Enabling Students' Voices and Identities - by Arie Kizel (Hardcover)

About the Book

One of the challenges educational systems are facing today worldwide is enabling children's voices from silenced, marginalized, and excluded groups. This book analyzes the challenge of various identities and their uniqueness within childhood and offers theoretical and pedagogi...

Book Synopsis

One of the challenges educational systems are facing today worldwide is enabling children's voices from silenced, marginalized, and excluded groups. This book analyzes the challenge of various identities and their uniqueness within childhood and offers theoretical and pedagogical-educational solutions within Philosophy for and with Children.

Review Quotes

"Getting children from underprivileged and minority communities to engage in philosophical discussions can present facilitators with a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Kizel provides excellent guidance in how to successfully accomplish this task in his insightful book. A must read for anyone working with children from diverse backgrounds."

"In a world of increasing tension and conflict, Kizel's book is a necessity. Not only does it provide an educational and dialogical space for children to ask their own questions and articulate their own identities, but it also powerfully demonstrates the indispensable role that philosophy can play in complex social environments. Educational research in general, and critical pedagogy in particular, can only afford to ignore Kizel's work at their own peril."

"This book addresses an important issue that has so far received too little attention, namely how it is possible to design philosophizing with children as an inclusive setting in which all children, regardless of their different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, can contribute their voice and be heard. This is often assumed in theory, but the fact that it does not always succeed in practice has not yet been problematized enough. The text provides both the theoretical background knowledge required to discuss the issue and offers important insights into exclusionary structures and mechanisms as well as practical ways of making philosophizing more inclusive."

"Ultimately our capacity to dialogue will determine not only the quality of our future, but if we have a future. Being able to dialogue so that others are not reticent to speak is a dying art that will survive only if educators make a concerted effort to revitalize it. This author is to be commended not only for prompting educators to do just that, but also for offering guidelines as to how best to do it. In a world in which hate and intolerance is on the rise, this book is a genuine gift."

In Enabling Students' Voices and Identities, Kizel promotes democratic education for all, especially marginalized groups, through philosophical inquiry. He emphasizes giving children a voice and fostering critical thinking through philosophical communities, ensuring that every student feels valued and respected. Short chapters address various educational issues and highlight the gap between modern education and the need for identity development and open conversation. Kizel discusses P4wC (Philosophy for and with Children) and notes six dimensions for pedagogical analysis and study before engaging in this practice. He emphasizes facilitators' critical role and their need to liberate themselves to enable open conversation and identity discovery, so that students can discuss issues openly without setting aside who they are, and moving past a "pedagogy of fear," which limits education. Finally, the reader reviews four case studies involving children that considered their identity, connections to their culture, and consideration of others. The last case study, on poverty and identity, elicited strong reflections from students and sparked discussions. Ultimately, Kizel provides foundational and practical work for educators, students, and those who shape educational spaces, making this essential for educators. Essential. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

About the Author

Arie Kizel is professor of philosophy of education at the Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Israel