The art of facilitating philosophical dialogues from the perspective of teachers

Research indicates that introducing Philosophy with Children (PwC) in schools can lead to a number of desirable benefits in terms of improving academic skills in students. However, as PwC differs from dominant forms of teaching, its introduction may be challenging. To better understand these challenges and how they can be resolved, knowledge about how teachers perceive PwC practice is needed. This paper reports on teachers’ perceptions of facilitation of PwC dialogues, based on their own facilitation experience or on observations of trained facilitators running dialogues. The paper provides insight into teachers’ views on facilitation and the concerns and considerations that this role gives rise to. Data have been collected through surveys and semi-structured interviews and it reveals that teachers are particularly concerned that facilitation entails a lack of control over student behaviour and the direction of dialogue. Data also point to a discrepancy with regard to how teachers view their students, depending on whether teachers observe PwC facilitation, or facilitate themselves. The paper concludes with suggestions as to how these findings might inform practice in order to make the introduction of PwC practice in schools easier.