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By KimberlyWickham, March 22, 2009 8:30 am

Although I do not claim to be an expert in child educational psychology, I have spent a great deal of time teaching children and creating courses using alternative strategies. You can ask twenty different teachers the question, “Why isn’t my kid learning?” and you will get twenty different answers. I cannot speak for the other nineteen individuals specifically, but there are a few points on which a lot of us do agree.

The biggest problem is that the systems are designed to be implemented ‘cookie-cutter’ fashion which is fine in theory, but it doesn’t actually take into account that children are quite different. They do not all learn in the same way. I will address this further in a moment, but first allow me to outline some more general issues. The expectations themselves for what a child should learn are not quite working anymore. Here are some real problems:

• Teaching to the Tests. You’ve all heard of this lately. While we struggle with methods to rate and score our children’s performance the focus of our teaching narrows to accommodate the tests rather than to accommodate the child.

• This narrowed focus eliminates whole areas of ‘education’. The overly-burdened, busy parent is expected to fill in the gaps. Is this even a reasonable expectation in modern times with both parents working full-time to make ends meet? Unfortunately the educational systems are even more stressed!

• The expectation that the child should conform to the structured methods and timetable of the school system, no matter what is going on in the child’s life.

• Lack of balance in subject matter and methods. Abandonment of holistic learning models (which, granted, need work) for focus on areas where America is reportedly lagging behind. Not everyone is cut out to excel at math and science. In fact many studies have found that students who have the opportunity to study humanities (art, music, history, literature, philosophy) excel well past those without the opportunity in science and math. One of the main reasons for this is because the more widely educated student has developed higher emotional intelligence and more advanced critical thinking skills.

So where did it all go wrong? The answer to that will also vary depending upon who you ask. I have worked for some districts that believe there is “just too much ‘froo-froo’ these days… too much emphasis on the silly stuff like self-esteem, discussion, character development… After all, it worked in my day… back to basics… the three ‘R’s…’ yada-yada-yada! Again, nice in theory, but what they don’t see is that children themselves have changed! Life is so much more complicated than ‘back in the day’. Technology rules the world and knowledge has increased exponentially over the years. There is, simply-put, more to know! This requires new methods of delivering an education.

How do we cram all this information into these young, malleable minds? By teaching them to learn. You might be thinking, “Well, that’s easier said than done!” Actually, it’s not all that difficult, but first you must identify what kind of thinker they are – how they learn. Obviously, one can begin with some personality classification system like Myers/Briggs http://www.myersbriggs.org/ but even more useful, pay attention to how your child likes to do things.

• Does he/she like to touch? To listen? To draw? To run around and spread things out while learning? Does he/she like to list and organize?

• Ask your school’s guidance department to test and identify what learning strategies work best for him/her. They have access to many different testing models to identify this.

• Do a little of your own research on the internet. You will be amazed at what is available to help your child succeed.

• If they don’t have time to do it at school make sure YOU find the time to have conversations with your children. Besides talking about their day’s events ask them lots of questions about the things they are most interested in, even if you are not at all interested in the subject. Ask them questions like, “what would you do if…?” to encourage critical thinking, but use subjects that interest them!

• If they are having difficulty ‘getting into’ a school subject or subject section, ask the teacher if he/she will accept some extra-credit project to boost the child’s score. In doing a project using the child’s skill and interest he/she will learn without even realize it is happening.

• Try some ‘holistic learning’: watch a video on the subject, read aloud, make a model, write and illustrate, go to a museum, do some internet research, find pictures. You get the idea – anything to expand the process and re-focus away from what the child is NOT learning about the subject to what he is enjoying about the subject.

The most important thing to know is that even though your child may not be learning everything, he/she IS learning something! There is nothing wrong with your child; perhaps it is just that the system doesn’t fit your child. The solution might be to merely adjust the system to allow your child to flourish.

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By KimberlyWickham, March 11, 2009 1:37 pm

Originally published November, 2008 –

Recently, parents sent their children off to school with the understanding that we have a new President-elect in Barack Obama. At school, teachers and faculty explain to their young, curious students in a digestible manner, that being President entails being the leader of our country, and that he is in charge of keeping us free. Beyond this, are children equipped with the capacity to perceive the weight of this event and understand the significance?

I, along with many armchair experts in the field of education and philosophy, certainly believe they have that ability. Children have a natural capacity towards philosophical thought. Teachers and parents can take advantage of a current event, such as the recent election, to stimulate an open discussion. Doing so provides the perfect opportunity to develop critical thinking skills and heighten a child’s emotional maturity.

In order to enable the child to perceive the meaning of such an historic happening, it is critical that they are given some context with which to relate. They have to see it in such a way as to understand how it affects them personally. A philosophical discussion will give them a deeper contextual understanding than merely supplying them with the mechanics of our political system.

The conversation does not have to even include the president-elect’s political doctrine or a discussion on how the child’s parent might have voted. Instead the discussion could focus on the following:

·         How the president is responsible to the people by leading them emotionally. That might include finding ways to connect people with a philosophy of hopefulness for a better tomorrow. It could also include what things might make life better for the people in terms of feeling ‘safer’ or feeling more ‘financially secure.’

·         How this election, in particular is historic. That might involve discussing how far we have come as a nation in electing the first African American president and how different people feel about that. This also provides the perfect opportunity to lay the groundwork for future discussions on how racial barriers can be broken.

·         What does “Yes, We Can”, the Obama Slogan, mean to you? “Yes, We Can”, in and of itself, is a philosophical statement. It sets a mindset and a belief in our ability as a people to co-create a new reality for ourselves, as a ‘collective,’ in the way we choose.

·         How new things can be unsettling. A discussion could take place about how some people feel uncertain about the future with an all new administration. Is that an ‘exciting’ thing, or a ‘scary’ thing to the child? What other words could be used to describe how people might feel about it? This discussion is particularly beneficial in a group because many different points of view can be addressed.

·         Our differences and our similarities. Just as during the campaign, these issues remain apparent post election. It might be beneficial to explore where the common ground might be with people that may not have the same beliefs as you. Is it in being from the same town, same state, same region or even just being American? What points can we agree on?

·         It’s not about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. It’s about learning to accept all points of view. This doesn’t necessarily mean that one always condones the behaviors that might accompany a point of view, but merely that they exist and have value to some people. The judgments we make on the information we gain, from all points of view, provide us with the basic platform on which we build our beliefs. This is critical thinking in operation. Critical thinking is used to make these judgments based on criteria, in a contextual and self correcting manner.

This type of discussion also teaches children how people’s feelings might be different and gives them the opportunity to see from another person’s perspective. That is one of the key factors in raising emotional intelligence. Emotionally literate and intellectually mature people process information by questioning underlying assumptions, spotting and diagnosing faulty reasoning, weighing up evidence fairly and impartially, taking turns in debate and listening to others attentively, arguing without taking an issue personally, and also question the appropriateness of acting on one’s own feelings.

Perhaps most importantly, when discussing any dynamic, multi-faceted event, is to give the children ample opportunity to express their concerns and hopes for the outcome of the event. Whether at the dinner table or in the classroom, using opportunities like the election, or other current events to deepen children’s understanding of the world within their context, arms them with the tools necessary to navigate their future.

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By KimberlyWickham, March 11, 2009 1:31 pm

Unfortunately my next book, Angels, Horses and Other Worldly Lessons will be coming out a little later than expected. It looks like  in June 2009 well see it in print, at last. It’s hard to tell what really happens with these things. The publishing world remains a mystery to me, even after three published books!

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By KimberlyWickham, March 10, 2009 7:40 pm

Wouldn’t you like a world filled with enlightened people who were able to think critically when a difficult situation presented?

Imagine, just for a moment, a playground where an argument was breaking out. Little Joshua takes a small plastic shovel from the edge of the sand box to begin excavating an imaginary road when Emily, a petulant little girl, screams, “NO! That’s mine!” and dives across the sand to grab it from Joshua’s hand.

Joshua looks at Emily considering his next move. “Maybe,” he thinks, “maybe I’ll… just take that back. It’s not hers, really. It belongs to Sam. After all, why should she have it and not me?”

Emily glares at him and Joshua reconsiders. He decides she is too tough to take it back from and settles on a different approach. “Emily, the shovel really belongs to Sam. I don’t think he minds if we both use it. Do you think we can share it?”

“Oh, sure, Joshua. Now that you put it that way. Of course we can.” Emily answers, smiling.

Yeah, right…

Charming as this would be, I certainly haven’t witnessed anything exactly like this.

Seriously though, critical thinking does come in to play more and more, the older a child gets – if they are guided. While we may progress towards enlightened behavior as we grow by observing others, we can make quantum leaps in our ability to navigate the world successfully by learning critical thinking and thereby developing a high level of emotional intelligence/maturity.

So what is critical thinking exactly?

Way back in 1980, California State University decided and decreed (in their executive order) that instruction in critical thinking was required for every post secondary student. They established that critical thinking was:

• to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas
• to reason inductively and deductively
• to reach factual or judgmental conclusions based on sound inferences drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or belief (Dumke[1980], Executive Order 338)

One of the best methods for teaching critical thinking is to use philosophy and instruction in philosophical thinking at an early age. Waiting until post-secondary school is way too late to introduce such processes, but only recently it has been recognized that children as young as Kindergarten age are capable of philosophical thought.

As parents we have recognized this for a long time. Ask any parent how old their child was the first time they asked a tricky question. In my experience, my son was about two when he wanted to know why nobody lived inside the rock he was holding in his hand. That question stopped me in my tracks. I could have given him an answer that would have satisfied his little mind at the time. I could have told him that the rock was too thick, or full, or ‘solid.’ But instead I wondered whether he, because of his limited experience with being in his body, was finding it limiting to think he could simply not change his density, and enter the rock. At two years old I knew the language was too limiting to entertain the discussion, so it would have to wait until he got a better grasp on the nuances of language. I answered, “I don’t know.”

Personally, I have never even attempted to change my density to enter a rock, but I attribute my ability to even consider such a thing to my mother who encouraged philosophical thinking in me as a child. Unfortunately, during the era of my education ‘critical thinking’ was not taught… at least ‘on purpose’ anyway.

Philosophy classes and encouraging philosophical thought teaches kids how to ‘think’. It is learning to think about thinking. According to the Tuckswood Community First School in Norwich, England, including lessons in philosophy has affected other subjects in the following manner:

·         English:  Speaking, listening, group discussion and interaction, language variation.

·         Math:  Problem solving.

·         Science:  Scientific enquiry, investigation skills, ideas and evidence.

·         Information & Communication Technology:  Develop ideas, exchanging and sharing information.

·         History:  Historical enquiry and interpretation. Geography: Enquiry skills.

·         Art & Design:  Exploring and developing ideas, evaluating and developing work.

·         Music:  Appraising skills, listening, and applying knowledge.

·         Physical Education:  Evaluating and improving performance.

·         PSHE & Citizenship:  Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities, preparing to play an active role as citizens, developing good relationships and respecting the differences between people.

It is critical to maintain balance within a child’s educational curriculum and introducing philosophical thinking or philosophy as a subject matter should not be taught at the expense of other subjects but as a means to compliment these areas of study. The Tuckswood School has this to say:

“In recent years there has been a tendency to stress the importance of basic skills and this has been reflected in a reorganizing of the school day to accommodate the introduction of the literacy and numeracy hours. We strongly support the need for high standards in these areas. But it is important to strike a balance between teaching children the basic skills in reading, writing and math and giving them the opportunities to be creative and explore their own ideas and capabilities.”

They continue by explaining: “This has been recognized by the UK Government, in its 1997 White Paper, Excellence in Schools:

~If we are to prepare successfully for the twenty-first century we will have to do more than just improve literacy and numeracy skills. We need a broad, flexible and motivating education that recognizes the different talents of all children and delivers excellence for everyone. (Department for Education and Employment. Excellence in Schools (HMSO, London) 1997

Philosophy provides an arena for discussion, for asking questions and for seeking possible answers. It gives children the time and opportunity to think, talk and be really listened to. It demonstrates the difference between a disagreement and a personal attack. Philosophy teaches children to respect the ideas and opinions of others and to listen and build on those ideas, to be collaborative and to stand up for what they believe in.”

Bravo! This school, and those that follow these same policies and guidelines, offer some hope for populating the world with critically thinking and emotionally mature people. As parents, providing stimulating material which encourages philosophical thinking and having conversations about those thoughts will ensure that advancement!