Everyone should agree that the education of our children is extremely important. The success of our job force and economy depends on the skills instilled in our youth. There have been many ideas on how to properly educate our children, and to this day we are constantly adapting our school's curriculum. So as our methods change, is it important for us to teach our children reasoning skills at an elementary school level? I personally believe that developing a child's critical thinking skills is not only important in their early school years, but should begin before they ever step foot in a classroom. The ability to think through a problem to find a suitable solution is an important skill in every part of our lives. You will be faced with issues at work, home, and other social settings. If a child is not prepared for this reality, they will surely have problems in the future.
In school we were taught that the basic foundation of education is the three Rs: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. While these areas are no doubt important, proper thinking skills must be applied to each of them. This is why some people have come to believe that the three Rs idea should now include the fourth R, Reasoning. A group called The Philosophy Shop has started a campaign to promote this idea. Their goal is to bring philosophy to schoolchildren at the primary school level. I really hope that this idea catches on, it could change one area of arithmetic that I've always had a problem with. An article about traditional math instruction reminded me of how I learned most of my math skills. In elementary school I was taught how to solve basic math problems, but most of the time I was relying on memory. I was constantly drilled on my memorization of multiplication times tables. People will argue that this method of teaching is necessary for younger children who have trouble recalling mathematical rules. This may be true, but if a child never learns the reasoning behind a problem, they will most likely have issues with more advanced math classes. I think that it's necessary for a teacher to work with the children based on their level of reasoning. Learning even the most basic thinking skills will build a foundation for the child to grow on.
When looking in to this subject, I could not imagine that anyone would argue against teaching our children to use reasoning skills. What I learned was that people don't have an issue with teaching these skills to our children, only with how it's implemented. I found an article that asked if we should teach philosophy in our public schools. This was a problem for some people who believed that philosophical issues were too advanced for young minds. What everyone needs to understand is that learning basic philosophical thinking skills at a young age prepares you for the more complex issues that come later in life. It's like teaching a teenager to drive; you don't just hand them the keys and let them go. It takes instruction and a lot of practice to learn the necessary skills. The other argument was that teaching philosophy was impractical. Philosophy can be seen as a waste of time because it can't be directly used as a job skill. It's true that learning how to operate a computer would be much more beneficial to the job market, but you would still need to use critical thinking in the field. It is understood, however, that philosophy would never replace traditional skills training; it would be a supplement to them. Philosophy for Children, or P4C, is a movement to promote the teaching of reasoning skills in our schools. People are beginning to disagree with Jean Piaget's belief that children don't use critical thinking until age 11 or 12. Current experience with child education has furthered the belief that earlier instruction in thinking skills will be useful in every subject that a child learns. With critical thinking being an important part of a college education, it will be necessary to master these skills before leaving high school.
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