Χαρισματικότητα και φιλοσοφείν

Abstract

The current article describes the implementation of an innovative educational program to a student of high learning ability, who attended the fifth grade of elementary school, during the academic year 2018-19. The said program was based on the principles of expansive learning and the theory of multiple intelligence (Gardner, 1993) and was inspired by Lippman's "Philosophy for Children" movement (1988). The student's personalized educational program, which took place after classroom hours, aimed at the enrichinment of his learning experiences (Cutts & Moseley, 1957), using concepts of mathematics and physics, which were analyzed through interdisciplinary methods (Matsagouras 2003).
Each activity had as a background the ancient Greek philosophy and was based on the learning theory of J. Dewey (1982) regarding the energetic acquisition of knowledge. Activities were aimed at cultivating the student's critical thinking and creative thinking and were shaped based on the student's interests. This strategy was followed in order to make activities attractive to the student and challenge him to learn (Keller 2008).
The aim of the experiment (ie of the personalized educational programm) was the evaluation of the usefullness of philosophical education and thought as a tool for the formulation of differentiated educational programmes for gifted children.Results showed that the interdisciplinary programs, which we conducted, increased the student's interest in research, contributed to the apt use of reasoning by the student and to his learning independence, as well as cultivating to the student a playful view of the world.