Reflections on Theory and Pedagogy of Challenges in Facilitating Children's Dialogues in the Community of Inquiry

Introduction The value of developing philosophical thinking among young children and its pedagogical possibilities has been discussed in the Philippines in the recent years (Lee, 2009; UNESCO, 2009). As educators were becoming more interested in 'higher-order thinking skills' in the 1990's, philosophy professors from the University of the Philippines who believe in the inalienable connection between democracy and the pedagogy of philosophical dialogue initiated workshops and trainings on Matthew Lipman's Philosophy for Children (P4C) in a number of Manila public schools. These mainly involved familiarizing the school teachers with the practical uses of philosophy in the classroom and abating the bias against it as an obsolete, possibly even pointless discipline. They also aimed at exposing these school teachers to literature that serve as springboard for children's philosophical dialogues and letting them experience being a participant in a of inquiry (1). However, there were numerous challenges in assessing whether the teachers had become able in the task of facilitating the communities of inquiry in their respective classrooms or even whether they had in fact implemented the P4C pedagogy. Specifically, there were no criteria set so that measurement of the impact of P4C on the students would be possible nor was there documentation and measurable assessment of the training program and of its probable impact on the students (Lee, 2009). Over and above these challenges is the question of how exactly a teacher would become a facilitator of the and of what it means to be one. How must a facilitator regard the pedagogy of philosophical dialogue? How must he or she see young children? How should he or she approach and acknowledge children's questions and ideas? What thinking skills and behaviors should he or she be able to model to them? If we are able to provide categorical answers to these questions, perhaps we could then better appreciate the craft of facilitating the of inquiry and thus explore possibilities in teacher training and in formulating criteria for assessing P4C's impact on students. The Role of the Facilitator Creating a Community of Inquirers The foremost task of the facilitator is to develop a physical and social classroom environment where children would feel welcome, motivated and secure to express their wonderment, to share their opinions and intuitions and to appraise one another's reasons and propositions (Haynes, 2007; Jackson, 2004; Johnson, 2007; Nicoll, 1993). Indeed, the community aspect of such a classroom is not to be undervalued as it is what makes thinking and learning possible for every participant. Particularly, the facilitator is expected to not only consider the age and background experiences of his or her students but also to develop sensitivity towards their 'particular sensibilities and imaginations' (UNESCO, 2007, p. 18). This helps in closely monitoring the direction where the dialogue is likely going and in rephrasing or interpreting some statements that the children had made. With regard to those who prefer to listen than talk, the facilitator would also be able to make them feel that they are included in the thinking process by developing such sensitivity. He or she may do this in various ways such as by making eye contact, by closely observing non-verbal thinking behaviors and of course, by encouraging them to also verbalize their thoughts. Encouraging children who are already thinking to think well gives them the opportunity to become inquirers and not merely passive receivers of information, which is highly useful in this age of technology and globalization. As they gain the ability to acknowledge and evaluate various perspectives, they will also familiarize themselves with considering and reconsidering conventions, with being open to changing their initial views in light of stronger arguments, and with thinking globally (Camhy, 2005; Parirokh, Fattahi, Parirokh, & Majdi, 2006). …