For
immediate release
April 8, 2004
VIDEO BASED ON INNOVATIVE JACKSON STREET SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY CLASS
TO PREMIERE AT MOUNT HOLYOKE
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Thomas E. Wartenberg, professor of
philosophy at Mount Holyoke College, and Kelly Albrecht will show
the premiere of their video “Teaching Children Philosophy” on
Tuesday, April 13th in Dwight 101 at Mount Holyoke College at 7
PM.
This video documents an innovative course taught by philosophy
professor Thomas Wartenberg in which Mount Holyoke undergraduate
students teach philosophy to elementary school children in the
Jackson Street School in Northampton, MA. The video shows how the
undergraduates learn to lead discussions, but the highlight is
seeing second and fifth graders wrestle with questions about art.
It explodes the myth that philosophy is a subject best left to
the upper levels of the educational system while also showing what
the benefits are of an early engagement with speculation and reasoning.