In the Age of Analytic Reading: Understanding Readers’ Engagement with Text by Colleen Pennell

Why Philosophy?

Matthew Lipman believed that critical thinking and reasoning abilities are essential for rational decision making in a democratic society. For this reason, he and Ann Margaret Sharp created a K-12 curriculum called Philosophy for Children (P4C) (Lipman & Sharp, 1984) which engages students in methodical discussions around philosophical novels connected to the main branches of philosophy: logic, ethics, and aesthetics. Research examining the effects of P4C on student learning has been promising (Banks, 1987; Chamberlin, 1993). A meta-analysis (Murphy, et al., 2009) exploring discussion-based approaches to reading, revealed P4C had positive effects on critical thinking, reasoning, argumentation skills, and reading comprehension and was particularly advantageous for readers who struggle. P4C enables reading comprehension as it promotes logical reasoning, text analysis, and argumentative thinking.

Thomas Wartenberg (2009) has since expanded the possibilities for using philosophy in the classroom by showing how to derive philosophical questions from children’s literature. Wartenberg believes picture books are a natural platform for philosophical inquiry because they allow children to explore complex issues that may otherwise go unresolved by the reader if not discussed. For instance, when students listen to a read-aloud of Frog and Toad Together: Dragons and Giants (Lobel, 1971) they may wonder about the nature of bravery: Is it possible that Frog and Toad were both brave and scared at the same time?

By design, philosophical inquiry necessitates logical, inferential thinking but also disarms traditional academic labels (e.g., the ubiquitous reading level) and allows children to leverage their imagination and experiences in order to reason critically around complex issues. Since research has suggested that readers who struggle are infrequently provided access into critical text discussions (Nystrand, Gamoran, Kachur, & Prendergast, 1997) employing interventions like philosophic inquiry, which are rooted in higher order thinking, can help ameliorate some of this inequity.