Teaching Philosophy for Children (P4C) Using a Community of Inquiry Method and its Impact on Students’ Interpersonal Relations

To improve the personal relations among students the use of community of inquiry method was hypothesized to be effective, especially if the content being learned in this way is Philosophy for Children (P4C). To find support for this hypothesis, a group of 50 female students whose interpersonal relations were below the average was selected and then divided into two subgroups of experimental and control. Using a questionnaire, both subgroups were asked about the quality of their interpersonal relations before and after the experimental group going through a eight-session course on Philosophy for Children. Covariance analyses of the data revealed a significant difference between the two groups indicating the effectiveness of the community of inquiry method in improving the interpersonal relationships.