April 08, 2011

By Robert Abare 13

Allison Drutchas '11

Allison Drutchas '11 has created a project to help local second graders gain critical thinking skills through philosophical debate. Entitled SELPH, or "Students Empowering Little PHilosophers," the project interprets a complex subject for a young audience by utilizing stories from popular children's books.

Drutchas proposed the idea to the local Community School of Davidson, and found a willing teacher in Dana Napierkowski. Drutchas and her team of Davidson students spent an hour on Friday afternoons during the past three months with Napierkowski's second-grade class. The college students each sat with a circle of several elementary students to pose philosophical questions based on stories from well-known children's books like Frederick by Leo Lionni.

Frederick is an extraordinary fieldmouse who composes and recites poems while his mice friends collect nuts and berries for the winter. "But do Frederick's poems count as work?" Drutchas asked her youngsters. "Yes," said one student, "because his poems make his friends happier." "No," said another, "He's not helping gather food."

The Davidson College philosophers were trained to always follow the students' opinions with another question, such as "Why do you think that?"

Drutchas and her team also read Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, about a tree that provides a boy with whatever he desires until the tree is only a stump. "When you give someone something, should you always expect something in return?" Drutchas asked the class. The students offered differing opinions, with Drutchas and her team leading discussion.

Drutchas began considering organizing a philosophy project for youngsters here after reading a New York Times article titled "The Examined Life, Age 8." It concerned Mount Holyoke College Professor of Philosophy Thomas Wartenberg and his development of a philosophy curriculum for second graders in Springfield, Mass. After reading more about it in Wartenberg's book, Big Ideas for Little Kids, Drutchas contacted him to express her interest in starting a similar project at Davidson. Wartenberg encouraged Drutchas, and even came to campus last November to talk about his methods with Drutchas and several other philosophy students and faculty members.

Tyler Mullen '12 reads with a second grader.

Drutchas hopes the philosophical exercise will benefit the youngsters' development as scholars. She explained, "The whole idea of SELPH is to encourage kids to embrace their natural curiosity and develop skills for forming intellectual arguments." She believes the program will help young students express themselves more freely. She said, "Ideally we will create an environment in which kids are encouraged to be curious and ask questions and search for answers in creative ways, and not just accept what they're told."

Other Davidson students also see the program's benefits. "I was always wondering about the world around me when I was little," said Samanvitha Sridhar'14, who has been a SELPH volunteer. "If I had guidance at that young age perhaps I would have gained my critical thinking skills earlier." In addition to Drutchas and Sridhar, participants included Davidson philosophy majors Scott Aguila '12, Tyler Mullen '12, and Julian Lemke '11.

Drutchas said, "The students were encouraged to present their ideas, no matter how unconventional or politically incorrect, on topics eight-year-olds don't always have the motivation or opportunity to discuss."

Drutchas continued, "In one discussion, it was exciting to watch two students (in second grade terms, of course) essentially argue about whether society has a responsibility to provide welfare programs to take care of people. One student was brave enough to stand behind his unpopular position that people who don't work to improve society shouldn't get help from society, even if that has dire consequences for them."

SELPH's accomplishments did not come without certain challenges, however. "Second graders are second graders," said Drutchas. "Sometimes it's not easy for them to sit still and focus on thinking through tough questions."

Nevertheless, Drutchas felt the project ran very smoothly, considering the newness of the material and the age of the students.

Scott Aguila '12 will lead SELPH next year.

In addition to fellow Davidson students, Drutchas received support for her project from the Vann Center for Ethics, the department of philosophy, and the department of education on campus. The department of education was especially valuable in implementing the project. Associate Professor and Department Chair Rick Gay helped Drutchas connect with the Community School of Davidson and provided regular guidance and encouragement. He spoke highly of Drutchas' accomplishments. "It's exciting to see a student start something new and outside of the standard curriculum," he said.

Mount Holyoke Professor Thomas Wartenberg was also pleased and surprised at the project's success. "To my knowledge, Allison is the first undergraduate to start a program like this," he said. "What she has done is unique and much more ambitious than anything I would have imagined an undergraduate student doing."

He continued, "I had hoped that a college professor somewhere might read my book and think about doing something similar, but it's impressive and gratifying to have an undergraduate student see the point of what I had done, and have the vision and self-confidence to implement it."

Drutchas will graduate in May, but SELPH will continue next year under the direction of Scott Aguila '12. To help prepare himself, Aguila will attend an upcoming conference in San Diego about children's philosophy education. A $1,000 grant from the Squire Family Foundation in East Northport, N.Y., which supports ethics education initiatives, will also help sustain the project in future years.

Drutchas has also been active at Davidson as a Chidsey Leadership Fellow and member of the varsity soccer team. But her experiences in the philosophy department may prove the most rewarding in the long run. "I took a philosophy class my first semester at Davidson, and something about how it tried to make sense of confusing topics was beautiful to me," she said. "But others might not know whether philosophy is really exciting or helpful until they've tried it, and I'm excited to provide these kids an opportunity to discover that for themselves at a very young age."

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,900 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.
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