Thesis (M.I.T.)--The Evergreen State College, 2007. / Title from title screen viewed (6/23/2008). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-146).

This thesis deals with programmes for critical and creative thinking development. The topic covers primarily the programs of "Instrumental enrichment" and "Philosophy for children". In the theoretical part the author explains and describes the term thinking, particularly a creative and critical thinking, both constituting a fundamental element of this thesis. In another part of the thesis the author introduces two specific programs "the Instrumental enrichment" and "the Philosophy for children". The final part of the thesis concentrates on common features of both programs, focusing on theoretical explanation and description of these attributes.

The Socratic Method has been an educational tool ever since Socrates himself turned the marketplace of Athens into a classroom, enticing his interlocutors into dialogue whereby they could have their assumptions questioned and learn to journey towards new conceptions of knowledge and understanding. This concept has been reflected recently in a current proposal by UNESCO for educators and philosophers to find ways in which philosophy and philosophical inquiry may be approached in current education practices to enhance democratic ways of life. I draw on the UNESCO idea of philosophy as a ‘school of freedom’ and contend that not only is dialogical inquiry useful to teaching and learning, but that it is necessary. Inquiry is viewed in this way as necessarily dialogical and I draw on both Charles Peirce’s and John Dewey’s views on inquiry as being situated within the community if it is to satisfy some of the aims of the UNESCO report. This dissertation proposes a framework for Socratic pedagogy, a collaborative inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning suitable not only for formal educational settings such as the school classroom but for all educational settings. The term is intended to capture a variety of philosophical approaches to classroom practice that could broadly be described as Socratic in form. I explore three models that, I argue, make a significant contribution to Socratic pedagogy: Matthew Lipman’s Community of Inquiry, Leonard Nelson’s Socratic Dialogue, and David Bohm’s Dialogue. I also draw on the metaphors used by each of the proponents because they give an additional insight into the theoretical underpinnings of their models of dialogue for the development of Socratic thinking. Socratic pedagogy is multi-dimensional, which I argue is underpinned by generative, evaluative, and connective thinking. These terms are better placed to describe Socratic pedagogy than creative, critical, and caring thinking, because they are defined by the function they perform. It is hoped that this dissertation offers some way to show how philosophy as inquiry can contribute to educational theory and practice, while also demonstrating how it can be an effective way to approach teaching and learning. This, I contend is foundational to Socratic pedagogy.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T14:30:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Maria Torres Alvarez.pdf: 9796970 bytes, checksum: 1ce21173e9432840f1a381eb874070b4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis is part of the Education: Curriculum Doctoral Program - field of study New Technologies in Education, presenting itself as a result of studies conducted by this researcher in the last four years about the visual representation, and specifically, the infographics. The objective was to analyze the value of infographics as a teaching and learning strategy considering the hypothesis that reading and production of infographics by the apprentices can provide the enhancement of critical and creative thinking. To validate the hypothesis part of the research was devoted to the theoretical production that passed over areas of Education, Semiotics, Media and Cognitive Sciences. In the second phase of the research were planned and presented two editions of a research-training course for teachers within a context in which they could integrate into my research as collaborators. Both editions of the course were conducted in distance mode by the Instituto Ayrton Senna. For the production of the thesis, we used a qualitative approach, and each stage of the investigation were set out specific research methods. Thus, for the theoretical basis, we chose literature and bricolage method. In planning and development of research-training course was followed the method of action research. The software Implicative and Coesitive Hierarchical Classification (CHIC) and maps of clouds keyword (tag clouds) we found different angles of analysis of the data set collected in the course, which involved testimonials, dialogues and activities. From these data it was possible to know the impressions of the participants about the potential of infographics as a new resource for teaching and learning, and identify possible improvements of the proposed appropriation and dissemination of this practice in schools / A presente tese insere-se no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação: Currículo, na linha de pesquisa Novas Tecnologias em Educação, apresentando-se como fruto dos estudos realizados por esta pesquisadora nos últimos quatro anos sobre a representação visual e, especificamente, a infografia. O objetivo foi analisar o valor da infografia como instrumento de ensino e de aprendizagem considerando a hipótese de que a leitura e a produção de infográficos pelos próprios aprendizes podem propiciar o aprimoramento do pensar crítico e criativo. Para validar a hipótese, parte da investigação foi dedicada à produção do referencial teórico que transitou pelas áreas da Educação, da Semiótica, da Comunicação Social e das Ciências Cognitivas. No segundo momento da pesquisa foram planejadas e apresentadas duas edições de uma formação-investigação, dentro de um contexto em que sujeitos interessados na temática pudessem se integrar à minha pesquisa como colaboradores. Ambas as edições da formação foram realizadas na modalidade a distância pelo Instituto Ayrton Senna. Para a produção da tese, seguiu-se a abordagem qualitativa e, em cada etapa da investigação foram definidos métodos de pesquisa específicos. Sendo assim, para a fundamentação teórica, optou-se pela pesquisa bibliográfica aliada à bricolagem. No planejamento e desenvolvimento da formação-investigação, foi seguido o método de pesquisa-ação. O software Classificação Hierárquica Implicativa e Coercitiva (CHIC) e os mapas de nuvens de palavras-chave (tag clouds) foram utilizados para obter diversos ângulos de análise do conjunto de dados coletados no curso, que envolveu depoimentos, diálogos e atividades. A partir desses dados foi possível conhecer as impressões dos participantes sobre o potencial da infografia como um novo instrumento de ensino e de aprendizagem, bem como identificar possíveis desdobramentos da proposta de apropriação e disseminação dessa prática nas escolas