Abstract

This study is an attempt to advance the current instructional design approaches in online and blended learning settings. Our approach was inspired by the principles of the “Philosophy for Children” program and exploited web 2.0 technologies to scaffold and monitor the development of teachers’ complex thinking while engaging in philosophical inquiry. Since its development, P4C has been used successfully in many schools worldwide and a few scholars have discussed its success in promoting students’ complex thinking. To date, P4C has not been used with adult learners, such as pre-service or in-service teachers. Moreover, the role of technology in P4C has not been explored. In this study we first sought to understand how collaboration and critical thinking unfolds within a small group of teachers in our technologically mediated environment. We then examined their interactions, in more depth, to understand how their arguments evolved as they argued about a philosophical dilemma and wrote a ‘thinking story’ to be used as a springboard for debate in a classroom environment. Finally, we discuss how the online learning environment using wiki and forum technologies assisted the development of complex thinking.