Teachings of Non-Formal Logics at the Service of Teaching Philosophy to Children
Reza Mahuzi
Fatima Baharloui
Non-formal logic is a part of ancient logic. In this field, emphasis
is placed on the matter of reasoning and techniques that a thinker
or logician must resort to in order to evaluate the truth of the
common claims of normal and chosen people or present a statement in
conformity with rules. The present paper intends to show that the
teachings of this logic, particularly those related to the
discussion of the five-fold techniques (argument, sermon,
dialectics, sophism, and poetry), which deal with multiple methods
of philosophy, could be very useful in teaching philosophy to
children and their familiarity with various forms of thinking and
the critical and creative evaluation of other's views.
Key Terms:
non-formal logic, five-fold techniques, thinking, philosophy for children
Ahmad Akbari
Zeynab Ijlali
Malihah Akbari
The content-based approach to P4C seeks the teaching of the philosophical concepts existing in the history of philosophy to children. In this approach, a kind of content is considered for philosophy which can be found and explored and some aspects of which can be scrutinized. However, philosophical content is incomprehensible not only to children but also to some adults. In order to enable children to understand the content, we can simplify them. Some examples in this regard include Philosophy: The Classics by Nigel Warburton (1960), The Pleasures of Philosophy by Will Durant (1953), The Story of Philosophy by Bryan Magee (1998), A Young Person's Guide for Philosophy by Jeremy Weate (1998), 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know by Ben Dupre (2007), and Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. All these works follow a content-based approach to philosophy for children. Such an approach can also be seen in Qissat al-ghurbat al-gharbiyyah (Hay Ibn Yaqzan). Through benefitting from (sometimes) scattered philosophical thoughts and propounding the existing views in philosophical schools, this approach aims to form a coherent body of knowledge by familiarizing children with philosophers' thoughts.
Key Terms:
philosophy for children, philosophy as content, philosophical ideas, philosophical questions
Semantics of the Transcendent Philosophical Training of Children and Young Adolescents in the Iranian-Islamic Lifestyle
Nawwab Muqarrabi
In this
paper, the writer has tried to provide a semantic analysis of three
apparently synonymous and virtually different terms of "philosophy",
"wisdom", and "reason" in two different paradigms or lifestyles,
i.e. Greek-western and Iranian-Islamic
paradigms. He has also tried to explore and reveal their hidden
angles as much as possible and, at the same time, disclosed the
shortcomings of teaching philosophy to children relying on
philosophical teachings and methods intended for children.
Thinking
or the teaching of rationality in the Iranian-Islamic lifestyle is
different from that in the Greek-western lifestyle. Accordingly, the
dauntless translation of western works in the field of philosophy
and children, although necessary in the right place, is not enough.
At the end, the writer suggests that, today, instead of using the
phrase "philosophy and children", which is greatly widespread and
has a Greek root, it is better to use to more meaningful expression
of "wisdom and children". In fact, we need to develop a new plan for
the teaching of wisdom and not philosophy, which has a Greek
background, to children and young adolescents.
Key Terms:
semantics of philosophy, reason and wisdom, philosophy and children, wisdom and children, Greek-western lifestyle, Iranian-Islamic lifestyle
Role of Games in Internalizing Ethical Values in Children
Ruqayyah Ghaffari
Game is
any activity that leads to joy, entertainment, and pleasure. For
children, they are natural tools for "self-expression" and provoke
their thoughts, result in new experiences, and make them excited.
The Holy Prophet (s) says, "A young child should be naughty and
energetic." Imam Ali (a) also states, "One who is obsessed with
playing games will have a happy life in future". Khwajah Nasir
al-Din Tusi also believes that playing is a means to attaining
physical and mental health. Playing games has several advantages for
children including physical, social, moral, and therapeutic ones.
One of the most important factors underlying children's moral
training is playing. In this way, we can teach many moral concepts
and values to them. Although they become familiar with moral values
at home and school, their internalization and fixation is reinforced
more strongly through playing. Children find out that if they want
to be a good person in a game, they need to be honest and fair. A
child who becomes a policeman and tries to arrest a thief, in fact,
confirms ethical principles. Therefore, unlike what some parents
believe, playing is not a waste of time for children. Rather, it
helps them to turn into human beings. In this paper, the writer has
tried to explore the role of playing in the internalization of
ethical values in children.
Key Terms:
child, playing, ethical values, ethical growth
Effects of Teaching Learning Strategies on Creative Thinking of Fifth Grade Primary School Students
Nahid Mehrjoo
The
purpose of the present research was to examine the effects of
teaching learning strategies in eight fields of mental review of
basic assignments, mental review of complex assignments, expansion
of simple assignment, expansion of complex assignments, organization
in simple assignments, organization of complex assignments,
supervision of comprehension, and the affective process of
motivation on the creative thinking of fifth grade primary school
students. To this end, 364 fifth grade female students were chosen
through the multilevel cluster sampling procedure from five
geographical districts in Tehran in 2011-2012. The design of the
research was quasi-experimental with a pretest and a posttest given
to two control and experimental groups. The data collection
instruments consisted of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking
(TTCT),
including 60 items measuring the participants' creativity, and a
questionnaire of learning strategies constructed by Basiri in 1996
based on the cognitive theories of Weinstein and Mayer. The
questionnaire consisted of 36 items and was given to the
participants both before and after the treatment. The members of the
experimental group participated in three 60-minute instructional
courses on learning strategies. After the treatment period, the two
experimental and control groups were compared with each other. The
findings indicated that instruction had had a statistically
significant effect on improving the creative thinking of the
students in the experimental group.
Key Terms:
teaching learning
strategies, mental review, expansion, organization, supervision of
comprehension, affective process of
motivation, creative thinking
Children's Rationalism in the View of the Qur'an and Traditions of Infallible Imams (a)
Mujtaba Fa'iq
Through
placing the rational faculty in the nature of human's beings,
Almighty God has created them in a way to be intrinsically thinking
beings. Moreover, He has considered many of the teachings in
relation to rationality in His eternal miracle and last descended
gift to humanity, the Holy Qur'an.
Thought
and wisdom are among the basic concepts in Islam, and the Infallible
Imams (a), the proofs of Truth on Earth, have also emphasized the
necessity of training and nurturing them. By rationality, we mean
the collection of principles that are necessary for training human
thought. These principles pertain to correct educational methods,
the appropriate age for learning, useful and constructive sciences,
etc.
Rationality is directly related to teaching and training, which is
why it plays a key role in the formation of children's character.
They are also among the constructing elements of the family system
and have a noteworthy effect on creating a healthy and influential
society. Therefore, familiarity with children's manner of
rationality is of prime importance in authentic Islamic sources and
is a topic demanding more research.
Key Terms:
thought, rationality,child, Qur'an, traditions of Infallible
Imams (a)
Teaching the Transcendent Philosophy to Children and Young Adolescents: A Channel for Islamicizing Sciences
Mehdi Parvizi
The
present study aims to present a solution for an essential change of
sciences and expansion of sciences of an Islamic nature.
Accordingly, based on the philosophical principles of the
Transcendent Philosophy, the writer provides a definition of the
nature of an Islamic science and describes the inconsistency between
the scientific trend dominating the world and this view of science.
Moreover, he suggests the necessity of programming for teaching the
Transcendent Philosophy from childhood as an introduction to
Islamicizing sciences. This study, which has been conducted
following a library, inferential, and analytic method, clarifies the
nature of Islamic sciences and explores the effects of some of the
philosophical principles of the Transcendent Philosophy (for
example, the theory of copulative existence and individual unity) on
the quality of the individuation of the subject of a science,
characteristics of its problems, the quality of removing the mask of
atheistic nature from the face of sciences, and the appearance of
their divine aspects. In this way, the writer concludes that the
beginning of teaching the Transcendent Philosophy from childhood
provides learners with a good understanding of the most general
ontological principles. As a result, when connoting scientific
propositions in various sciences, children will emit philosophical
behaviors following a divine approach, and their view of the subject
of sciences will gradually be corrected. Moreover, they will
consider each of the issues and studies explored in different
sciences as a research on the appearance of the Truth and one of His
Acts. In this way, all sciences, such as empirical, human, and
technical ones, will develop a religious and Islamic nature.
Key Terms:
Transcendent Philosophy, Islamicizing sciences, teaching philosophy to
children, nature of religious
science, child and young
adolescent