ABSTRACT
In the introduction to this book, Maughn Rollins Gregory and Megan Jane Laverty provide a detailed biography of Ann Margaret Sharp that connects her philosophical influences, her educational theory and practice, and significant events in her personal and professional life, with particular attention to her role in the emergence of the Philosophy for Children movement and the theory and practice of the community of inquiry. Sharp developed a perspective on the interdependence of education, philosophy, personhood and community that remains unique and important, a perspective shaped not only by her work in philosophy and education, but also by her avid studies in literature, feminism, aesthetic theory and ecumenical spirituality. She was a master facilitator of the classroom community of philosophical inquiry, and she prepared thousands of philosophers and teachers throughout the world in that practice. Sharp was also known for her lived commitment to social justice. The authors assess the impact of Sharp's scholarship on the field and address the imbalance of attention paid to it historically.
