Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis


ANALYTIC TEACHING AND PHILOSOPHICAL PRAXIS Volume 41, Issue 1 (2021) 

Guest Editor’s Welcome from Susan Gardner 
      It is with joy that I shepherd these wise words from our esteemed veterans for the second 
veterans’ edition of Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis.   

In the first article, entitled “Freire and Sharp on Liberating Education,” Maria Teresa de la 
Garza reminds us of the power of the Community of Philosophical Inquiry as a liberating 
pedagogy that finds its roots in both Freire and Sharp, both of whom focused on liberating silent 
voices.  She notes that in promoting Communities of Philosophical Inquiry, we nourish a deep 
faith in democracy in the face of recent challenges. 

And Gil Burgh similarly focuses on democracy in his article, “The Narrow-sense and Wide-
sense Community of Inquiry: What it means for Teachers,” in which he suggests that the narrow-
sense of community of inquiry must be underpinned by a wide-sense that is supportive of a 
democratic way of life. For those of us who are concerned about the proliferating cracks in the 
foundation of contemporary democracy, this is an important read.   

In his paper “A Model of Philosophical Discussion in The Classroom,” Phil Cam lays out in 
breath-taking clarity what makes a philosophical discussion “philosophical,” and he notes that, 
since partaking in philosophical inquiry enhances reasoning skills across the curriculum, it is an 
educational scandal that its value has not been commensurate with that of promoting numeracy. 
       In his article entitled “An Ecological Approach to Thinking,” Felix Garcia-Moryion calls 
wondering, reasoning, moral growth, and good judgment “ecological thinking,” and offers us 
Descartes’ tree as metaphor to understand the improvement of thinking that the Philosophy for 
Children program proposes. What matters is the whole, without neglecting the parts. 
      In his lovely dialogue between Lipman and Socrates, Antonio Cosentino eulogizes the 
founder of P4wC and also interestingly reminds us that a facilitator in a CPI has far less control 
than Socrates, who often seemed to drag his interlocutors toward the truth he had in mind. The 
loveliness of the community dialogue, though, is that the self-criticism that rises from “polyphonic 
interaction” is more transformative than simply having it spotlighted by another. 
      Marie France Daniel in her article “Dialogue among Peers and Critical thinking,” presents 
fascinating results from two empirical research studies. In one, it became evident that in P4C 
sessions, it took time for critical dialogue to emerge and was very much a function of skilled 
intervention by facilitators. In the second study, it became evident that epistemological 
sophistication occurred “through processes of decentering and abstraction” in a non-linear way. 
     In her paper “Philosophy for Children, the UNCRC and Children’s Voice in the Context of 
the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis,” Sue Lyle presents results from an impressive research project 
that showed that P4C was instrumental in shifting teacher attitudes so that they came to value 
children’s voices.  As humanity faces climate and biodiversity breakdown, this amplification of 
the voices who have most to lose from the impact of the planetary crisis is critical. 
      In their article, “Teaching Philosophy with Picture Books,” Wendy Turgeon and Tom 
Wartenberg provide for us an extensive review of the scholarship devoted to examining the pros 
and cons of using philosophical novels in contrast to using pictures books.  Their presentation is 
intriguingly balanced and, in that sense, mirrors the best of what we hope for in a community of 
inquiry. In support of those who choose to use picture books, they also offer a wealth of valuable 
information.  
      This is a feast: Sharp and Freire, the importance of democracy as a reference, a model 
philosophical dialogue, education for the whole person, a dialogue between Lipman and Socrates, 
empirical research demonstrating the emergence of critical dialogue in P4C, empirical research 
demonstrating the change of teacher attitudes toward young people, and a CPI in writing about 
the pros and cons of using picture books in P4C. Bon Appétit.   

Susan Gardner  

CHIEF EDITOR 
Jason J. Howard 
Viterbo University 

WEB PAGE MASTER 
Jason Skoog 
Viterbo University 

COPY EDITOR 
Jason J. Howard 
Viterbo University 

EDITORIAL BOARD 
Sara Cook 
Viterbo University 

Susan Gardner 
Capilano University 

Susan Hughes 
Viterbo University 

David Kennedy 
Montclair State University 

Nadia S. Kennedy 
Stony Brook University, SUNY 

Richard Morehouse, Emeritus 
Viterbo University 

Félix García Moriyón 
Center for Philosophy for 
Children, Madrid, Spain 

Joe Oyler 
Maynooth University, Kildare, 
Ireland 

Barbara Weber 
University of British Columbia 

PUBLISHER 
Viterbo University, La Crosse, WI 45601 
Established in 1981 as Analytic Teaching 
at Texas Wesleyan College and 
transferred to Viterbo in 1993. 
Online Copyright 2005. 
Analytic Teaching and Philosophical 
Praxis is a peer-reviewed, online, open 
access journal published annually and 
sometimes biannually. ISSN 2374-8257 

mailto:cosentino.ntn@gmail.com