About Us

ICPIC is a worldwide movement that promotes children’s philosophical thinking within communities of inquiry.
We are committed to the flourishing of children’s well-being, well-becoming, and agency through their critical, creative, caring, and collaborative thinking.

We aspire to:

Encouraging and value children’s thinking by focusing on what matters to them in their everyday realities;
Re-inventing education through philosophy for/with children;
Preserving the value of childness of/in thinking and communities;
Defending the lives and expressions of children in vulnerable circumstances.

ICPIC Memorandum of Incorporation

ICPIC recently became a nonprofit organization, thereby obtaining official institutional status for the first time. You can view the memorandum of incorporation and all relevant regulations by clicking the link below:

MEMORANDUM

MEET THE TEAM

Executive Committee

Marina Santi

President

Marina Santi (Italy) holds a PhD in Educational Sciences and is Full Professor in Didactics and Inclusive Education. She works in the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology at University of Padova, Italy. Her research deals with dialogue and argumentation concerning knowledge construction processes and the investigation of social interaction as cognitive potential for learning. She specializes in classroom discussion both as method and context for the development of higher-order thinking skills and reflective capabilities. She is an expert on “Philosophy for Children”, a subject into which she has carried out a wide range of empirical research to evaluate the effectiveness of philosophical practice within communities of inquiry for the development of critical, creative and caring thinking and the construction of inclusive social environments. Her recent studies focus on improvisation teaching and learning. Among her main publications: with Stefano Oliverio (eds.) (2012), Educating for Complex Thinking through Philosophical Inquiry. Models, advances and proposals for the new millennium, Napoli, Liguori; (2010) (Ed.), Improvisation Between Technique and Spontaneity, Cambridge Scholar Publisher; with ZORZI E. (2016) (Eds.), Education as Jazz. Interdisciplinary Sketches on a New Metaphor. New Castle: Cambridge Scholar Publishing.

Sumaya Babamia

Co-President

Sumaya is a South African educator, researcher, and speech-language therapist. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Cape Town, as well as undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand. Her doctoral research explored therapeutic and educational encounters through philosophical practice, with a focus on how inquiry-based dialogue can expand possibilities for communication, understanding, and participation.
Her work engages dialogical approaches as both method and practice. Drawing on philosophy of education, critical disability studies, and posthumanist perspectives, she examines how spaces of inquiry can open alternative ways of knowing and responding, with attention to questions of voice, recognition, and epistemic injustice.
She is the founding director of Jozi4Autism, a Johannesburg-based non-profit organisation working in advocacy, education, and community-based support. Alongside this, she contributes to international networks of philosophical practice through collaborative projects, invited talks, and ongoing involvement in organisational development and governance processes.

Daniel Gaivota

Secretary

Daniel Gaivota (Brazil) learned to read and write in the sand. Walking in similar textures, graduated in Philosophy and did a PhD in Education. He has been a public school teacher in Rio de Janeiro for many years and after a couple of years working as a professor at the University of Padova is now teaching at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. Furthermore, flaps his wings as a researcher at the Center for Studies on Philosophies and Childhoods, linked to the Postgraduate Program in Education at UERJ. More important than all this, believes in the school's philosophical potency in making people fall in love with the world. He is passionate about tangerines and the sea, and always tries to dream a little before going to sleep.

Maria Martha Barreneche

Secretary

Maria Martha Barreneche (born in the USA, raised in Argentina and living in Italy & USA) is a secondary school teacher, with a degree in Educational Sciences & Philosophy. She has been involved with P4wC in Argentina, Italy and the USA, having received P4wC training at the University of Padova (Italy) and at PLATO Institute (USA), while pursuing her PHD at the UNIPD in P4wC.

Lucy Elvis

Treasurer

Communication Committee

Darren Chetty

Communication Advisor

Darren is a Lecturer in English Education at UCL Institute of Education. He began philosophising with children in 1996 and taught in London primary schools for two decades. He contributed to the bestselling book, The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla. Darren has published six books to date, as co-author and co-editor. His debut picture book, I’m Going to Make a Friend, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, is published by Little Tiger. He co-authored with Karen Sands O’Connor, Beyond the Secret Garden? Racially Minoritised People in British Children’s Books (English Media Centre). Darren's PhD dissertation was entitled The Gated community of Inquiry: Racism and Philosophy for Children. He is a recipient of the ICPIC Award for Excellence in Interpreting Philosophy for / with Children.

Peter Paul Elicor

Communication Advisor

Peter Paul E. Elicor, Ph.D. is an assistant kindergarten teacher, and the managing director of Aletheia Publishing.

Conference Committee

Walter Kohan

Conference Advisor

Walter Omar Kohan is a full professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, a “Scientist of Our State” (FAPERJ), and a “Pro-Scientist” (UERJ). He is a recipient of the CNPq Research Productivity Fellowship (1C). He served as President of the International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC). He has published over 100 articles in specialized journals in various countries and has published or edited more than 50 books. Since 2007, he has coordinated the Public School Outreach Project (“Em Caixas a Filosofia em-caixa?”, UERJ/FAPERJ) and inter-institutional research projects with national and international universities. He supervises undergraduate theses, master’s theses, doctoral dissertations, and postdoctoral research in the areas of philosophy education, childhood, and the philosophy of education. His books have been published in Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, French, Persian, Italian, Russian, and English.

Maria Miraglia

Conference Advisor

Maria Miraglia (PhD) is a Teacher Educator in Philosophy for Children (P4C).
In addition to P4C, her research focuses on educational strategies for combating hate speech.
She is the author of philosophical stories in the Lipman style addressed to Communities of Philosophical Inquiry comprising adolescents. She has been engaged in the creation of P4C educational materials and their adaptation for European Projects, such as PEACE (Philosophical Enquiry Advancing Cosmopolitan Engagement), REFLECTIONS and CONTR’ADDICTIONS managed by the Humanities Department of the University Federico II of Naples.
She is a member of the National Executive Committee of CRIF (Centro di Ricerca sull’Indagine Filosofica) and of the editorial boards of the online journals Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis and Indagine e Pratica Filosofica. Filosofia, educazione, scuola e società.

Education Committee

Mohammad Reza Vaez Shahrestani

Education Advisor

Mohammad Reza Vaez Shahrestani is a philosophy researcher based at the University of Bonn, Germany. He holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science, with doctoral research on Kant and Davidson on Conceptual Schemes. He is the Founder and Director of the Iranian Center for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children and Youth (ICAPCY / Yara Center) and the Responsible Director of the Rooyeshedigar Cultural and Artistic Institute in Iran. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the peer reviewed journal Childhood & Philosophy.

His work lies at the intersection of Philosophy for/with Children (P4wC/CPI), philosophy of science, critical thinking, and AI ethics in childhood education. Since 2018, he has designed and led facilitator training programmes in P4wC, including supervised practicum based training for early career facilitators. He has presented papers and workshops at a number of international events, including the SOPHIA Network Meeting 2025 in Malta, PLATO’s 7th Biennial Conference 2025 at Tufts University, the XXV World Congress of Philosophy in Rome, ICPIC Naples 2024, the ACPC International Conference 2023 at the University of Graz, and ICPIC Tokyo 2022.

His recent work focuses on the ethical and educational challenges raised by digital technologies, with particular attention to the integration of AI ethics into Philosophy for Children. In this area, he has developed both lesson based and research oriented work on children’s philosophical inquiry into data privacy and ethical reflection in the digital age. His recent publications include “Kant’s Common Human Understanding in the Community of Philosophical Inquiry” in Childhood & Philosophy and “Fieldnotes: Integrating AI Ethics into Philosophy for Children: Account of a Data Privacy Lesson” in Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis. He is also the recipient of the 2025 SOPHIA bursary award and a 2025 PLATO conference scholarship.

Kei Nishiyama

Education Advisor

Dr. Kei Nishiyama is a lecturer in politics and education at Kaichi International University. Kei holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Canberra. As a political theorist, Kei studies the relationship between children and democracy with a specific focus on children's epistemic contribution and their deliberative agency. As an education practitioner, Kei has extensive experience studying and practicing Philosophy for Children in and beyond school settings in many countries.

Research Committee

Maughn Gregory

Research Advisor

Maughn Rollins Gregory, JD, PhD, is a Professor of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University, where he directs the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children and is Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1904. He publishes and teaches in the areas of philosophy of education, philosophy for children, pragmatism, gender studies, and Socratic and contemplative pedagogies. He serves as Research Advisor for the International Community of Philosophical Inquiry with Children and is co-editor of the Routledge International Handbook of Philosophy for Children (2017) and the Routledge series Philosophy for Children Founders.

Magda Costa Carvalho

Research Advisor

Magda Costa Carvalho is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Azores, Portugal, a research member of NICA: Interdisciplinary Center for Childhood and Adolescence, University of the Azores, and of the Research Group “Philosophy and Public Space”, of the Institute of Philosophy, University of Porto (FIL/00502). She holds a Ph.D. on Henri Bergson’s philosophy and her research focuses are on Contemporary Philosophy, Philosophy for/with Children (P4/wC) and Philosophy of Childhood. She is the Director of a Master’s Program in Philosophy for Children (University of the Azores). She is Co-Editor of childhood & philosophy. More info: https://www.cienciavitae.pt/171A-0A0F-6324

SIG Committee

Claire Cassidy

SIG Advisor

Claire Cassidy is a full professor at the Strathclyde Institute of Education, University of Strathclyde, in Scotland. Claire has worked at the University since 2001, having previously been a primary school teacher. She has practised practical philosophy with children for over thirty years, having trained in McCall’s approach to Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI). She undertook her MPhil and PhD at the University of Glasgow. The focus of her thesis was on the philosophical concept of child and how CoPI might help us to think about children and their status and engagement in society. Claire developed the Postgraduate Certificate in Philosophy with Children at the University of Strathclyde where she trains students in facilitating CoPI. She also regularly delivers short professional development courses for teachers and others keen to engage people of any age in practical philosophy. Claire is on the editorial board of childhood & philosophy, Journal of Philosophy in Schools and Scottish Educational Review. Her research interests revolve around practical philosophy, children’s rights and concepts of child and childhood. Having evolved the use of practical philosophy as a research method, Claire often uses this in her work such as in the recent projects Because we Care that she led, exploring ideas of care and well-being with siblings of children with life-limiting conditions through philosophical inquiry (https://www.becausewecareproject.com/) and RADICAL, for which she led a work package using philosophical inquiry to engage in ideas related to respect (https://sites.google.com/view/radicalresearch/home?authuser=1).

José María Taramona-Trigoso

SIG Advisor

ABOUT

Philosophy

FOR/WITH

Children

Now half a century old, P4wC has become a significant educational and philosophical movement that is practiced, interpreted, researched and recreated in more than 60 countries around the world. From kindergartens to universities, children’s shelters to governmental ministries, P4wC has become increasingly popular as an approach to child-driven education in both formal and informal contexts, as well as a dialogic pedagogy used with adults. Beyond ICPIC, P4wC is grounded many national and regional centers that train, support and bring practitioners, philosophers and teacher educators together to share and theorize practice.

CHECK OUR OUR RESEARCH

history & growth

Philosophy for Children offers a distinctive perspective in a number of key areas of inquiry and provides a counter-narrative to psychological and sociological perspectives that often dominate educational discourse. Its radical move, in bringing child and philosophy together, has made a unique contribution to the blurring of disciplinary boundaries and opened up new avenues for scholarly inquiry as well as educational practice.

The advent of P4wC in the United States in the late 1960s was part of a broader intensity of interest in philosophy for young people. Founder Matthew Lipman began work on his first philosophical novel for children in 1968 and the initial classroom experiment that followed convinced him “that philosophy can and should be part of the entire length of a child’s education…because it is abundantly clear that children hunger for meaning, and get turned off by education when it ceases to be meaningful to them.”

In 1973, Lipman met his lifelong collaborator Ann Margaret Sharp with whom he co-founded the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC) at Montclair a year later. Lipman and Sharp saw doing philosophy as an ideal of the educational experience, even capable of transforming education more broadly

Toward that end, they produced a curriculum designed to accomplish a complex set of objectives: connecting children with the philosophical dimensions of their experience, exposing students and teachers to diverse positions from the philosophical tradition, modeling children engaged in philosophical dialogue with each other and with adults, and illustrating philosophical inquiry making a difference in children’s lives.

At Montclair, Lipman and Sharp’s professional development programs evolved into undergraduate and graduate courses, and masters and doctoral degree programs, and today numerous universities around the world offer similar P4wC courses and programs. Lipman and Sharp’s work almost immediately attracted the attention of philosophers and educators around the world, thousands of whom have gone to the IAPC to study, train and research. Many of them established their own local organizations to develop curricula, research, professional development and university courses.

The P4wC movement has grown into a diverse field both at the levels of theory and practice. Though varied in their materials, methods and aims, P4wC approaches are united in their efforts to engage young people in philosophical dialogue inspired by questions and concepts that matter to them.

Text from the above two sections was adapted with permission from The Routledge International Handbook of Philosophy for Children (2016) edited by Maughn Rollins Gregory, Joanna Haynes and Karin Murris.

About Us

ICPIC is a worldwide movement that promotes children’s philosophical thinking within communities of inquiry. We are committed to the flourishing of children’s well-being, well-becoming, and agency through their critical, creative, caring, and collaborative thinking.