Collaborative, child-led philosophical inquiry in Religious and Moral Education

ABSTRACT

Situated in the context of the Scottish Religious and Moral Education (RME) curriculum, this article considers the practice of Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) and how it supports the RME curriculum. Sharing extracts from children’s CoPI sessions, the article reflects on the ways in which ten and eleven year-old children discuss religious and theological ideas philosophically. The child-led, collaborative approach demonstrates that the children work together to create meaning. It is proposed that the RME curriculum, or the enactment of the curriculum, often misses opportunities for children to engage with philosophical ideas about religious and theological concepts, and that an explicitly dialogic, philosophical approach affords important opportunities to support children’s self-understanding in-relation with the world and others.

KEYWORDS:

• Dialogue
• philosophy with children
• Religious and Moral Education
• Religious Education
• collaborative learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ewan Cameron

Ewan Cameron is a primary school teacher, working in Argyll and Bute Council, Scotland.

Claire Cassidy

Claire Cassidy is a Reader in the School of Education at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. She is the course leader for the Postgraduate Certificate in Philosophy with Children.