'why teachers’ beliefs and values are important in p4c research: a victorian perspective

Abstract

This paper argues that there is an absence of current research in Philosophy for Children (P4C) that focusses on teachers’ perspectives, particularly in relation to their beliefs and values. The paper will look briefly at the programmatics of P4C, and its current mandated status in the education system in the state of Victoria, Australia. It will then move to exploring how the study of teachers’ perspectives, through analyses of their beliefs and values, adds significant value in education, particularly in the context of P4C. It concludes by analysing some recent P4C research that has begun to explore teachers’ perspectives, before finishing with suggesting future research directions that build on these previous studies, and which promise lay important groundwork for extending the reach of P4C into educational systems.