Learning philosophy makes kids better at math

Learning is an essential process in the development of the human mind. Part of it is thanks to the education we receive in schools and institutes, although it is true that not all the world is given in the same way to study the different subjects that are part of education mandatory. As they say, there are children who are better at numbers, and others at letters.

Finding a balance point in which the level of difficulty of all the subjects is affordable For all the little ones it is a challenge. But interestingly, a simple change to the existing curriculum in early childhood education could improve their performance in other subjects.

A project carried out in England shows that if children are taught philosophy, show improvements in other subjects such as mathematics and language; a pleasant surprise.

Philosophy helps from a very young age

This project was overseen by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent English charity that aims to make education equal for all, regardless of the lucrative level of the relatives, with the aim that children and young people can release all their talent without no limitation. The idea of ​​the EEF was

verify the effects of philosophy classes on younger students as a control test, just as is done with drug tests.

48 different schools participated in the study. Of these, 22 acted as a control group, that is, they followed the normal rhythm of classes, and in the remaining 26 the students received a weekly philosophy class of several hours. The lessons worked had to do with topics such as truth, justice, friendship or wisdom, and included times to reflect on answers and discuss the topics.

Learning to think from philosophy

After analyzing the effects of philosophy classes on the degree of skills acquired by boys and girls (between 9 and 10 years old), the researchers recorded an improvement of the participants in their linguistic and mathematical skills.

What was observed is that the children who were present in these classes increased their math and reading abilities as if they had taken two more months of teaching about it.

This improvement was seen more clearly in children with worse grades who showed a greater progression; his reading ability was improving just as it would have in an extra 4 months; in mathematics this advancement of learning corresponded to three months, and in writing, two months.

In addition, teachers reported that they also there was a beneficial impact on the relationship between their students and it also appeared both to greater confidence among the students and to an improvement in communication skills.

Creating the foundations of learning

The beneficial effects of philosophy lasted for at least two years, period during which the intervention group continued to outperform the control group in the subjects analyzed. According to the organizers, this improvement could be due to the fact that the children were offered the possibility of using new ways of thinking and express themselves, which allowed them to connect their ideas better, think logically more easily, and create more units of knowledge spacious.

It's nothing new

England is not the first country to test the benefits of teaching philosophy to minors. The program used by the EEF is known as Philosophy for Children (P4C), and It was designed in the 1970s by the philosopher Matthew Lipman in New Jersey.. This project, which has already been discussed in this article, aimed to teach new ways of thinking through philosophical dialogue. The program has already been welcomed by 60 different countries, including Argentina and Spain.

In the case of England, the project was hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Inquiry and Reflection in Education (SAPERE), which is now also part of the EEF.

The concentrated efforts behind this organization were not centered on the original idea of ​​reading philosophical texts from Plato or Aristotle, but rather in reading stories, poems or even watching video clips that promote discussion of philosophical topics. The objective was to help the children in the generation of response, as well as promote constructive conversations and develop arguments.

Pros and cons

Among the advantages that the EEF showed, it was also found that 63% of students who received this “extra” education did well in their subsequent studies. As also indicated by the president of the EEF, Kevin Collin, this program is a good support for disadvantaged children, referring to the greatest benefit seen in this class of students.

Among the drawbacks, as almost always happens in these cases, is the economic barrier, as the program cost each participating school about £16 (€23) for each student who received this class. It would be necessary for it to be part of compulsory public education to cover the costs.