Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Ph.D. Student in Philosophy of Education, Department of Education, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Iran.
2
Associate Professor, Educational Sciences Department, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Iran
3
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Counseling, Faculty of Ethics and Education, Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction
Founded by Matthew Lipman in the late 1960s, the Philosophy for Children (P4C) program provides an innovative framework for developing the intellectual and moral development of children. Through its “Community of Inquiry” model, P4C provides a dialogue space in which children explore fundamental concepts such as fairness, empathy and accountability. The program improves not only cognitive skills but also emotional and social skills, thereby promoting a generation of informed and compassionate citizens. Global research confirms that children's literature is a powerful vehicle for instilling philosophical and nurturing mindsets. However, there is a gap in the analysis of foreign stories in age group C (9-12) and their potential for this purpose. To fill this gap, this study investigates the foreign stories for age group C from the perspective of caring thinking for use in the Philosophy for Children (P4C) program.
Method
This qualitative, descriptive-narrative study used a deductive content analysis based on the Lipman framework of caring thinking (2003). The sample consisted of international stories for children 9 to 12 years of age, selected by purposive sampling to cover the widest possible variation. The stories published between 2017 and 2024 were selected on the basis of their general appeal, philosophical depth, author prestige and publication by major publishers. Data were coded against Lipman's components of caring thinking—empathic, affective, appreciative, active, and normative—using a pre-defined checklist. A constant comparison method was used until data exhaustion. For credibility, an audit trail has been established, which requires expert validation at each research phase before proceeding.
Results
The findings showed that the active and affective-thinking components were richly represented in the selected stories. The empathic-thinking component, on the other hand, was less prevalent. In addition, the story 'The composition' showed more richness of caring thinking than the others, while 'Il Libro di Dot,' 'The Giving Tree' and 'Le génie de la boîte de raviolis' had less richness.
Discussion
Taking into account the popularity of translated stories among children and adolescents, these findings suggest that they have a strong potential to foster nurturing thinking. In order to make optimum use of foreign stories in the Philosophy for Children (P4C) program, translators have to create Persian stories that contain more elements of caring thinking. In addition, teachers should strengthen the capacity of stories to develop these skills by proposing intellectual activities and exercises that are in line with the objectives of the program.
Keywords
