Why philosophise with children about ethics in school?

AimThe aim of this paper is to give a partial answer to the question ”Why Philosophy with Children?”, posed in the title of the NERA-Symposium the text is intended for. This is answered by giving three arguments for why the practice of philosophising with children about ethics should be implemented in school, and for that this approach to ethics is superior in important senses to other popular approaches to ethics in school.Methodological frameworkFirst, a distinction is drawn between three common approaches to ethics in school, of which a philosophy with children approach is one of them. Second, three common arguments for having ethics in school in general are presented. Thereafter, each argument is scrutinised given each approach respectively. Thereby, it is studied to what extent each approach is supported by the arguments.ConclusionsThe paper concludes that a philosophy with children approach to ethics is the approach best supported by the arguments scrutinised. Relevance to Nordic Educational Research The three arguments discussed in the paper are all relevant to the educational systems of the nordic countries, and all of the three approaches to ethics discussed in the paper can be found in the nordic countries, for example in curricula and other guiding documents. Hence, a study of to what extent these approaches are supported by the arguments are of importance for nordic education and educational research.Godkänd; 2012; 20120114 (vikvik