100% FREE ONLINE DATING
sponsored links
Previous
| Topic: critical thinking??? | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
Philosophically speaking, here's a little food for thought...  1. Are Children Capable of Philosophical Thinking? Jean Piaget's (1933 ) well-known theory of cognitive development suggests that prior to age 11 or 12, most children are not capable of philosophical thinking. This is because,he holds, prior to this time, children are not capable of “thinking about thinking,” the sort of meta-level thinking that characterizes philosophical thinking. This “formal operational” level of cognitive development includes analogical reasoning about relationships, such as: “Bicycle is to handlebars as ship is to rudder, with ”steering mechanism“ being the similar relationship” (Goswami, p. xxi). However, there is a growing body of psychological research suggesting that Piaget's account seriously underestimates children's cognitive abilities (Astington, 1993; Gopnik, et al., 1999; Gopnik, 2009). Philosopher Gareth Matthews goes further and argues at length that Piaget failed to see the philosophical thinking manifest in the very children he studied. Matthews (1980) provides a number of delightful examples of very young children's philosophical puzzlement. For example: TIM (about six years), while busily engaged in licking a pot, asked, “Papa, how can we be sure that everything is not a dream?” (p. 1) JORDAN (five years), going to bed at eight one evening, asked, “If I go to bed at eight and get up at seven in the morning, how do I really know that the little hand of the clock has gone around only once? Do I have to stay up all night to watch it? If I look away even for a short time, maybe the small hand will go around twice.” (p. 3) One day JOHN EDGAR (four years), who had seen airplanes take off, rise, and gradually disappear into the distance, took his first plane ride. When the plane stopped ascending and the seat-belt sign went out, John Edgar turned to his father and said in a rather relieved, but still puzzled, tone of voice, “Things don't really get smaller up here.” (p. 4) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/children/#ChiCapPhiThi Hi Leigh,,, like most words in the english language 'philosophy' can be used in several contexts,, which is why I place it in quotes the context of philosophy which refers to a search for knowledge, begins at birth by nature of how our brains retain information from our experienes and how we then apply that in our lives,, we have a natural curiosity from birth to seek understanding,,,, the context of philosophy which refers to a specific Educational topic that reviews philosophers and their theories is not something a 5 year old will have much ability to grasp due to limited experience and cognitive development,,,,let alone to retain as knowledge due to limited opportunity to use that information,,,, Hey Harmony  ...Now you have me re-reading your posts...and still coming to the same conclusion...IMO, critical thinking should be INTRODUCED to children when they enter the educational system, typically age 5, but often even younger....Not only can they grasp the philosophy of critical thinking, they can find, or be offered, outlets for putting it to use...I also think NOT criticizing an educational system so obviously lacking in certain "key" areas is wrong and I don't understand why you would take issue with anyone doing so...Several months ago I read an article on how poorly U.S. educated college students preformed in areas of critical thinking when compared to their foreign educated classmates....If you're interested, I'll try to find it for you (no promises though)... I havent disagreed, CRITICAL THINKING Can be taught at all stages of educational development. The subject of PHILOSOPHY, as it pertains to philisophical terminology and vocabulary, is not something a typical 5 year old can or needs to be able to grasp, as it is not something they can utilize in their 5 year old existence and I dont take issue with people criticizing those elements that need to be improved, I just find a lacking correspondence between the clip provided and whether children are taught to think critically and why..... |
|
|
|
|
