CHILDREN IN CHAOS

by Leonard Harris, Matthew Lipman, Thomas Harper

Children in Chaos explores the implementation of Philosophy for Children in four Washington, D.C. public schools between 1987 and 1989. It provides commentary and arguments by district superintendent Thomas Harper, Philosophy for Children creator Matthew Lipman (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...), and the editor, the philosopher and founder of Philosophy Born of Struggle (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...), Leonard Harris, as well as selections of in-class diaries from teachers using the Philosophy for Children program. As Harris explains, "These schools are located in historically strong middle and lower middle class African American communities facing the relative new growth of social fragmentation, drug use, and adolescent crime" (p. v). Lipman argues that Philosophy for Children is uniquely relevant to the educational needs of this populations, because "children who come from disadvantaged, underprivileged families need educational programs that offer them cognitive skills that can emerge out of their already impressive linguistic competencies, that help them think for themselves and provide them with a sense of belonging, a sense of community" (p. xxv), and because the community of philosophical inquiry "seeks instead to establish an atmosphere of mutual respect, intellectual openness, freedom to question and criticize, and courage to confront whatever enigmas life has to offer" (p. xvi). Harris argues "that the teaching of critical thinking should be situated within the context of a redefined educational mission suited to both the resistance tradition of African American culture and the pariah of postmodern cultural chaos" (p. vii).

94 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

Leonard Harris, Ph.D. (Philosophy, Cornell University, 1974; M.A., Philosophy, Miami University, 1970; B.A., English & Philosophy, Central State University (Wilberforce, OH), 1969), is a professor of philosophy at Purdue University where he has directed the Philosophy and Literature Ph.D. program and the African American Studies and Research Center. Previously, he taught at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he created and directed the Philosophy for Children Center as an affiliate of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children at Montclair State University.

In 1999, Professor Harris received the Alain L. Locke Award from Howard University in recognition of his "pioneering efforts and outstanding contributions to research in Africana Philosophy and Alain Locke Scholarship." 2014 saw the Caribbean Philosophical Association presnet him with the Franz Fanon Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018 he received the Herbert Schneider Award for "Distinguished contributions to the understanding of American Philosophy.”

Reviews

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

The teacher diaries provide important insights into how Philosophy for Children actually works, but the most important part of this book is comparing and contrasting the essays by Lipman and Harris on liberatory education.