Editor's Welcome


ANALYTIC TEACHING AND PHILOSOPHICAL PRAXIS Volume 42, Issue 1 (2022) 

 

Editor’s Welcome  
 

Let me welcome you to the first issue of Volume 42. The five articles and one book 
review published here come from authors with a wealth of experience in Philosophy 
for/with Children (P4wC).  Collectively, their contributions explore a variety of challenges 
that beset the integration of P4C in K-12 education and also identify confusions that run 
through some of the pedagogical assumptions of philosophy for children practitioners.  

 
The first article by Maughn Gregory takes a detailed look at how Lipman and Sharp 

integrated the notion of a “community of inquiry” into philosophy for children, noting that 
although the phrase is commonly attributed to Peirce it is never actually used in his writings, 
and is first employed by Lipman and Sharp. Gregory’s article provides a comprehensive 
analysis of the ways in which Lipman and Sharp develop Peirce’s original notion of inquiry 
into a robust pedagogical methodology.  

The second article by Sutcliffe argues that P4C should have had a more substantial 
impact on education than is actually the case. He argues that we need to consider presenting 
P4C as a general pedagogical orientation applicable to all teachers regardless of subject 
matter—an approach he calls ‘Philosophical-Teaching-and-Learning’—rather than an 
educational specialization. This more holistic strategy promises to disseminate the 
pedagogical benefits of PFC to a wider audience and better ensure its core contributions to 
moral education are readily accessible to all.   

 Lena Green’s article reflects on her own journey with P4C and uses her wealth of 
experience to broach the notion of boundaries.  As someone whose primary training is not 
in the practice of philosophy, Green articulates why PFC would benefit from a clearer sense 
of what falls within its pedagogical practice and what does not, as well as being more 
interested (receptive) to research from the fields of education and psychology.  Although 
such close attention to boundaries may not be as necessary in the actual practice of P4wC 
in the classroom, it is important when it comes to training other teachers.   

Pieter Mostert’s contribution looks at the continuing challenge of assessing PFCs many 
different pedagogical effects on students. As Mostert points out, not only are there multiple 
levels involved in the successful implementation of a PFC programme in schools, but many 
different classroom activities fall under the purview of PFC interventions. Mostert concludes 
his analysis with a number perceptive suggestions on how to improve the effectiveness of 
our assessment of philosophy for children pedagogies.  

The final article is a collaborative effort by Darren Chetty, Maughn Gregory and Megan 
Laverty who use the lens of picture books to explore the timely challenge of diversity within 
the pedagogy of PFC and its practitioners. Using the recent review of picture books co-
authored by Turgeon and Wartenberg, Chetty, Gregory and Laverty argue there are a variety 
of complicated challenges that arise with picture books that need more nuanced and 
sensitive treatment, not least of which relates to the lack of racialized diversity within the 
PFC community. 

 Wendy Turgeon anchors our issue with her thoughtful review of Gregory’s and 
Laverty’s edited anthology, Gareth Matthews: The Child’s Philosopher.  Skilfully highlighting 
what each author sees as Matthews’s contribution, Turgeon’s review provides an informative 
summary of an important book.        

Pax et Bonum, Jason Howard       

CHIEF EDITOR 

Jason J. Howard 

Viterbo University 

 

WEB PAGE MASTER 

Jason Skoog 

Viterbo University 

 

STUDENT ASSISTANTS 

Heather Greenberg 

Faith Hemmersbach 

Olivia Meyers 

Viterbo University 

 

EDITORIAL BOARD 

Sara Cook 

Viterbo University 

 

Natalie M. Fletcher 

Brila Institute, Quebec 

 

Susan Gardner 

Capilano 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, 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