Page 142 - Amechanon_vol1_2016-18

Amechanon, Vol. I / 2016-2018, ISSN: 2459-2846

This article is based on a study that I undertook over a two year period in three groups of
a Community of Inquiry: two groups of seven to nine-year olds and one group of

adolescents aged twelve through fourteen who had established memory sites such as
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these or had participated in actively posting on them . After having received parental
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permission for the individuals to participate in the study , the children/adolescents would
engage in a Community of Inquiry once every two months related to the content written

on these Internet sites. Each one of the groups numbered ten children or adolescents.
Most of the participants in the children’s groups were girls (a ratio of 6:4), whereas in the

adolescent group the majority were boys (a ratio of 7:3). In most instances, the sites had

not been established by the participants in the Community of Inquiry, although a small
number of them were established by the participants themselves as part of memorializing
and mourning for the death of the person close to them. All the sites with the exception

of six, were in memory of relatives such as a grandfather and a grandmother, and a small

number of instances were in memory of relatives, such as a brother or sister, as well as a
friend from school or youth movement or the community.

Philosophy with Children as Inquiry

As a way of life and educational method, philosophy with children differs from philosophy

as taught in schools and academia alike. While the teaching of philosophy is becoming
increasingly common in schools (especially high schools), within the history of philosophy

and philosophical thought philosophy with (and for) children regards itself as cultivating
human beings who ask existential questions about themselves, their world, and their

surroundings from an early age. In contrast to the academic study of philosophy, in which
students are merely passive observers of philosophical ideas, philosophy with children

seeks to create a place and space for active engagement in philosophical thought that
promotes broad, critical thinking skills in its young practitioners. Rather than focusing on

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acquaintance with philosophy as a field of knowledge to be mastered , it revolves around
questions relating to the pupils’ existence in the world. It thus develops their philosophical

191 Kizel, A., «“Life goes on even if there’s a gravestone”: Philosophy with Children and Adolescents
on Virtual Memorial Sites», Childhood and Philosophy, 10(20), 2015, pp. 421-443.

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With a promise not to reveal the identities of those who had died or the identity of the sites and,
of course, not to reveal the children’s names.

193 Lone, J., M., The philosophical child, Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2012.

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