October, you will be working exclusively on preparing and delivering lessons with your group, writing about your P4C sessions in your Reflection Journal, and researching/writing your Paper/P4C Curriculum.

Assignments (10%): Throughout the course, I will have you complete short assignments/worksheets/quizzes.

Reflection Journal (30%): After each P4C/CPI session, whether at IUK with this class or at Elwood Haynes with your group,

Paper/Curriculum Development (30%): Paper option: 5-8 pages. I’m looking for quality, not quantity. This paper should be a blend of academic rigor and accessibility from an outside reader. Think of your audience as someone who has a university degree (or working on one), but has NOT taken this class, and is SKEPTICAL about P4C. Topics may include:

1. Read Gregory’s Dialogue outlining 5 criticisms of Philosophy for Children. Given your experience and research on P4C, which do you find the most compelling? Can these criticisms be overcome? Are there criticisms that you see as the most pressing for our community? How would you respond to them such that those critical would be willing to listen?

2. Read Piaget and Gopnik. Is philosophical thinking too difficult for children? Does P4C foster ‘abstract’ thinking? This paper will require you to define terms such as ‘abstract thinking,’ ‘philosophical thinking,’ and ‘critical thinking.’

3. Read De Marzio (ed) 2015, De Marzio ‘What happens in philosophical tests?’, and Fletcher, which are all on the ‘Philosophical Novel,’ along with the Philosophical Novels on Canvas (at least two of the following: Elfie (for grade 1), Kio and Gus (for grade 2-3), Pixie (for grade 3-4), or Nous (for grade 4-6). Can the elements that seem to pull in opposite directions be brought together? What are the shortcomings and strengths of the philosophical novel?

4. I will probably add topics as we read more through the semester. If you have something you want to write on, let me know. I’ll probably say yes!

Curriculum Development Option: 5. Read De Marzio (ed) 2015, De Marzio ‘What happens in philosophical

tests?’, and Fletcher, which are all on the ‘Philosophical Novel,’ along with the Philosophical Novels on Canvas (at least two of the following: Elfie (for grade 1), Kio and Gus (for grade 2-3), Pixie (for grade 3-4), or Nous (for grade 4-6). Write your own philosophical story. It should be at least 20 pages long (it might be divided into ‘episodes’) and be directed toward 3-5 grade (you may be more specific than this, if you wish, but ideally it will be directed toward the age group you have been working with). This may be the opening chapter(s) of your own philosophical novel, or stand on its own.

Grade Scale: A 93-100%, A-90-92%, B+ 87-89%, B 83-86%, B- 80-82%, C+ 77-79%, C 73-77%, C- 70-72%, D+ 67-69%, D 63-66%, D- 60-62%, F 0-59%

Boring Procedural Stuff:

General Education Objective:Ethics and Civic Engagement:Outcome 1: Students will identify the key elements and approaches to ethical situations and issues.Component 1: Students will discuss ethical decision making processes with an emphasis on stakeholders. Component 2: Students will analyze key components/factors of ethical

issues in a structured fashion. Outcome 2: Students will identify the benefits of making informed judgments with regard to individual and group conduct.Component 1: Students will articulate personal and group ethical responsibilities.Component 2: Students will compare/contrast alternative responses to ethical situations.Component 3: Students will discuss ways in which difficult ethical situations can be prevented or ameliorated. Outcome 3: Students will identify the benefits of civic engagement.Component 1: Students will apply the ethics of advocacy to individuals, and/or groups, and/or populations.Component 2: Students will engage in the sociopolitical environment of a community via service learning or simulation.Component 3: Students will analyze global perspectives and contrast with a local community. Humanities and ArtsOutcome 1: Students will articulate how intellectual traditions have helped shape present cultures.Component 1: Students will analyze the influence of tradition(s) on a present culture.Component 2: Students will explain the inter-relationship of tradition and culture. Outcome 2: Students will evaluate various literary, philosophical, or historical works and approaches.Component 1: Students will interpret various meanings of a work.Component 2: Students will identify the approach inherent in a work.Component 3: Students will explain contextual influences.Component 4: Students will evaluate the impact of the work.  Outcome 3: Students will demonstrate aesthetic appreciation through the experience of fine or performing arts. (may not apply to PHIL as much as Fine Arts).Component 1: Students will describe the personal emotional impact of a piece of fine art or performance.Component 2: Students will describe the personal intellectual impact of a piece of fine art or performance.

Component 3: Students will describe the importance of aesthetics.This course will use Canvas. Log into Canvas by going to http://canvas.iu.edu and use your normal IU login name and passphrase. You can see the Canvas user guide at http://guides.instructure.com/m/8470.

Please feel free to contact me if you need help accessing or navigating the system.

Plagiarism:“Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else's work, including the work of other students, as one's own. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged, unless the information is common knowledge. What is considered "common knowledge" may differ from course to course.

A. A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, opinions, theories, formulas, graphics, or pictures of another person without acknowledgment.

B. A student must give credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever:

1. Directly quoting another person's actual words, whether oral or written;2. Using another person's ideas, opinions, or theories;3. Paraphrasing the words, ideas, opinions, or theories of others, whether oral

or written;4. Borrowing facts, statistics, or illustrative material; or5. Offering materials assembled or collected by others in the form of projects

or collections without acknowledgment.”(quoted from Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, Part II, Student Responsibilities, Academic Misconduct, By action of the University Faculty Council (April 12, 2005) and the Trustees of Indiana University (June 24, 2005).)

Any course assignments that are completely or partially plagiarized will receive a zero. If a student plagiarizes more than once, the student will receive a zero for the course.

Note: if you have questions about plagiarism, please ask the course instructor or see Indiana University’s website: http://www.iuk.edu/library/enliten/newcite2/cite4.html

Contacting the ProfessorPhilosophy is not an easy topic to discuss over email. Thus, your instructor encourage students to use email for the following reasons only:

1. To contact us in the case of an emergency to receive the appropriate accommodation (accommodation will be provided in cases of serious illness and bereavement and not for issues under the control of the student such as poor time management or employment related scheduling problems); and2. To inform your instructor that you wish to meet with one of us during office hours or to make an appointment with us outside office hours.

When emailing the instructor please ensure that:1. Our course code and section is in the subject line of the email;2. The email is written in a formal manner with proper punctuation. Refrain from using instant messaging abbreviations or shortcuts (such as “u” for “you” or “r” for “are”);

3. The email is signed with your first and last names; and4. Your email is from your IUK email account, and not from a free email account, such as Hotmail, for such emails are frequently picked up by IUK’s spam filter.

We reserve the right to take three days—not including holidays and weekends—to respond to emails.

We cannot guarantee that we will always respond to emails that are not in keeping with the course email policy.

Many times we simply do not receive emails that fail these conditions, as they are promptly caught by spam filters or they get lost among the hundreds of emails we receive on a daily basis. It is thus in the interest of the student to ensure that his/her emails meet the requirements of the course email policy.

Accommodation:

Extensions: Extensions on essays, or other assignments, may be granted well in advance of the due date. In general, students can approach the professor for an extension on their essay within the two weeks of the course. No extensions will be granted after the two weeks of the course. No extension will be granted after this period because of scheduling conflicts.

Employment and being a university student: Employment obligations cannot be used as a pretext for extensions or accommodations in this course.

Social Pressure and Course Obligations: Students, like all people, feel social pressure to conform to certain expectations that conflict with course obligations. Course obligations are set out in the syllabus, and the various course documents available to students via Canvas. Such social pressure is not equivalent to an inability to fulfill course obligations. The experience of social pressure is not grounds for accommodation in this course.

Compassionate grounds for accommodation include: illness, bereavement, and unforeseeable tragedies that befall a student.

Alternate Moral Obligations: It may be the case that students have overriding moral obligations to do something other than attend to their course commitments. In this event, students have no right of accommodation. If this warranted a right, then we would all be obliged to accommodate other people in our activities if they could not attend due to other obligations, such as the obligation to keep away from us. This right of

accommodation would undermine the weight of the overriding obligation, thus defeating the rationale for accommodation.

Essay Upload Problems: It is possible to upload a corrupted file to Turnitin. Here is an explanation of how you can corrupt a file: http://blog.didierstevens.com/2009/06/09/quickpost-make-your-own-corrupted-pdfs-for-free/. Some students believe that this buys them time. Uploads of corrupted files are treated as the submission of the wrong file. Students who submit the wrong file via Canvas may resubmit their file for a penalty of 2% per resubmission.

Missed Exam Policy: In the case of a missed exam, students have 2 days from the missed exam date to contact the instructor to arrange for a makeup exam. Documented illness or bereavement constitute circumstances for which a makeup exam can be scheduled. Failure to be in Kokomo on the date of the exam does not constitute a valid excuse.

Canvas Problems: Unless there is a problem with Canvas that effects a wide number of students, late commentaries are not accepted for grading from students who experience difficulty with Canvas. If there is a discrepancy between a student's Canvas experience and what Canvas reports to an instructor, the instructor's Canvas experience takes precedence. Wide spread problems are evidenced by an immediate receipt of emails from a majority of students at the time of the difficulty. If you are prepared to hand in an assignment on time but Canvas does not seem to be obliging, send an email to your Professor immediately, with the attached assignment by the due date, and attempt to resubmit on time if possible. Emailed assignments shall be accepted only once, per student, unless the problem is a function of a Canvas outage. Do not leave submissions until the last minute. Late assignments are not accepted via email.

Computer problems: Students are responsible for the operation of their computers, and for being able to access the internet for the purposes of this course. A student’s technical problem with computers is the responsibility of the student. Included in this category are technical problems with Canvas accounts that do not effect all students. These are not grounds for accommodation. Please do not ask your Professor for help on these matters.

No-Shows: Students who do not submit any assignments during our class period or who attended less than 34% of classes/tutorials are not entitled to hand-in assignments after classes are over. Students who do not participate during the course are not entitled to accommodation after the course. Students who do not attend the tutorial that they are officially registered in are not entitled to attendance recognition. The only exception is make-up assignments that the professor prescribes as a result of documented illness or bereavement. Make-up assignments for participation due to

illness or bereavement must be negotiated prior to the end of class. Except in extremely rare cases, this rule applies to students with special needs as well. No make-up work or original assignments (such as essays) will be accepted past the final exam date. I am glad to keep in touch with my students to talk about philosophy after the end of our class---schedule permitting. But our class has a definite end date and all assignments must be in by then for all students in our class.

Late Enrollment: Students who enroll late in a course do so willingly. To do so willingly is to choose to enroll late. Choosing to do something is not necessarily the same as preferring it. (I might choose to enroll in a course late though I would have preferred to have done so earlier.) Students who enroll late accept responsibility for having missed assignments and for having to catchup on course material on their own. The same accommodation policies apply to students who enroll late: absence from the course does not constitute grounds for accommodation.

Disabilities and Special Accommodations: “Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities (e.g. mental health, learning, chronic health, physical, hearing, vision, neurological, etc.). You must have established your eligibility for support services through the appropriate office that services students with disabilities. Note that services are confidential, may take time to put into place and are not retroactive; Captions and alternate media for print materials may take three or more weeks to get produced. Please contact your campus office as soon as possible if accommodations are needed. Find your office at: http://ada.iu.edu/students/index/shtml” (Official IUK Statement).

AccessibilityEvery attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities (e.g. mental health, learning, chronic health, physical, hearing, vision neurological, etc.) You must have established your eligibility for support services through the appropriate office that services students with disabilities. Note that services are confidential, may take time to put into place and are not retroactive; Captions and alternate media for print materials may take three or more weeks to get produced. Please contact your campus office as soon as possible if accommodations are needed. Find your office at: http://ada.iu.edu/students/index.shtml

Sexual Harassment As your instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe

learning environment on our campus. Title IX and our own Sexual Misconduct policy prohibit sexual misconduct.  If you have experienced sexual misconduct, or know someone who has, the University can help.

 

If you are seeking help and would like to speak to someone confidentially, you can make an appointment with Beth Barnett, Room KC234, Kelley Student Center, 765-455-9553.  More information about available resources can be found here:  https://stopsexualviolence.iu.edu/help/index.html

 It is also important that you know that federal regulations and University

policy require me to promptly convey any information about potential sexual misconduct known to me to our campus’ Deputy Title IX Coordinator or IU’s Title IX Coordinator.  In that event, they will work with a small number of others on campus to ensure that appropriate measures are taken and resources are made available to the student who may have been harmed.  Protecting a student’s privacy is of utmost concern, and all involved will only share information with those that need to know to ensure the University can respond and assist.