Philosophy of Mathematics in the Classroom

The following papers were presented at a panel of the Interamerican Congress of Philosophy in Puebla, Mexico, in August 1999. The panel was convened by Dr Maria Teresa de la Garza of the Universidad Ibero Americana, who invited Dr Marie-France Daniel of the University de Montreal and Dr Christina Slade of the University of Canberra todiscuss the teaching of Philosophy for Children adapted for mathematics. All three are participants in a Canadian government funded research project led by Dr Daniel, in which a program developed by Dr Daniel and her Quebecois colleagues, Dr LaFortune, Dr Pallascio and Dr Sykes, designed to teach philosophy of mathematics to childen is being tested in the original French, and in translation in English and Spanish. The round table discussion in Puebla was designed to introduce the program, and defend its place in the curriculum.The panel begins with a broad overview of the aims of the philosophy for children program, and the importance of critical and creative thinking in the classroom (Dr De la Garza). The focus then narrows to the role of philosophy of mathematics in the classroom (Dr Slade) and finally turns to details of the project (Dr Daniel).These papers argue that, in spite of the prejudices of mathematics teachers, philosophy of mathematics is precisely what is needed to create a better learning environment in mathematics. The argument relies on a particular style of the teaching of philosophy of mathematics, which is dialogue based and derived from the Philosophy for Children model introduced by Matthew Lipman.