Big Ideas For Little Kids: Teaching Philosophy Through Children's Literature

B I G I D E A S F O R L I T T L E K I D S Teaching Philosophy through Children’s Literature Thomas E. Wartenberg Rowman & Littlefield Education A Division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.rowmaneducation.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2009 by Thomas E. Wartenberg All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wartenberg, Thomas E. Big ideas for little kids : teaching philosophy through children’s literature / Thomas E. Wartenberg. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 978-1-60709-334-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-335-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-336-7 (ebook) 1. Philosophy—Study and teaching (Elementary) 2. Children’s literature— Study and teaching (Elementary) 3. Interdisciplinary approach in education. I. Title. B52.W378 2009 372.8--dc22 2009015581 ⬁ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America For Jake, who first showed me what young children are capable of doing, and for Gary Matthews, who showed me what to do with that knowledge CONTENTS List of Tables vii Preface ix PART I TEACHING PHILOSOPHY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 1 Natural-Born Philosophers 3 2 How I Became a Children’s Philosophy Teacher 9 3 Learner-Centered Teaching 15 4 The “Game” of Philosophy 25 PART II PREPARING TO TEACH 5 The Elementary-School Introduction to Philosophy Course 37 6 Preparing a Lesson Plan 47 7 Leading a Philosophical Discussion 55 v vi CONTENTS PART III THE STORIES 8 “Dragons and Giants”: Teaching Ethics 63 9 Frederick: Teaching Social and Political Philosophy 73 10 The Important Book: Teaching Metaphysics 81 11 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Teaching the Philosophy of Mind 89 12 The Giving Tree: Teaching Environmental Philosophy 95 13 Morris the Moose: Teaching Epistemology 103 14 Knuffle Bunny: Teaching the Philosophy of Language 115 15 Emily’s Art: Teaching Aesthetics 125 PART IV IMPLICATIONS 16 Suggested Follow-Up Activities after Philosophy Discussions 135 17 139 Conclusion Appendix 143 References 149 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Table 4.1 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 6.1 Table 7.1 Table 8.1 Table 9.1 Table 10.1 Table 11.1 Table 12.1 Table 13.1 Table 14.1 Table 15.1 Two Models of Learning Rules for Doing Philosophy The Basic Fields of