Thinking aloud – Philosophy and democracy in schools

Background of the conference Thinking aloud

Philosophy is practiced at all school levels in the Nordic-Baltic area. It is not defined as a subject in national curricula and thus philosophers and teachers dealing with the topic are often isolated in their practice. The conference Thinking aloud will invite these people to share their experiences, knowledge, views and visions with each other and create conditions for establishing a network of professional relationships across all school levels within the Nordic-Baltic area.

The teaching and practice of philosophy is a unique opportunity to allow students of all ages to critically explore their own and other people's ideas and culture. Communal inquiry is a centerpiece in the practice and through it people develop critical and creative thinking as well as a caring disposition towards oneself, other people and the work at hand. Critical reflection and self-correction are key elements in the inquiry and ensure that both teachers and students strive for quality in education at all times. Philosophical inquiry can be applied in various settings and serve as a vehicle to deepen the students' understanding of language, culture, scientific knowledge or other topics. Philosophy is a valuable tool in creating educational settings where students explore and learn to understand cultures different from their own which is the core of multicultural education. Teaching the philosophical method of inquiry serves a particularly important role in any democratic society that expects its citizens to participate in the ongoing project of its cultivation. The conference Thinking aloud will pull together the knowledge and experience that philosophy teachers at all school levels and researchers in the Nordic-Baltic area have developed and promote further dissemination of these. By strengthening the role of philosophy in schools it is possible to improve the quality of education in general because students will be educated to become better thinkers and more caring participants in the educative process.

In the past 20 years philosophers and educators in the Nordic-Baltic area have launched several innovative projects where philosophy has been introduced in various educational settings. Curricula have been written and developed and teachers have been trained. Philosophy courses have been introduced in pre-schools and elementary schools and as after school activity. Many of these projects have been undertaken in close cooperation with departments of philosophy and/or education at universities. Nordic-Baltic practitioners have participated in European developmental projects (e.g. the ongoing project MENON, http://menon.eu.org/) and been active as executive board members of the International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC). But a Nordic-Baltic network for philosophy in the schools has not been established. The conference Thinking aloud will put Nordic-Baltic theory and practice in focus and create an opportunity to establish a Nordic-Baltic network for philosophy in the schools.

The purpose of the conference Thinking aloud

1. To pull together the knowledge and experience of teaching philosophy that exists in the Nordic-Baltic area and share it with others in the same cultural area:
   1. By exploring the actual and possible role of philosophy in the democratic context of the Nordic-Baltic cultures:
      1. The role of philosophical inquiry in the education of democratic citizens
      2. Democratic education in the Nordic-Baltic area – tradition and experience
   2. By exploring the status of philosophy in Nordic-Baltic education:
      1. Teaching philosophy at the different school levels in the Nordic-Baltic area – theory and practice
      2. The status of philosophy in the schools: obligatory part of the curriculum, a free-flowing enterprise or something in between?
   3. By exploring the issue of educating teachers for teaching philosophy:
      1. Pedagogy of philosophy
      2. Developing curricula in philosophy education;
2. to strengthen professional relationships among Nordic-Baltic scholars and practitioners interested in the teaching of philosophy at all school levels and create bridges across these levels;
3. to promote cooperation across all school levels among philosophy teachers in the Nordic-Baltic area and establish conditions for creating a network of scholars and practitioners interested in the teaching of philosophy.