Can an hour a week of philosophy lessons really ‘dramatically increase scores in literacy and numeracy’? This bold claim is based on an evaluation of a primary school philosophy program in English schools.
The evaluation of the Philosophy 4 Children program compared the reading, maths and writing scores of students in two groups of schools — those that offered the philosophy lessons for an hour a week for a year during grade 4 or 5 and those that did not. It reports that the students who took part in the philosophy program had the equivalent of an additional two months growth in reading and maths scores compared to students that did not.
At first glance this looks like a substantial gain, and indeed it might be if the gain was achieved over the 12 month period the program was implemented. However, this score gain is measured by the difference in scores between reading and maths tests that were four years apart — the end of Year 2 and the end of Year 6.
It is not known which other programs and practices might have been implemented in the schools that did and did not offer the philosophy program over that time. Indeed, the relatively minimal positive impact of the program is confirmed by the very small statistical effect sizes — a more widely accepted measure in educational research.
It is tempting to believe cheerful, confident claims that there is a simple and enjoyable solution to the nation’s persistent levels of low literacy. But, like most solutions that attempt to side-step the more challenging process of methodical, explicit reading instruction, the notion that congenial class discussions about ethical and moral issues will ‘dramatically’ improve reading and maths is too good to be true.
Learning to use philosophical reasoning arguably offers benefits to students all the way through their education. However, conflating the inherent value of studying philosophy with improvements in reading and maths serves only to muddy the waters. And the irony of making non sequitur claims that do not hold up to critical scrutiny about the effects of philosophy teaching cannot go un-noted.
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Philosophy not the answer to literacy problem
The evaluation of the Philosophy 4 Children program compared the reading, maths and writing scores of students in two groups of schools — those that offered the philosophy lessons for an hour a week for a year during grade 4 or 5 and those that did not. It reports that the students who took part in the philosophy program had the equivalent of an additional two months growth in reading and maths scores compared to students that did not.
At first glance this looks like a substantial gain, and indeed it might be if the gain was achieved over the 12 month period the program was implemented. However, this score gain is measured by the difference in scores between reading and maths tests that were four years apart — the end of Year 2 and the end of Year 6.
It is not known which other programs and practices might have been implemented in the schools that did and did not offer the philosophy program over that time. Indeed, the relatively minimal positive impact of the program is confirmed by the very small statistical effect sizes — a more widely accepted measure in educational research.
It is tempting to believe cheerful, confident claims that there is a simple and enjoyable solution to the nation’s persistent levels of low literacy. But, like most solutions that attempt to side-step the more challenging process of methodical, explicit reading instruction, the notion that congenial class discussions about ethical and moral issues will ‘dramatically’ improve reading and maths is too good to be true.
Learning to use philosophical reasoning arguably offers benefits to students all the way through their education. However, conflating the inherent value of studying philosophy with improvements in reading and maths serves only to muddy the waters. And the irony of making non sequitur claims that do not hold up to critical scrutiny about the effects of philosophy teaching cannot go un-noted.
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