foundations of democracy and sustainability: power, reality and dragons

Authors

  • margaret joan macdonald Simon Fraser University
  • warren bowen University of British Columbia

Keywords:

childhood, sustainability, engaged philosophical inquiry

Abstract

The goal of our work has been to better understand how Engaged Philosophical Inquiry (EPI) can be used with young children (age 4) on topics related to our local forest environment as part our foundation curriculum on sustainability (MacDonald, in press). Theoretically we draw on the work of Matthew Lipman (2009; 2003); Philosophy for Children (P4C); Phillip Cam, (1998; 2000); John Dewey, (1954); Gunilla Dahlberg and Peter Moss (2005) to discuss democratic community building, and ethical pedagogical approaches related to EPI and young children. Working with children of this age holistically on the topic of sustainability has not been systematically researched to date. Our findings therefore contribute to better understandings of EPI and: 1) democratic community building processes; 2) the use of context to focus our discussions; 3) group membership and group size; and 4) turn taking and the role of the moderator

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Author Biographies

margaret joan macdonald, Simon Fraser University

Margaret MacDonald is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Her research interests include innovative curriculum development in early childhood education, pedagogical documentation and intergenerational heritage language learning in First Nations communities.

warren bowen, University of British Columbia

Warren Bowen is a graduate student at UBC in the Science and Technology Studies department. He has worked for several years as a philosophy for children practitioner both in Alberta and BC, and is currently Philosopher in Residence at Simon Fraser University's UniverCity's Childcare Centre, Associate Director of the Vancouver Institute for Philosophy for Children, and Associate Director of Think Fun camps, an annual camp-based P4C program.

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Published

2015-11-30

How to Cite

macdonald, margaret joan, & bowen, warren. (2015). foundations of democracy and sustainability: power, reality and dragons. Childhood & Philosophy, 11(22), 265–282. Retrieved from https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/childhood/article/view/20703

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 22 (2015): july/dec.

Section

articles

License

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