The Pedagogy of the Community of Philosophical Enquiry as Citizenship Education

Book excerpt: This edited volume combines reflections, methods, and experiences from a globally diverse group of scholars to investigate the meaning, value, and effectiveness of the pedagogy of the Community of Philosophical Enquiry (CoPE) – derived from or in conversation with Lipman and Sharp’s Philosophy for Children (P4C) – in the context of civic education. Maintaining that a rich diversity of voices is an important corrective to narrower academic discourses, the chapters in this book bring an array of scholarly thought from across the world working in various political and educational contexts to bear on a common question: How can CoPE help practitioners engage in civic education? The contributions draw on qualitative methods, philosophical literature, and practitioner case studies to explore the benefits, challenges, questions, and methods related to the use of CoPE for the sake of citizenship education in Thailand, Malaysia, Italy, Iceland, Israel, Greece, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Ultimately, the book provides critical reflections and insights into the civic dimension of CoPE (and some CoPE-related practices) across a wide range of pedagogic, cultural, and political contexts. Addressing the need for a touchstone publication on the interplay between CoPE and citizenship education, the book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students interested in the philosophy of education, citizenship education, democratic education, and international and comparative education.