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Addressing Conflict through Imagination  
in Communities of Philosophical Inquiry  

 
 
Anda Fournel, Chrystelle Blanc-Lanaute, and Qionghua Cai 
 

 
Abstract:  Existing research recognizes the crucial role played by imagination in giving meaning to our 
experience, thinking critically and paying attention to difference. By using a design based on what we 
called ‘embodied imagination’ (analogical reasoning) and ‘narrative imagination’ (contributions from 
universal stories), we conduct an exploratory study in a secondary school in a disadvantaged area of 
France, including multicultural classes. We aimed to observe how 12-15-year-old students think about 
conflict and how they manage tensions and conflicts that might arise during the dialogue. We have 
found, first, that universal stories gave students the opportunity to enrich their vision of conflict, 
inspiring more sophisticated thought. Secondly, we have observed that when conflicts arise during 
interactions, building a dialogue community is a real challenge, for teachers and students alike. Some 
students are able to take on the role of mediator, while others try to establish their role as speaker or 
find their place in the dialogue. Reflecting on the nature of peer relationships in their dialogue, one 
student suggests the framework of a "friendly discussion". 

Keywords: conflict, imagination, community of philosophical inquiry, dialogue 
 

 
1. How Does Conflict Relate to the Community of Philosophical Inquiry 

  
onflict is an integral part of human history. Whether it involves individuals, social 
relations or relations between nations, conflict is omnipresent. Freund’s (1983) definition 
of conflict seems comprehensive enough: “conflict is an intentional antagonism or 

confrontation between two or more persons of the same kind, who usually manifest hostility towards 
each other for some right and who, to assert, preserve or re-establish that right, attempt to break down 
the resistance of the other, possibly by resorting to violence” (p. 65) [our translation]. The crisis of our 
time, with wars, climate change, environmental deterioration, and global injustice, makes conflict one 
of the main challenges human beings have to deal with. 

 
Conflicts are also omnipresent in children's daily lives, and it is often difficult to overcome tensions 

and conflicts whether between peers, conflicts and violence in the neighborhood, cultural conflicts 
between ethnic groups, etc. Conflicts also arise unexpectedly and uninvitedly in the classroom, in the 
playground, or other gathering places at school (Kennedy, 2006). At school, the word ‘conflict’ can refer 
to very different situations, “ranging for indiscipline and transgression of rules to more tense and 
sometimes even violent oppositions between young people or between young people and adults”; 

C 



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conflict is also “a source of development for the child” when it stimulates, empowers, and reinforces the 
individual during the resolution process (Pouthier, 2016) [our translation].1 
 
1.1 Conflict and Peace 
 

The theme of the recent NAACI Conference, “Education for Peace” 2, prompted us to focus on 
conflict. The Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CPI), as promoted in the Philosophy for/with 
Children (P4wC)3 program, is designed to create a space for thinking together and dialogue (Lipman, 
Sharp, Oscanyan, 1980), and helps provide the framework of an education for peace. Conflicts can arise 
in any context of communication, even during the philosophy workshop. We can seize the opportunity 
in a CPI to make conflict a subject for reflection, to problematize it, to better understand it, as well as 
to think beyond the possible conflicts that do occur, with a metacognitive perspective. Through our 
study, we aim to gain a better understanding of how CPI could provide children and adolescents with 
appropriate tools to address conflict in a creative and integrative way. 
 

As we mentioned at the outset, ‘conflict’ commonly evokes a struggle or confrontation involving 
antagonistic elements. There is tension, even opposition, due to disagreement (over values, opinions, 
habits, etc.), rivalry (over territory, property, places, status, etc.), enmity (negative feelings towards 
others), ambivalence or internal contradiction (internal conflicts). Tension turns into conflict when a 
multipolar relationship is reduced to a dual one (“friend-enemy” duality) which excludes any third party 
(Freund, 1983). Yet, to recognize the multiplicity of other points of view, not necessarily assimilable, 
means accepting conflict. This applies to social conflict within a democracy. 
 

Reality is on the move. Heraclitus saw in polémos (which in Greek means war, conflict, quarrel, 
discord) the principle of movement and generation of all things, life and harmony being only the result 
of the confrontation and adjustment of opposites (Heraclitus, fragment 84). Not only is conflict the 
essence of existence, as Heraclitus pointed out, but “we ourselves are situated in conflict, not outside 
it” (Benasayag & Del Rey, 2014, p. 91) [our translation]. Conflict cannot be reduced solely to 
destruction and repressing it can only lead to more violence. It can be constructive, and that goes hand 
in hand with our commitment and action in our time (id., p. 87).  

 
1.2 Conflict and Dialogue  
 

Dialogue can be seen as having two main characteristics: cooperation and mutual understanding 
(Grice, 1975; Vernant, 2021). Defining dialogue in this way may seem sufficient to envisage dialogue as 
a means of avoiding conflict and maintaining peace. On one side, using words can help to calm conflicts 

 
1 From the web documentary “Conflicts at school. How to deal with them to improve the school climate”, available on 
Réseau Canopé, a teacher training network and public operator of the French Ministry of Education. 
2 North American Association for Communities of Inquiry Conference held in Querétaro, Mexico, July 2023. 
3 We adopt here this terminology which marks the evolution of Philosophy for Children from a method to a “movement” 
rooted in particular social, cultural and political contexts, encompassing a range of approaches (Vansieleghem & 
Kennedy, 2011). 
4 “Opposition unites. From what draws apart results the most beautiful harmony. All things take place by strife”, in A. 
Fairbanks translation (1989, p. 37). 



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but, on the other side, for dialogue to be possible, conflicts must first be resolved (Enjalbert, 2023). Due 
to this contradiction, we are therefore faced with an aporia. One way out of the aporia is to distinguish 
between a strong sense of conflict, that of a long-lasting and persistent crisis, and a weak sense, when 
conflict is momentary, surmountable, yet still necessary. Yet the question can still be posed, can dialogue 
lead to conflict resolution and a commitment to peace education? Are such things really feasible? 
 

With this question in mind, we decided to look at the relationship between conflict and dialogue 
in a CPI in which young people think together on the theme of conflict. P4wC studies based on 
empirical data analysis, especially on the question of how participants understand and manage conflict, 
are scarce. One of the most enlightening is Kennedy's study (2006) with children aged 7-8 and 10-11 
from a public school in the north-eastern US, thinking together on conflict. Based on his observations 
and the transcriptions of CPI sessions, the author argues that 7-year-old children are capable in a 
“collaborative and dialogical context” if given “some interactive guidance from an adult” (p. 177) to 
deal with “the conflict in their own lives and with the conflict they see around them” (p. 133) in a 
coherent, complex and meaningful way. Kennedy focused on the role and posture of the adult as a CPI 
facilitator, who is expected to make room for the child’s intelligence and consider him/her as “a full-
fledged interlocutor” (p. 179).”  
 

Furthermore, in the context of P4wC practice itself, as in any dialogue, neglecting difference and 
diversity leads to power struggles, instrumentalization of others and even conflict. To overcome the 
usual limits of dialogue, some authors suggest working in CPI on special dialogue strategies such as 
openness, empathy and friendship (e.g., Andal, 2020) and develop dialogical pedagogy “to facilitate and 
cultivate epistemic and moral virtues” (D’Olimpio, 2023). 
 

2. Why and How to Use Imagination to Deal with Conflict? 
 

If we are to address conflict through dialogue, we believe—and this is our main contribution 
through this study—that imagination is one of the possible ways of doing so. 
 
2.1 Reasons to Use Imagination in CPI. 
 

Many authors recognize the important role played by imagination in human understanding, 
reasoning and the inquiring process, be it from a psychological, sociological or philosophical 
perspective. Although imagination has been explored from various philosophical perspectives (Kind, 
2016), the recognition of its value owes much to Dewey's rejection of the body-mind, intellect-feeling 
or reason-imagination dualisms. According to Dewey, imagination is central to contextualizing our own 
experience and creating meaningful situations in relation to past experiences and ideal possibilities. It 
also helps to counterbalance dominant mental habits and conduct critical examination of a problematic 
situation, as is expected in the research process. Insofar as thinking is an imaginative process (Dewey, 
1916; Fesmire, 1999), we can admit, as Bleazby (2012) does with reference to P4wC, that an ‘intelligent 
imagination’ is at work and completely integrated in a CPI. 
 

Furthermore, the moral and empathic dimension of imagination is particularly important to 
understand and interact with someone who is different from ‘me’. This is addressed in a wealth of 



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literature (Johnson, 2014; Stueber, 2011, etc.), in relation to personal and social growth, freedom, 
autonomy or agency, particularly in education (Dewey, 1916; Nussbaum, 2010, etc.) as well as in P4wC 
(Fletcher, 2016; Gregory, 2007). Imagination can help us to understand others better, to put ourselves 
in their place, which implies taking an interest in others and their differences (Dewey, 1958; Andal, 
2020). 

 
Imagination therefore plays a crucial role in a CPI, enabling participants to create (new) meaning, 

to think critically and creatively and pay attention to differences. It would seem, then, that imagination 
is a necessary ingredient for productive dialogue, yet this is not necessarily apparent from the studies 
carried out on handling conflict through dialogue. 
 
2.2 How to Use Imagination to Think Conflict and Deal with It?   
 

We came up with an empirical study around an “imagination-based thinking” device, inviting 
students to think together about conflict. We have suggested three different ways of using imagination 
to work on conflict with students: firstly, by forming analogies, comparisons or metaphors about conflict 
(embodied imagination); secondly, by discovering universal stories or myths involving conflict (narrative 
imagination); thirdly, by inventing new possible outcomes to a conflict situation (operative 
imagination). 
 
a. Conflict in Analogical Reasoning 
 

Analogical reasoning is mobilized “whenever we employ a metaphor or draw a parallel with 
another register, using the expression it's like” (Vernant, 2021, p. 171). Therefore, it could be useful in 
CPI, especially when aiming at conceptualization (Galichet, 2015; Fournel & Simon, 2021). In one of 
our previous studies (Fournel & Simon, 2021), we drew on several examples, including these: “thought 
is like a blurred image”, “forgetting is a bit like a file that you close but don't throw away, you keep it”—
which illustrate how students metaphorically explore the concept of ‘thinking’ and ‘forgetting’, in a 
CPI. According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980, p. 454), “our ordinary conceptual system, which we use 
to think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.” This involves projecting a more familiar, 
concrete or distinct concept—the source (in the above example: the file we are closing)—onto another, 
less familiar concept that needs to be understood—the target (forgetting).  

 
The Chinese portrait exercise is one of the pedagogical tools used by some P4wC practitioners in 

France (see Galichet, 2015), likely to elicit analogical reasoning. Originally used as a literary game aiming 
to detect certain aspects of the personality of an individual and identify his tastes or preferences, it 
clearly has an experiential value. It is made up of questions based on identification with objects, animals, 
peoples, sensations, actions, etc. 
 

For our study, we initially invited students to conjure up analogies that spontaneously come to 
their mind in connection with ‘conflict’ by asking them: If conflict were to embody an object/a smell/an 
action/a dish/an animal/an object …  it might look like ... because... Subsequently, we took up their 
proposals in an attempt to clarify, through a joint discussion, their meanings and how they relate to the 
conflict. 



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b.  Conflict in Universal Narratives 
 

Another source of imagination that can be fertile ground for thinking about conflict is the 
collective imagination found in stories. P4wC programs usually incorporate old and new stories as tools 
for developing memory, logical thinking, discursive skills and motivation to learn (Dascalu, 2022). 
Myths, for instance, appeal to our sensibility and imagination, while at the same time mobilizing our 
reasoning in the process of interpretation and understanding (Tozzi, 2006). 
 

As Lipman (2003) previously emphasized, the stories chosen should be conceptually rich, and their 
use should contribute to developing children's analytical and reflective capacities, educating their 
creativity and enabling them to access both the particular and universal dimensions of the context 
evoked by the story. In our view, such access is at the heart of philosophical reflection, therefore, we 
hope that cultural narratives (myths, creation texts, fables, etc.), that deal with the theme of conflict, will 
provide new elements for individual imagination and reasoning. That is why we introduced the students 
to lesser-known universal tales, from different cultures. 
 
c.  Imagining the End of a Conflict 
 

To explore the process of conflict resolution, students can use imagination and creativity by 
putting themselves in characters’ shoes, getting involved as an actor and inventing new approaches to 
address the conflict situations they encounter. This refers to what is more generally known in philosophy 
as ‘thought experiments,’ a method of exploring a problem or testing a theory. It consists in imagining 
situations that are unfeasible in practice, but which can reveal assumptions, explain implications, 
highlight internal contradiction, open up new avenues of research and close down others. In P4wC, this 
type of exploration is well suited to the participants. Examples include “The Ship of Theseus”, Hobbes's 
philosophical thought experiment that Worley reformulated in “If machine” (2010, pp. 102-107), and 
“Gyges's ring” from Plato's myth (id., pp. 91-95). 
 

By involving imagination in these ways, we wanted to conduct an exploratory study to see what 
conceptions of conflict emerge. We also wanted to observe whether conflict is part of the dialogue, and 
how it is approached by participants. 
 
2.3 Research questions 
 

We aim to explore in the present study two general issues. The first concerns the students' 
representations of conflict and the conceptualization of this notion: What are the students' conceptions of 
conflict and how do these evolve over the course of the proposed study? The second looks at the tensions and 
conflicts that can arise fortuitously during exchanges between students: How were conflicts managed during 
the dialogue? What helped and what detracted the dialogue? 
 
 
 
 
 



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3. Methods  
 
 Our study is qualitative. Its objective is to use data collected in context to build an initial 
understanding of how students perceive conflict, and how they attempt to manage it when imagination 
is invited into the thought process. 
 
 We are inspired by social sciences methodologies which focus on collecting the students' written 
and oral productions and recording their interactions in order to analyze them. The use of qualitative 
case studies, based on transcripts of the participants’ verbal and non-verbal behavior, which provide a 
wealth of information that can be analyzed in different ways depending on the research objective, is now 
a well-established approach in the field of P4wC research (Fournel & Simon, 2023). 
 

Encouraged by previous empirical studies on the theme of conflict, which to our knowledge 
remain limited, we wish to supplement the existing data and analyze how adolescents (12-15 years old), 
in a regular and also multicultural context, in France, think and act about conflict. We have also 
designed a device that combines different ways of mobilizing the imagination in the thought process. 
 
3.1 Study Context 
 

The study was carried out in a secondary school located in a disadvantaged area in south-east 
France. A philosophy project has been running in this school for the past 9 years. Each student takes 
part in a philosophy workshop every two weeks, during the first year (11-12 years old), the second year 
(12-13 years old) and the fourth year (14-15 years old) of their curriculum.  This project is supported by 
teachers who are highly concerned about how to educate children, especially those from disadvantaged 
backgrounds, to think critically. Collaboration with the University Grenoble Alpes has been on-going 
since 2014 through research-action projects, and training actions. 
 

Our study was carried out between March and June 2023. The socio-political context in France, 
at that moment, was rather tense (e.g. the pension reform and the protests it has provoked; teacher 
protests against education policies), also affecting schools and students. 
 
3.2. Participants 
 

The participants were two groups of students aged 12 to 15 years, from the same school. The first 
group was made up of 22 students from a class (12-13 years old, five were female and 17 male), 
accompanied in the protocol by their French teacher (Teacher 1). The second was a smaller group of 
just seven students (12-15 years old, two were female and five male) known as ‘allophones’,5 with 
different academic levels and a level of French assessed according to the Common European Framework 
of Reference for Languages6 between A2 (elementary user level) and B1 (independent user level). These 
young people attended intensive French courses, enabling them to progress at their own pace, under 

 
5 In this group, there are two Albanian girls, two Algerian boys, a Tunisian boy and a boy of Turkish origin. 
6 Council of Europe. (n.d.). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).  
https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages 



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the supervision of a second teacher who took part in our study (Teacher 2). 
 
3.3 Protocols and Data Collection 
 

 The study was set up in the last term of the school year, spread over 3 months. The protocol has 
been developed in several steps, each with specific objectives and activities involved, and adapted for the 
group of allophone students (group 2), particularly in terms of duration and material used. The first 
three steps are detailed in table 1. In the fourth and final step, teacher asked the students to come up 
with an individual conflict resolution.7  As we wanted to deal here mainly with the conception of conflict 
and observe its evolution through the exchanges in CPI, we will postpone the analysis of this last part 
of the students’ work util a later analysis. What the chart says in text: 

 
 Group 1 (24 students) Group 2 (7 Allophone students) 

Step 1. Collecting initial conceptions of the conflict 
Activities Imagine the conflict using analogies 

Material Chinese portrait exercise Word-label8, Photolanguage, Chinese 
portrait exercise 9  

Description If conflict were an object/a smell/an action/a garment/a dish/an animal/ a 
sensation/a natural element ... it would be a/an ... 
Individual filling in; pooling of the results; discussion 

Data collected Audio recordings of interactions & Individual Chinese portrait worksheet 

Step 2. Studying universal stories about conflict 
Activities Reading and analysis universal stories transcribed and adapted in French 
Material 5 stories: The Apple of Discord; The Old 

Sultan; The Indigest Snake; Ix-Chel and 
the fireflies; Ra and Apep 

Only 2 stories: The Indigest Snake; Ix-Chel 
and the fireflies 

 
‘Analysis of the conflicts in the stories’ worksheet10 

Description Small group work, then pooling; 
Data collected Small group written productions. 

Audio recordings only for Group 2. 
Step 3. Conducting a CPI about conflict 
Activities Philosophical discussion among peers led by the teacher 
Description Questioning after reviewing the stories. Group discussion based on a question 

formulated and chosen by the students. 
Data collected Audio recordings of the philosophical discussion 

Table 1. The study device 
 

In collecting audio data, we took legal and ethical issues into account: informing the children and 
their parents of the aims of our study and the use that will be made of the data collected, obtaining 
their consent for the voice recordings, and anonymizing the names of participants in the transcriptions. 

 
7 Using an extract from the Greek myth "Ulysses on Calypso's Island", in which Ulysses is faced with an inner conflict, 
students had to imagine the decision they thought he should make. 
8 Teacher 2 translated the word ‘conflict’ into the students' mother tongue. They were asked to choose a word of their choice 
(in their mother tongue or second language) and write an initial definition. 
9 The Photolanguage was proposed before the Chinese portrait exercise. The students didn’t have to deal with all the items 
of Chinese portrait, and they could use a dictionary or ask peers for translations. For the content, see Appendices 1&2. 
10 See Appendix 3. 



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For the 10 audio recordings (average length=45 min.) made during the 3 steps of the study, we chose 
to make a partial manual transcription. A full transcription would be too time-consuming and not 
essential at this stage of our analyses. 
 
3.4 Methods of Analysis 

 
Our analysis of students’ conceptions of conflict is based on the analogies and meanings derived 

from the justifications they proposed during the Chinese portrait exercise (Step 1). We analyzed the 
content of their written and oral productions and identified some categories (emerging from the 
material analyzed) which we believe correspond to the aspects of conflict evoked by participants 
(features, causes, consequences, etc.). We then tried to identify elements that marked an evolution in 
their conception of conflict, firstly in the discussion that closely followed the Chinese portrait exercise 
(Step 1) and secondly in the CPI (Step 3) following the work on the universal stories (Step 2). To observe 
how students’ initial conceptions are developed or evolve in the discussion between peers, we analyzed 
the verbal exchanges after transcribing them. We followed the discourse and the conceptual process as 
it unfolded, trying to observe, when students developed definitions of conflict, or came up with new 
criteria to conceptualize—when new aspects, new examples or new ideas were introduced in the 
discussion. Our analysis does not focus on specific individuals but attempts to highlight students’ 
representations and tensions in the two groups. 
 

For our second research question, concerning the tensions and conflicts that arose during the 
discussions, we attempted to describe the relational dynamics observed in the interactions, based on 
the recordings and transcriptions of the discussions and on the interpretations proposed by the teachers 
who supported the two groups. Where possible, we compared these interpretations with observations 
made from the recordings or by one of us who was present as an observer at the workshop. 
 

4. Preliminary Results 
 

We present here some results in the form of general trends that emerge from our initial analysis; 
we also highlight, as far as possible, the specific features observed in the two groups. Initially, we analyze 
the students’ conceptions of conflict, their first definitions, then their evolution throughout our study 
(4.1). Subsequently, we examine the dynamics of tension and conflict in peer interactions, analyzing 
how students and their teacher manage these moments (4.2). 
 
4.1 Students’ Conceptions of Conflict 
 
a. Initial Conceptions 

 
In group 1, students depicted conflict as aggressive and unpredictable, resembling the ferocity of 

a rabid dog or a hornet's sting. They often likened it to war, characterized by fear, anxiety, and 
heightened emotions. Conflict emerges unexpectedly (a panther, a snake which seizes its prey by force, 
attacking it without warning) and revolves around disputes over ownership or dominance (a phone, a video 
game controller), resulting in confusion and discord. Moreover, they asserted that human beings are 
implicated in the genesis of all conflicts, thus bearing responsibility for their occurrence. While most 



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students acknowledged its destructive potential, one student suggested the possibility of resolution and 
reconciliation, symbolized by the image of a panda (sometimes it ends on good terms and with respect). In 
group 2, conflict was also portrayed as a struggle or a fight. Students depicted various instances of 
conflict, ranging from disputes over money and land to interpersonal disagreements. They highlighted 
the use of weapons and physical violence, with winners and losers akin to a football game. The aftermath 
of conflict was depicted through the imagery of sweat. Conflict can also arise from seemingly trivial 
issues, such as the smell of cigarettes. Students drew parallels between human conflicts and animal 
behavior, where differences in appearance or scent can lead to aggression. Additionally, conflicts can 
emerge from differences in opinions or religious beliefs, as well as disputes between nations over cultural 
traditions (such as Arabic dance, couscous). 
 

We then looked at the meaning the students gave to their analogies to justify the link with conflict. 
We have identified several aspects that they addressed, as shown in table 2: 

 
Aspects of 

conflict 
Illustrations drawn from students’ 

productions 
Occ.11  

in Group 1 
Occ

. in Group 
2 

Attitudes it attacks everything 3 1 

Causes people fight over money, land, rivalries, 
difference of opinion, physical appearance 

2 5 

Consequences 
& Effects 

kills, destroys, burns, hurts and causes 
pains 

7 2 

Duration takes a long time to finish 1  

Emotions & 
Feelings 

It gets one angry, furious, raged, 
annoyed 

1  

Examples For me war equals conflict 2  

Features ferocious, attacking without reason, 
dangerous, destructive, aggressive, unexpected 

6  

Ingredients fight, fear, anxiety, adrenaline 1 2 

Relation to 
conflict 

some like it, some don’t like it 1 1 

Relations 
between protagonists 

they are no longer friends 1  

Resolutions sometimes it ends on good terms and 
with respect 

1  

Sources for me, human beings are responsible for 
all conflicts 

1  

Status of 
protagonists 

there's no one to beat him 1 1 

Strategies sometimes you just want to scare the 
other person 

1 1 

Table 2. Aspects of conflict in students’ arguments, by group 

 
11 We indicate the number of occurrences recorded in the students’ productions, by group to which they belong. We have 
classified them into categories according to aspects of the conflict mentioned (causes, consequences, etc.), which are 
categories based on the students’ arguments. The figures are only there to show which aspect is mentioned most in one 
group and which in the other.   



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We noted that all the different aspects of conflict, which we categorized, were suggested by the 
productions of the students in group 1. The students in group 2 mentioned less than half of these 
categories. Our second observation could be more noteworthy because it highlights specific features in 
the representations of each group. Students in group 1 seem to emphasize the features and above all 
the consequences of conflict. For Maria, conflict causes, even unintentionally, physical and emotional 
pain: “a vase because sometimes the vase when uh we drop it falls and it breaks // uh when we have 
hurtful words it also breaks finally […] you put your hand on the vase unintentionally then you take 
your hand away so that makes it fall”.12 Whereas students in group 2 seem to deal more with the causes 
of conflict. As we can see from Karim’s snake example, “the snake when it looks at another snake that 
doesn't have the same color the same shape // it will kill it or fight to eat it”, or Paul's reference to 
difference of opinion, differences in physical appearance as well as in thinking can lead to conflict. 
 
b. Definitions  
 

After the Chinese portrait session, students in group 1 were encouraged to refine their 
understanding of conflict by offering definitions. This process introduced new elements into the 
discussion. 
 

According to them, conflict is dangerous and causes pain and blows. It takes place between 
protagonists who can disagree with each other about anything and then fight or tangle. One of the new 
ideas is that of disagreement, co-constructed by two students: 
 

Eliot: […] there's no real definition but a conflict can be people or things that disagree / people 
who disagree with each other about anything and that creates a conflict […] anything can be the source 
of a conflict it's just. 
 

Joachim: a disagreement 
 

Eliot: yes, in fact it is a disagreement 
 

Another student then explored the interdependent relationship between conflict and 
disagreement, stating: “conflict leads to disagreement and disagreement leads to conflict”. Finally, a 
fourth student provided further insight into the origins of conflict, stating: “one person wants to be 
righter than the other // both want to be right and then after that there's irritation.” 
 

Let's keep in mind this idea of disagreement and its evolution towards conflict, to see to what 
extent it was taken up and developed during the second session, held two days later with the aim of 
continuing to explore the concept. To illustrate how students’ thinking became more complex, we have 
selected two specific moments, which are detailed below: 
 

Joachim: because conflict is that there was a disagreement {Teacher 1: yes}// disagreements may 
concern a conflict or it can be something else // there are some who are on both sides // you can say 

 
12 We don't use punctuation marks (periods or commas) in our transcriptions; / indicates a restart in the flow of speech, and 
// a pause or silence. 



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that there are some who don't want conflict because they're on one side and other people they're for 
the conflict because they want their idea to be put forward 
 

It seems like an effort on the part of the student to qualify the link between disagreement and 
conflict. According to him, there may be disagreement without conflict. Conflict can arise when 
someone wants to impose their idea on someone else. 
 

Towards the end of the discussion, one of the students put forward the idea of a collision of two 
meteorites as an example of conflict. Another student contested the idea that there could be conflict in 
natural phenomena and argued. A dialogue ensued. 
 

Joachim:  that's because in fact a collision isn't / for example the two meteorites they collide // 
but to disagree you have to have a conscience // it is only people who have conscience 
 

Karim: well no no // imagine there's a meteorite that was supposed to hit the earth // well there's 
another meteorite that's come into conflict with the other one // you can use the word to say that // 
it’s not like we have a disagreement 
 

Eliot: so if I'm talking about Karim's principle I can say that the table is in conflict with the table 
next to it or with my chair // so I could say that 
 

Joachim and Eliot each question the possibility of meteorite conflict, raised by Karim. In their 
view, the conflicting elements must have a conscience, or the will to create a conflict. Finally, the 
students brought the discussion back to a linguistic level and proposed a distinction. Depending on 
whether the protagonists are human or not, we can use the term ‘disagreement’ for the former, but 
‘conflict’ for the latter. 
    

We observed in this episode a further step, initiated by the students themselves, in thinking about 
conceptual tension between ‘conflict’ and ‘disagreement’. 
  

c. Evolutions in Student’s Conceptions 
  

Group 1's studied five narratives; two stand out as particularly distinctive: Ix-Chel and the Fireflies 
from Maya culture, and Ra and Apep from Egyptian culture. These stories present conflict in a different 
light, where it is not solely perceived as destructive: in Ix-Chel, the goddess Moon experiences rebirth 
while in Ra and Apep, the perpetual struggle between Ra, the sun god, and Apep, embodying night and 
chaos, serves as a symbolic origin for the cycle of day and night, ensuring the equilibrium of the world.                                                                                                   
 

After studying these stories, students formulated several questions, such as "Why does conflict 
exist?", “Why don’t we agree?” and "What is conflict for?"  Among these, they selected "Can conflict be 
useful?" for discussion. 
 

During the discussion, they referenced the story of Ra and Apep twice, to emphasize that conflict 
is essential to the universe's cycle: 



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Maël: well in Ra and Apep’s story the conflict is useful because / otherwise there would never be 

the night 
 

 This narrative, universally relevant, brought forth the idea of a helpful outcome of conflict: 
 

Issam: on the one hand conflict is useful, on the other it's not 
 
Teacher 1: can you explain why you say that? 
 
Issam: well because for example for Ra and Apep // well uh // Apep did something 

that was good 
 
 The chosen question has sparked new perspectives, suggesting that conflict extends beyond 

fruitless wars, violence, and destruction—it can also potentially have utility and serve as a driving force. 
This seems to mark a significant progression in students’ conceptualization of conflict. 

 
  d. New Examples 
 

Let’s now examine the new examples that have emerged: the discussion expanded to include the 
example of football. The rivalry between the two teams was presented as an element that enhanced the 
excitement of the game, although it was acknowledged that rules are necessary to prevent conflicts from 
escalating among supporters. 
 

Malone: well // really I would say I prefer there is rivalry between the two teams rather than none 
// because if there is no rivalry in football for me this is not football anymore // if you have a classico 
Marseille vs Paris or Real vs Barça if there is no vibe or something like that // for me I think / I prefer 
there are conflicts in football rather than no conflict 
 

Students subsequently changed their frame of reference to contemporary social events, 
introducing two new examples. Firstly, they referred to the teachers' strike against their administration 
for increased remuneration: 

 
Malone: for instance / the college Vercors / the Rectorate they have suppressed twenty-five hours 

of lessons, I think 
 
Teacher 1: ok // is it a conflict which is useful? 
 
Malone: yes                 

 
Secondly, they introduced the example of the social situation in France in 2023 (the strong 

demonstrations and strikes against the pension reform postponing legal retirement age). This led them 
to propose a new definition: conflict is considered useful when it results in changes aligned with the 
demands of the parties involved. 



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Teacher 1: so what you said if I can rephrase is that // a conflict is useful when it leads to a change 

in line with the requirement of those who are in conflict // when a requirement of those in conflict is 
satisfied // is it any requirement or do we need criteria for this? 

 
Maël: you still need that the two parts are satisfied // because // if not // it can create conflict 

in the other direction // and if one is winning and then the other isn't happy and she or he starts a 
conflict again // then it can lead to a conflict for a long time like that // both parties still need find a 
common ground 
 

These examples seem to have facilitated a deeper exploration of conflict as a dynamic process. 
 

 e. New ideas 
 
At the onset of the discussion, a student had introduced the concept of 'common ground' (terrain 

d’entente, in French) as a necessity to prevent conflict. Conflict was deemed non-constructive while 
common ground was seen as essential. 

 
However, as the dialogue progressed, students seemed to reach a consensus that a human 

experience devoid of conflict (including disagreements, tensions, rivalry, adrenaline, and confrontation) 
would be dull. 

 
As the discussion unfolded and examples were provided, it became apparent that common ground 

often arises in the aftermath of conflict, highlighting a dynamic process where conflict can serve as a 
catalyst for its emergence. 

 
Throughout the discussion, students also critically examined the concept of 'disagreement' and its 

relationship with conflict. They underscored the importance of a diversity of opinions, acknowledging 
that while this diversity may lead to conflict, disagreement itself holds importance. Their exploration of 
disagreement surpassed the initial approach taken in the earlier discussion. 
 

Nolan: yes it’s true / it is true because if everybody agrees with everything // there is / yeah there 
is no critical thought // yeah there won’t be any originality  
 

Thus, the recognition of conflict as a catalyst for change throughout human history, particularly 
in social and political contexts, was viewed positively, facilitating a deeper exploration of conflict as a 
dynamic process. 

 
Considering these examples and the development of complex thinking that ensued, we can say 

that Group 1 students’ conceptions of conflict evolved. These changes were prompted by their 
interpretation of Ra and Apep’s mythical battle. Through its metaphorical interpretation of the world, 
this myth prompted a question that brought forth a problematization: tension between order and chaos, 
never-ending conflicts seem to be a condition of life, of change. This idea then found an echo in the 
students’ context: different frames of reference such as football, social actuality. Thanks to the echoes 



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of this narrative, students delved into more intricate considerations regarding ‘disagreement’ and 
conflict, ultimately arriving at a new definition that focuses on the process of conflict, driving force of 
change and disruption, giving birth to temporary new orders and relations. 

 
This appears to resonate with the Heraclitan concept of 'polémos' mentioned earlier, which posits 

that reality is in a perpetual state of flux, with equilibrium continually re-establishing itself through 
conflicts between divergent forces, repeatedly. 
 
4.2 Conflicts During the Dialogue  
 

During the implementation of our device, we observed several instances of tension, characterized 
by robust disagreements regarding ideas as well as interpersonal conflicts. We tried to understand how 
conflicts were managed during the dialogue and to identify, if possible, what helped and what hindered 
the dialogue. 

 
We observed that facilitators and participants addressed and reflected on these tensions in diverse 

ways, which we sought to elucidate by analyzing the following situations: 
 

• Case 1 
 

In the multicultural group (Group 2), the discussion was initiated by the question: “Can conflicts 
arise over nothing?” Students gave examples of conflicts, such as disagreements within couples and 
verbal altercations erupting in a stadium following a referee's error. 

 
When the facilitator (teacher 2) invited the participants to consider the consequences of conflict, 

expanding on the football example, one student highlighted the rapid escalation of insults exchanged 
between players and fans. Alicia interjected, asserting that "escalating insults is not the right thing to 
do" and "insults are not a pathway to resolution." However, when Amine attempted to summarize 
Alicia's point, he suggested that boys engage in physical confrontation (“fight for real”) while girls tend 
to reconcile more swiftly. 

  
Alicia disagreed with this gender-based assumption, arguing, "I don't agree because he doesn't 

understand girls." 
 
Amine and another boy, Abed, formed a kind of male alliance against Maria pointing at girls’ 

weakness when they make up after an argument. At some point Maria, after introducing the idea that 
an argument between two girls could also last for a long time, just as for boys, was mocked by Abed 
once again (“yeah girls”). She reacted, saying “Algerians too.” At that point, tensions culminated. 
Laughter, whispers, mockery, sighs, interruptions, expressions of frustration, discriminatory remarks 
disrupted the discussion.  

 
The facilitator took on the role of mediator to calm the situation and keep everybody focused on 

the subject, trying to summarize what the discussion had led to. Usually, one of the students in the 
group was used to taking on the role of mediator through his interventions, but he was absent this day. 



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Did the students realize that they were in a conflict? Could the issue have been thematized? If the 
facilitator's endeavors in this part of dialogue failed to move things forward, it may be because the 
underlying relationship issue prevented any progress being made on the content under discussion. 
 
• Case 2 
 

In the regular class (Group 1) session following the Chinese portrait exercise, students discussed 
conflict and death. The initial remark from Joachim —"conflict brings disagreements and it can lead to 
death"—sparked tensions and the expression of strong opposing views. Maria got angry, expressing 
exasperation about the constant association with death ("death always") prompting laughter from peers. 
The facilitator intervened, seeking clarification from the two students: "What do you mean Maria? What 
are you trying to convey?" "Is this what you meant, Joachim? Can you elaborate on your statement?" 
Eventually tensions eased when a third student, Josias, cited the war between Ukraine and Russia as an 
example of conflict leading to violence and death. Subsequently, students explored various levels of 
conflict, with the most severe being deemed the most harmful. We can say that the facilitator’s request 
for clarification and the well-known example given by another student, associating death with conflict, 
contributed significantly to avoiding polarization. 

 
Later on, the theme of death re-emerged in the discussion: 

 
Eliot: concerning the sensation I don't really agree with Joachim because death is not a sensation 

// when you die you don’t say oh yes I am dying 
 
Joachim: yes though // during a few seconds you have the sensation / this is a sensation not the 

death  
 
Eliot: it can be discussed but / we won’t enter into a debate 
 
Teacher 1: ok // does someone want to add something 

 
According to Eliot, death is not a sensation. However, Joachim argued that we can experience the 

sensation of death, which is distinct from death itself. Eliot acknowledged Joachim's objection, but ultimately 
chose to avoid further debate, with the teacher’s agreement. Can we say that Eliot didn't want to pursue the 
disagreement, and possibly revise his position, preferring to change the subject? Or rather, that he wanted to 
avoid conflict? It's hard to say, but we might ask if the intervention of the teacher or a peer would have deepened 
the proposed distinction. 

 
Tensions resurfaced later when student Maria suggested that interpersonal conflict could also be 

significant, even if it does not result in death. She took an example of an argument which she considered very 
serious:  

 
Maria: if for example someone close in your family has just died // and two people are arguing because 

one says // yeah, she deserved that // and the other // no that's a serious argument too 



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Laughter ensued, hindering Maria from clarifying her statement. Despite the facilitator's attempts to 
reinforce discussion rules, tensions persisted between Maria and Eliot, as Maria stated that “death was a 
passage” and “argument can be serious too.” However, when other students intervened and engaged in a calmer 
discussion about death (drawing distinctions and nuances between natural death and death provoked by 
various conflicts), the conflict between Eliot and Maria shifted from personal to conceptual. The discussion 
continued with different speakers, with the mediation of peers helping to de-escalate the conflict and enabling 
further dialogue. 

 
However, the underlying conflict between Eliot and Maria remained unresolved as Maria withdrew from 

further participation in the discussion. Notably, she was the only female voice in the group. It is likely that the 
predominance of male voices, coupled with the mockery and lack of attention she received, prevented her from 
developing her ideas and expressing herself fully. 

 
• Case 3 
 

At the end of the discussion “Can conflict be useful?” (Group 1), a student analyzed the 
disagreement in which he was involved with a fellow student, and raised a point for reflexion: 
 

Josias: yes sometimes there are tensions but not many 
 
Teacher 1: so when are there tensions? 
 
Josias: me and Maël/1 disagreed // I said conflict wasn’t useful at all and Maël said yes it is useful 

// for example in a football game it is useful he said 
 
Teacher 1: so it's a disagreement but what explains the absence of tension then? 

 
Josias: there's no tension because / because we're having a friendly discussion 
  
Josias remarked that tensions arose sporadically during the discussion, though they were not 

frequent. These tensions stemmed from his disagreement with another student regarding the utility of 
conflict. Despite the initial disagreement, he ultimately concluded that tensions were not present. The 
framework of the discussion, ‘friendly discussion’ was proposed as a means to foster thinking together. 

 
In this excerpt the students engage in meta-reflection on the dynamics of the discussion, offering 

an insightful analysis that introduces the notion of friendship. Scholars have identified friendship, 
along with openness and empathy, as “successful dialogue strategies”. It can be hypothesized that this 
reflection was facilitated by the CPI approach, which directs students' attention to the process. 

 
 
 
 
 



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5. Discussion 
 

The first contribution of this article is bringing to light the nature of the students’ spontaneous 
conceptions of conflict, and how these evolve through interactions. 

 
On the basis of their individual proposals, we reached an overall picture of ‘conflict’ as a fight or 

struggle, largely related to physical and moral injuries. This is not surprising because we invited them 
to think about conflict not in an abstract way but with their bodily and everyday experiences. It is likely 
that they conjured up, in their suggestions, images from current geopolitical events or films, from their 
everyday social life as adolescents, the violence of words. Even though they used the same comparison 
markers to draw analogies and represent conflict, adolescents in our study did not focus on the same 
aspects, depending on whether they were in the regular class (group 1) or in a multicultural group (group 
2). Students from group 1 were born or are living in an urban working-class area, facing delinquency, 
poverty, daily violence, parallel economy and thus fear and insecurity. They mentioned that conflict 
burns, kills, degenerate, wastes time, etc., which primarily refers to the effects and consequences. 
Allophone students also associated conflict with fighting but they focused on physical appearance, 
cultural or religious differences, which probably points to the status of foreigner or migrant and portrays 
conflict in terms of causes that provoke it. 

 
The fact that each group emphasizes different aspects of conflict could be related not only to the 

students’ personal experience or cultural background (most of the pupils in group 1 come from families 
with a migrant background), but probably to their social and even scholar status (regular vs. specific 
language needs). However, with a small sample size, caution must be applied, as the findings might not 
be so relevant in other allophone groups. In addition, other elements could be addressed, such as the 
group's experience and regularity in the practice of philosophical dialogue (which, in our study, group 
2 did not have, and group 1 had). 

 
The results also suggest that students’ spontaneous conceptions evolved during the process. The 

discussion “Can conflict be useful?” revealed, in our analysis, a greater complexity in their thinking 
about conflict, including the ability to distinguish, give criteria, raise objections. We think that this 
discussion also drew on the collective imagination presented in some of the universal stories studied 
with the groups. It is possible, therefore, that collective imagination embedded in universal stories gave 
students the opportunity to enrich their vision of conflict, inspiring more sophisticated thought; 
students focused on the process of conflict rather than on ‘frozen’ characteristics, which enabled them 
to express nuanced thoughts. In our study, the encounter between narrative imagination, on the one 
hand, and the sensitivity and imagination of the students, on the other, ultimately led to a 
reconceptualization of the conflict. 

 
Our observations are consistent with those of Kennedy (2006) who emphasized for younger 

children (7-year-olds) the ability to reason, in relation with their experience, in a coherent and complex 
way about the topic of conflict, when they are in a “collaborative and dialogical context.” Adolescents 
seem to have this ability too. Kennedy emphasized the importance of the adult's posture in facilitating 
interaction and making room for the child's intelligence. Following with these observations, our study 
suggests that imagination can be a stimulating pedagogical design supporting students’ thinking. 



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Furthermore, we suggest that inviting students to use their imagination in variety of ways (embodied, 
narrative, operative) could lead adults to leave more room for child’s individuality. 

 
The second contribution of this article is a better understanding of how students manage tensions and 
conflicts arising during interactions in a collaborative and dialogical context.   
 

We could observe tensions and sometimes conflicts in the CPI we analyzed so far. We note that 
students’ roles in the dialogue are not always frozen: they sometimes are speakers defending their ideas, 
but they sometimes can endorse different roles such as mediators, diplomats who enable the dialogue 
not to get stuck in a disagreement between two sides and/or two people, but to go forward. 

 
Self-regulation of the group enabled participants to overcome tensions and to continue the 

dialogue. This very much depends on the history of the group, its dynamic, everyone's place, and power 
relationships. Group 1 had a regular practice of CPI. On the contrary, in group 2, some students found 
it hard to express themselves. They were subjected to mocking by the others. The group was not used 
to discussions, individuals were still trying to find their place and/or assert themselves. In the process 
of building a community of inquiry, the construction of the group constitutes a real challenge: at the 
beginning, and maybe sometimes throughout the CPI’s history, students are looking to establish their 
role as speakers, to find their voice and place in the dialogue. In this context of interaction, the process 
that deals with the relationships between discussants seems intimately linked to the process that deals 
with the philosophical content under discussion; sometimes the former can prevent certain advances 
(Fournel & Perrer-Clermont, 2022). 
 

6. Conclusion 
 

We observed that metacognition could help students to analyze their own involvement in the 
dialogue and even consider what peer relationships should be. As one of the students suggested, a 
“friendly discussion” can reduce or eliminate the tensions that would otherwise hamper dialogue. 
 
It might be argued that there is a link between this idea of friendship in discussion and the concepts of 
caring thinking, attentiveness, listening to the other, used in P4wC literature. This calls to mind the 
words of Arendt (1974): “… for the Greeks, the essence of friendship lay in discourse. They maintained 
that only a constant ‘speaking together’ united citizens in a polis. Dialogue reveals the political 

importance of friendship, and it’s very humanity” (p. 34). Arendt broadens and elevates philia politike, 
the concept inherited from Aristotle to a more genuinely political form “so that it may cope with 
differences, diversities and heterogeneities among friends” (Chiba, p. 521). We think this concept could 
be useful for analyzing the relationships between students within the space and framework they share 
and build within CPI. 

 
 
 
 



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Appendices 
 

Appendix 1. Photolanguage 

 
 
 
 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11217-011-9249-4
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11217-011-9249-4
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11217-011-9249-4
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11217-011-9249-4
https://www.reseau-canope.fr/conflits-ecole/#Accueil
https://www.reseau-canope.fr/conflits-ecole/#Accueil


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Appendix 2. Chinese portrait exercise 

 

 



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Appendix 3. Analysis of the conflicts evoked in the stories. 

 
 



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Address Correspondences to:  
Anda Fournel 
PhD in Language Sciences, graduate in Philosophy and Educational Sciences. 
Researcher at the University of Grenoble Alpes (France). 
Email : anda.fournel@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr 
 
Chrystelle Blanc-Lanaute 
Teacher (middle-school) 
Institutional affiliation: Ministry of National Education, Académie de Grenoble, Collège Vercors, 
Grenoble, France. 
Email: Chrystelle.Blanc-Lanaute@ac-grenoble.fr 
 
Qionghua Cai 
Facilitator of philosophical dialogues  
Email : veronica_cai46@hotmail.com 
 

mailto:anda.fournel@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
mailto:Chrystelle.Blanc-Lanaute@ac-grenoble.fr
mailto:veronica_cai46@hotmail.com

	Appendices
	Appendix 1. Photolanguage
	Appendix 2. Chinese portrait exercise
	Appendix 3. Analysis of the conflicts evoked in the stories.


