Abstract

In a situation of living-together such as an “ecole maternelle,” organized philosophical discussions help young children to construct their personalities in the context of the group, and thus promotes individual autonomy. This innovative methodology tends to promote in children skills of negotiation and capacities for self-restraint. It places the pupils in issue-situations that require working in groups, and coming to a reasoned understanding before proposing possible solutions. Philosophical discussions help children develop their own thinking processes, as well as increased fluency in oral communication, such that they can be better understood by and better understand others. This paper is divided between a description of our activities in the shape of workshops that determine everyone’s role in such discussions and provide experimental practice in the discourse; and an analysis of the experience itself, which identifies possible problems in implementation, and proposes solutions. We make it clear that we do not oppose the imaginary and syncretic thinking of children to a discourse about the “real” or the “reasonable,” since kindergarteners tend to live in a world that does not separate the two, and it would seem injudicious to arbitrarily cut children off from a natural form of concept exploration and psychological functioning. Rather, what is needed is to teach children to better control and navigate within their own thinking; this will not be a result of repressing the imaginary but rather of becoming conscious of their own poetic process, which develops in connection with the growth of reasoning and awareness