power from foucault's perspective and the practice of philosophy with children at school

Abstract

We understand that the practice of Philosophy with Children within the school, proposed by Walter Kohan,  invites practitioners to think about themselves and, in that reflective act, to know what they are – and what they are being -, what they want and do not want to be, giving themselves the possibility of self-transformation. In order to transform ourselves, says this philosopher, it is necessary to abandon the devices that lead us to be what we are. But, what are we? What are we as teachers? What are we as students? What devices lead us to be what we are? To think about these questions we analyze, with Michel Foucault, the school, an institution where the practice of Philosophy with Children takes place, in order to understand the power relations that exist in this space. We will understand how this power relations shape and define what it is to be a teacher and to be a student. To do this, we start with an introduction to Foucault’s thought, analyzing what is power, pastoral power, disciplinary power and resistance that, according to the French philosopher, shapes school as an educational locus. Likewise, we will present the Philosophy with Children proposal and expose the possibility and need, stated by Kohan, for philosophy (as an exercise within the school) to reflect on the coercive practices of power experienced in the classroom and, from there, to create and openness to other forms of relationship between those who inhabit it. Finally, we argue that the practice of Philosophy with Children constitutes, in Foucault's terms, a practice of resistance within schools.