are we ready to listen to children?

Abstract

This text is based on concerns about philosophical practice with children and the manner of listening that occurs in some communities of philosophical inquiry (Sharp, 1987; Mendonça; Carvalho, 2018) in a school context. We think about the certainties with which we move in these spaces and how unpredictable moments can interrupt these (apparently) safe paths, enabling new ways of educating. These “critical moments” (Haynes; Murris, 2012a) arise from listening to the voices of children in the interest of transforming the way in which the educator-philosopher-researcher conducts himself  by way of the reflections he makes based on what he hears. As such, the present text opens with a question, which we respond to in dialogue with several philosophers; first, Jean-Luc Nancy’s work, brings us important ideas about listening. Next, Michael Apple reminds us that schools can act as maintainers of a hegemonic situation through the transmission of values and cultural and economic trends in the school context. We continue by discussing the importance of critical reflection as we listen to children's voices, and ask ourselves how school is constructed for listening—particularly, whose voices are considered worthy of listening to. This leads, in dialogue with bell hooks,  to the identification of school as a political space and the question of how the exercise of listening there can create and maintain authentic  democratic practice. We also share a few examples of the experience of listening to children's voices in the classroom, and we explore, together with Walter Kohan, the marginal links between listening, school and philosophy. We end by reflecting on the process of creating this text, which led us to consider that listening, when practiced critically, can contribute to those philosophical research communities that are increasingly attentive to the political dimension of children's thinking and speaking.