Franciscan priest is pioneer in teaching philosophy to children
Father Philibert Hoebing works with 11-year-old Brianna Altmix using Matthew Lipman’s textbook Pixie for children to learn thinking, creating, and reflecting as they study philosophy. Father Phil believes that the study of philosophy helps children become better thinkers and problem solvers.The most profound questions of life are posed in philosophy, and it is a fruitful study for children as well as adults. Children’s lives, indeed, are enhanced and enlightened as they become better thinkers and more able to grapple with problems in school and in life using reason and logic and method.
This is the belief of Father Philibert Hoebing, OFM, a retired professor of philosophy at Quincy University and one of the pioneers in this innovative field. Father Phil has prepared other teachers and taught children as young as kindergarten to think more critically and analytically rather than passively accept statements and propositions on the surface.
“The study of philosophy helps children learn to listen carefully and to concentrate and focus as they solve problems more effectively because now they look at things differently,” Father Phil says. “Too often education becomes memorizing and trying to get the ‘correct’ answer rather than learning to think and be creative. Information is not wisdom.”
The field of philosophy for children began in 1969 when Matthew Lipman, a professor of philosophy and logic at Columbia University in New York, noticed that his college-age students were mostly ill-prepared to deal with questions in his courses and to give a rational basis for their responses. Lipman left Columbia in 1972 and went to Montclair State University in New Jersey, where he founded The Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. Since then he has written many books in this field and prepared a generation of new teachers.
Father Phil, who was ordained in 1950, was trained as a medievalist and taught logic and ethics for many years at QU. He encountered a similar situation with his own students, so he too set out to bring philosophy into the lives of young children long before they reach college. He and Barbara Schleppenbach, a professor at QU, taught an eight-week course at St. Anthony School in Quincy for fifth- and sixth-graders using Matthew Lipman’s book about logic Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery.
When teachers at St. Anthony were asked what they thought about the program, they said they were amazed at the depth of questions their students were asking after taking the course. Eventually, all teachers at the school were trained in this program.
“More importantly,” Father Phil says with a broad smile, “when the kids at St. Anthony got to high school they took over the High School Quiz Bowls and later in college the Quincy University Quiz Bowls.”
Father Phil also taught philosophy for children at St. Francis School in Quincy and says that children become better thinkers and begin giving reasons for their statements. During the course, they learn to break down stereotypes that often come from narrow-minded assumptions.
“Philosophy allows children to see people as unique rather than make general classifications. Children also realize that their actions have consequences for themselves and others. The dialogue and discussion that takes place in these courses is called the ‘Community of Inquiry,’ and it helps young children to see their lives as part of a larger whole to which they contribute and influence,” Father Phil says.
“Very often education becomes Trivial Pursuit and fill-in-the-blank,” Father Phil says. “I taught bioethics and environmental ethics for many years at the college-level, and if students can think critically about situations and see how values are woven into every decision and that a creative response is more vital than a scantron answer, education rises above memorization.”
Father Phil notes that according to University of Toronto research one of the most fruitful and documented benefits of teaching philosophy to children is in helping youngsters become less violent and grow into peaceful and socially responsible adults. When children are given the opportunity to reflect on the reasons why they state or do something and on the rights of other children, their responses are more likely to be grounded in sound reasoning rather than reflexes.
“Too often a violent response — in children and adults — comes from not thinking through the consequences of what is done or said,” Father Phil says. Philosophy thus teaches social skills by showing children that their individual lives are interconnected with all other people and with the environment. Self-serving agendas give way to community in what Lipman calls “caring thinking,” and this is a vital part of education.
Father Phil is also a story-teller and folklorist, and he notes that literature in the form of novels, stories and plays often evokes the most creative and critical responses in children because they are not looking for the “answer” but rather their reaction to the work. Literature presents the complex tapestry of life, he says, and shows the individual’s uniqueness and richness and his or her interconnection with society and the world. “Stories crystallize the experiences and wisdom of humanity into a form that is memorable and has meaning beyond the surface. Stories resonate in each person who hears them.”
As a philosopher Father Phil sees the large picture of what is done in the classroom. “Democracy demands that citizens be informed so that voting and civic decisions are well-founded and enlightened. But we need much more than information for wisdom to take root in our lives and our world.”
By teaching philosophy to children, Father Phil believes that the skills necessary for critical thinking and creativity will burgeon in young children and they will go on to lead better and nobler lives. Through exploring the deepest questions of life, he states, children can begin to see themselves as part of a larger community of inquiry that calls for reasoning rather than the all-too-often “because I feel like it” responses.
“Philosophy,” Aristotle states, “begins in wonder and ends in wisdom.” For Father Phil Hoebing and other pioneers in the philosophy for children program, wisdom begins in children and leads to responsible, caring and nurturing adults who see themselves as independent thinkers and the source of new ideas as well as creatively involved in the philosophy that enlightens our intellectual tradition and lives. Indeed, Father Phil believes, as the child is father to the man, the best place to foster a better and wiser world is by enhancing the minds of its young children.