Abstract

This study focused on the influence of philosophy for children on the socioemotional learning of Japanese middle school students. p4c is a student-centered learning approach that helps learners explore inquiry and encourage them to think and reason with peers and a teacher in a classroom setting. Previous research indicated that Japanese children rarely interacted with people other than their parents on a daily basis, and only within small cliques. As a result, they may be losing the ability to develop and maintain relationships. Most English-language literature on p4c has focused almost exclusively on western educational systems. This study provides a literature review of Japanese-language research on this topic and examines the socioemotional needs of middle school students in a Japanese context. The in-depth case study investigated the influence of p4c on a middle school class of 35 Japanese 13- and 14-year-old students. Multiple forms of data were analyzed, including video recordings of p4c sessions, a survey, interviews with the teacher, a focus group interview with students, and student self-reflections. The findings indicated that p4c afforded opportunities for students to improve their social emotional skills, such as self-awareness, awareness of others, development of relationships and responsible decision-making. Students learned that they could cooperate with others, even if they had different ideas. Hearing others’ perspectives influenced the quality of students’ relationships, which may have promoted friendships. p4c may promote the socioemotional learning that is needed in Japanese society.