ABSTRACT
Lipman, with Ann Margaret Sharp and other colleagues at the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC), developed a series of purpose-written philosophical stories-as-text (aka ‘novels’) for children, with accompanying instruction manuals that included discussion plans and exercises aimed at developing the philosophical themes contained within the stories. Lipman and Sharp argued that the curriculum materials and community of inquiry pedagogy are inextricably linked and provide a model for philosophical practice for teachers and students alike. According to Sharp (quoted in Naji 2003/2004), whereas traditional philosophical texts attempt ‘to present philosophy in a logical and comprehensive manner devoid of experience’, the philosophical story-as-text attempts ‘to motivate children to inquire into philosophical concepts and philosophical procedures in a way that is directly related to children’s experience’. The stories, in which children discover and explore the ethical, aesthetic, epistemological and ontological assumptions of their thinking about issues or the meaning of their own experiences, become stimuli over which children, and not solely adults, have control; ‘it is their story and they use it to set an agenda for discussion and philosophical inquiry’. In other words, the novels are meant to embed philosophy into everyday conversations, in issues with which children are familiar.
