Abstract:

This study examines whether and how the Philosophy for Children (P4C) program can intervene in classroom communication dynamics, which the classroom teacher identified as problematic due to uneven enforcement of interests, tense relationships, and weak dialogue. The aim was to examine what changes would occur during six meetings in the interaction between students, in adherence to discussion norms, in the degree of engagement, and in indicators of the local classroom climate. The research takes the form of qualitative action research supported by descriptive quantification. The research sample consisted of 27 second-year high school students aged 16–17. The data consisted of audio recordings, transcripts, reflection sheets, and participant observation by the facilitator. The evaluation was based on discursive analysis and frequency monitoring of selected phenomena of engaged and collaborative thinking in the context of the P4C program.

The results show that the percentage of guiding responses among student responses did not decrease because the discussion was weakening, but because the guiding process was gradually being internalized: in meetings 2–6, it reached 26.4%, 11.8%, 20%, 5%, and 13.4%. Replies containing positive signs of engaged and collaborative thinking accounted for more than half of all replies in most meetings (60.4%, 67.5%, 103.2%, 66%, 44.8%); the value above 100% was due to multiple coding of a single reply. The longest series of consecutive student responses reached 100 entries in the fifth meeting, with students continuing the discussion spontaneously and without prompting from the facilitator after the reflection was over. Qualitative data show a shift from resistance, confusion, and destructive joking to interest, defense of the speaker, activation of quieter members, and shared responsibility for the course of the discussion. The sixth meeting was significantly distorted by external factors (the impact of illness on the group and the end of the school year).

In conclusion, P4C appears to be a promising intervention for improving communication participation, mutual listening, and the interactive climate of the classroom in this case study. However, the data do not allow us to claim that there has been a stable change in the overall classroom climate due to the short duration of the intervention.

Keywords:

P4C, philosophy for children, classroom interaction climate, dialogic learning, action research, discursive analysis.