Learning Philosophy Makes Children Improve In Mathematics
Learning is an essential process in the development of the human mind. Part of this is thanks to the education we receive in schools and institutes, although it is true that not everyone is equally good at studying the different subjects that are part of compulsory education. As they say, there are children who are better at numbers, and others are better at letters.
Find a balance point in which the level of difficulty of all subjects is affordable For all the little ones it is a challenge. But interestingly, a simple change in the existing curriculum in early childhood education could improve their performance in other subjects.
A project carried out in England shows that if children are taught philosophy, They show improvements in other subjects such as mathematics and language ; a pleasant surprise.
This project was overseen by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent English charity that aims to make education equal for all, regardless of family income, so that children and young people can free everything. his talent without any limitation. The idea of the EEF was check the effects of philosophy classes on the youngest students as a control test, as is done with drug tests.
48 different schools participated in the study. Of them, 22 acted as a control group, that is, they followed the normal pace of classes, and in the remaining 26 the students They received a weekly philosophy class of several hours The lessons worked on had to do with topics such as truth, justice, friendship or wisdom, and included times to reflect on answers and discuss the topics.
After analyzing the effects of philosophy classes on the degree of skills acquired by boys and girls (between 9 and 10 years old), the researchers recorded an improvement of the participants in their linguistic and mathematical skills
What was observed is that the children who were present in these classes increased their mathematics and reading abilities as if they had taken two more months of teaching about it.
This improvement was more evident in children with worse grades who showed greater progression; his reading ability improved just as it would have in 4 extra months; In mathematics this advancement of learning corresponded to three months, and in writing, two months.
Furthermore, teachers reported that they also there was a beneficial impact on the relationship between their students and also appeared to both greater confidence among students and improved communication skills.
Creating the foundations of learning
The beneficial effects of the philosophy lasted for at least two years, period during which the intervention group continued to outperform the control group in the subjects analyzed. According to the organizers, this improvement could be due to the fact that children were offered the possibility of using new ways of thinking and expressing themselves, which allowed them to better connect their ideas, reflect logically more easily and create larger units of knowledge. .
It’s nothing new
England is not the first country to test the benefits of teaching philosophy to minors. The program that the EEF used is known as Philosophy for Children (P4C), and It was designed in the 1970s by philosopher Matthew Lipman in New Jersey This project, which was already discussed in this article, aimed to teach new ways of thinking through philosophical dialogue. The program has already been hosted by 60 different countries, including Argentina and Spain.
In the case of England, the project was hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Inquiry and Reflection in Education (SAPERE), which is now also part of the EEF.
The concentrated efforts behind this organization were not focused on the original idea of reading philosophical texts from Plato or Aristotle, but rather on reading stories, poems, or even watching video clips that promote the discussion of philosophical topics. The goal was to help children generate responses, as well as promote constructive conversations and develop arguments.
Pros and cons
Among the advantages that the EEF showed, it was also found that 63% of the students who received this “extra” education achieved good results in their subsequent studies As the president of the EEF, Kevin Collin, also indicates, this program is good support for disadvantaged children, referring to the greatest benefit seen in this class of students.
Among the drawbacks, as is almost always the case in these cases, is the economic barrier, since the program cost each participating school about £16 (€23) for each student who received this class. It would need to be part of compulsory public education to cover the costs.
