Discourses of Educational Rights in Philosophy for Children: On the Theoretical and Practical Merits of Philosophical Education for Children

Abstract

This article aims to put into dialogue Philosophy for Children (P4C) and education rights. Whereas rights have robust conceptualizations and have been the topic of many scholarly discussions, scholarship on P4C still has a lot to unpack for a more expansive understanding, especially when scaled up to the level of rights. This work asks whether or not the rhetoric of "rights" can be used to discuss if P4C has a rightful place to be a mandatory part of school curriculum. Thus the article explores how P4C is positioned between children education and rights discourses. The range of views on P4C is broad enough to prevent the concentration of discursive power in a single source or authority in terms of scale of discussion. P4C is therefore subject to both scrutiny and praise in the same way that other human rights ideologies have been. In conclusion, this work hopes to speak and contribute to the literature on P4C by problematizing children's discursive positions as learners and citizens with rights.

Children’s spaces in pages: Examining spatiality in COVID-19-themed children’s books

“…In the same manner, children’s books about the COVID-19 pandemic, aside from being literary tools, also offer a spatial encounter of readers with the writers. As the predominant theme in the books analysed is spatial responsibility to self and community, literature confirms a sense of trust from the authors that children are allies in dealing with the pandemic, reflecting that ‘children use their own experiences in the everyday world and their knowledge of other stories in relation both to characters and plot to make sense of the stories they hear’ (Davies, 1989: 47; See also Andal, 2020).…”