Abstract:

The paper deals with a partial area of the educational programme Philosophy for Children, which was designed as a counterpoint to the imparting transfer of knowledge, the development of judgement and independent thinking. This programme is aimed at the so-called dimensions of thinking – critical, creative and caring thinking. In recent years, critical and creative thinking have been leading challenges for current education, and in this context, we are interested in the educational potential of the Philosophy for Children programme, concerning the development of personality, its character traits, behaviour, values and many other qualities. This dimension is represented mainly by caring thinking, which, compared to the two mentioned dimensions, lags significantly in the theoretical, but especially in the research level. Through the research strategy of interpretative phenomenological analysis, we focus on the phenomenon of caring thinking, we directly examine our experience, which, when using the mentioned strategy, we supersede our previous knowledge, beliefs and prejudices. Phenomenology is based on a thorough analysis of the experience of the participant or participants. The content of the presented paper shows how philosophizing with children can enrich educational practice and the children or students themselves, as well as their educators.

Keywords:

Philosophy for Children, philosophical inquiry, caring thinking.