Research has shown that context influences how sincere a smile appears to observers. That said, most studies on this topic have focused exclusively on situational cues (e.g. smiling while at a party versus smiling during a job interview) and few have examined other elements of context. One important element concerns any knowledge an observer might have about the smiler as an individual (e.g. their habitual behaviours, traits or attitudes). In this manuscript, we present three experiments that explored the influence of (...) such knowledge on ratings of smile sincerity. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants rated the sincerity of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles after having been exposed to cues about the smiler’s tendency to reciprocate (this person always, never or occasionally returns favours). In Experiment 3 they performed the same task but with cues about the smiler’s love of learning (this person always, never or occasionally enjoys learning new tasks). The results show that cues about the smiler’s reciprocity tendency influenced participants’ ratings of smile sincerity and did so in a stronger manner than cues about the smiler’s love of learning. Overall, these results both strengthen and broaden the literature on the role of context on judgements of smile sincerity. (shrink)

One of the fundamental objectives of Philosophy for Children is the cognitive development of elementary and secondary school pupils. In this text, we examine to what extent the age of the children and the number of years of praxis in P4C influence the development of their critical thinking. To do so we used, as an analysis grid, the model of the developmental process of dialogical critical thinking that emerged from the analysis of transcripts of exchanges among pupils aged 4 to (...) 12 years . The content analyzed was the “philosophical” exchanges among pupils. Participants were 13 groups of pupils from preschool to the end of elementary school. These groups originated from two schools, one in Quebec and one in Ontario. At the time the data were collected, the Quebec school groups had one year of P4C praxis, whereas the Ontario school groups had two years of praxis. Results indicate that children’s age and number of years of philosophical praxis are among the factors that influence the developmental process of critical thinking. (shrink)

The Development of Critical Thinking in Students: to What Extent the Practice of Philosophical Dialogue is Sufficient to Itself? Among the reasons that are advanced by the advocates of philosophy for children and teenagers to include it in the school curriculum, the development of critical thinking occupies a prominent place. However, it is rarely discussed if the critical thinking skills that are developed in the philosophy classes are used in other contexts. It is this question this text wants to tackle. (...) Firstly, we will clarify what we mean by critical thinking by presenting the main theories of this concept. We will then examine some of the results obtained in research, particularly the one of Daniel, aiming at study its development by the practice of philosophical dialogue. Finally, we will raise some issues around how a “general” form of critical thinking can be developed in this context by presenting some of the data we have collected in our research. We conclude by underlying few elements that should be taken into consideration to develop critical thinking in youth through philosophical dialogue. (shrink)

I have tried to show how criticism of aboriginal orthodoxy in discourse and measures taken by the current Conservative government and private commentators have set in motion a process of contempt, risking the harm associated with colonialism. Another critique of aboriginal orthodoxy, as presented by Jean-Jacques Simard, claims that First Nations are entitled to a certain level of self-government in defence of the rights of the abstract person: “it is first and foremost simply as human beings that all Amerindians possess (...) the same rights as anyone else….” Yet this option ignores the history of First Nations’ relationships with French Canadians, English Canadians and the British. While appeal to the abstract person can protect people from a threat, it cannot eliminate that threat. It seems clear that contempt towards aboriginals is still present and that their emancipation without an honourable historical justification would also lead to the exacerbation of racism against aboriginals. To make mutual recognition possible between aboriginal and non-aboriginal, we need to have shared criteria for evaluation. It would seem, therefore, that if we were willing to integrate First Nations into the Canadian constitutional order by fully recognizing them, we must find a common project. If the Canadian government were to move more in the direction of an ecological vision of development rather than in the direction of a predatory capitalism based on infinite economic growth, I believe it would be easier to secure First Nations’ sense of belonging to Canada and to agree on models for joint territorial management. That awakening rings a bell we must hear: if seniority on the land and the role played by national groups in the founding of Canada are erased by a unitary, multicultural and monarchist vision of the country, the odds are high that Canadians of diverse origins will eventually suffer the blows of renewed authoritarianism and contempt. (shrink)

Schools located in underpriviledged areas have to deal with different factors, like the dropout rate among students and teachers; the culture of action, the culture of oral and a «carpe diem» culture; the low literacy rates; the type of children's knowledges — sometimes different from those promoted at school — and the learning difficulties of pupils... In light of these factors, few states have decided to adopt measures to support pupils and teachers in these communities. In this sense, several studies (...) examine the potential role of philosophy for children (P4C), but none examines, in this kind of environment, the integration of P4C in the context of a teaching field experience program. Insofar several novice teachers start their career in these environments, it could be helpful to enrich our comprenhension on this subject. This paper presents results from an exploratory study on this issue, which led to raise questions about the bachelor of education program, at least in our university. (shrink)