Abstract

During the school year of 1980-1981, I worked as an IAPC teacher trainer in the state of New Jersey. Within the workshops, the standard IAPC curriculum materials and method were used to train approximately 40 teachers, including a number of administrators as well as a district superintendent. I also worked directly with children in classes ranging from the fourth to the eighth grade. Lipman's novels were the basis for classroom discussion. After reading the novels aloud, students were encouraged to generate topics for further analysis and elaboration. Next, exercises were selected from the teacher's manuals, guiding the examination of problems at greater depth. The goal of the workshops was, primarily, to develop a sense of the value of reflective discussion and to generate a community of inquiry. More specifically, I worked toward the improvement of discussion skills, sensitivity to philosophical issues as they arose in dialogue, and the identification of thinking skills.