Author(s)

Emmanuèle Auriac-Slusarczyk¹, Bernard Slusarczyk^1,2, Cathy Thebault^1,3

¹Laboratoire ACTé, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
²Collège, A.G. Monnet, Champeix, France.
³Self-Employed Trainer, Montaigut, L’Isle-sur-Tarn, France.

This study compares the written production of 8th grade junior high school pupils in two conditions. Four experimental classes used to philosophically directed discussion (PDD) in the classroom were asked, as part of a teaching program (Philo & Carto), to implicitly link pictorial items in selected cultural heritage artworks (Brueghel, Niki de St Phalle, Magritte, etc.) to their ideas discussed collectively in philosophical discussions. The pupils in three control classes, with no prior experience of philosophical discussions, were shown the same artworks and asked for their impressions in art classes. We compared how philosophy entered written communication in the two conditions. By sorting the types of rough notes (outlines of ideas) produced by the pupils into seven categories using an inductive approach, we found that the PDD classes produced more conceptual and better organized rough notes than the controls, that distanced themselves less from the artwork and so produced conceptually poorer notes. These findings argue for formalizing the theoretical and practical basis of the Philo & Carto teaching program. Our conclusion discusses the limitations of the study and suggests some further research directions.

Childhood, Philosophical Dialogue, Writing at School, Creativity, Mapping, Teaching Program

Auriac-Slusarczyk, E. , Slusarczyk, B. and Thebault, C. (2018) Mind Mapping and Philosophy in Junior High School: A Comparative Study of Initial Philosophical Writing in Classes of 8th Grade Pupils Used and Unused to Philosophically Directed Discussion. Creative Education, 9, 1312-1331. doi: 10.4236/ce.2018.99098.