What exactly is the purpose of Wonder Ponder?
Ellen Duthie
We receive and answer many interesting questions through our different channels (Facebook, Twitter, email, as a comment on this blog...). Here is one we received recently:
QUESTION:
'You say that your purpose is not to indoctrinate. So what are some of the 'missions' of Wonder Ponder's Visual Philosophy for Children project?'
ANSWER:
- To give children a chance to think independently without anybody telling them what they should think or what it is better to think.
- To give parents and children, teachers and students a chance to explore and inquire about the world together.
- To help develop a habit of dialogue and contrasting views and perspectives, without expressing it as confrontation.
- To encourage imagination by suggesting possible alternative realities and thinking about them logically and in depth and detail.
- To give adults a tool for engaging in a non-directive dialogue with children, where they are likely to learn as much as the kids.
- To provide a space to thought as action, as an activity. So that one of the possible answers to the question 'What shall we do?' might be 'Let's think about something for a while' and for that option to be an attractive one.
These are just a few of Wonder Ponder's 'missions'.
If you have any interesting questions for us, please send it to us as a comment on this post or use Facebook, Twitter, email...).