Abstract:
This paper will examine how Philosophy for Children (P4C) can respond to current gender equity issues in education. I will examine claims that traditional pedagogies facilitate ‘masculine’ ideals of thinking, while excluding and denigrating the ‘feminine’. It will argue that unlike traditional pedagogies, P4C facilitates valuable ‘feminine’ ways of thinking as interconnected with traditionally masculine methods. Consequently, P4C reconstructs traditional gender stereotypes and challenges the traditional gendering of school subjects. It will also be shown that P4C may be particularly valuable for overcoming the current concerns about the educational performance of boys, especially in relation to literacy and behavioural problems.