Effectiveness of Applying Philosophy for Children (P4C) Teaching Approach in a Media Literacy Course

Abstract

Background: Media literacy is one of the essential skills needed by learners in the twenty-first century. Teaching this skill requires adopting methods that stimulate thinking and reasoning among learners. This study aims to analyze the effect of P4C on students' philosophical mentality and learning in a school course entitled Thinking and Media Literacy. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental method employing the pretest-posttest control group design. The research population consisted of all male students studying in the tenth grade at a school in Arak, Iran, in 2018-19 academic year. The sample comprised 44 students, selected by cluster sampling, and assigned to two experimental and control groups. Data collection was performed using a philosophical mentality questionnaire and a researcher-made learning test. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, mean, frequency and standard deviation were used. Covariance analysis was applied for inferential statistics using SPSS version 23. Results: The statistical results showed that in terms of learning outcomes, the mean score in the P4C group (M=18.06, SD=1.6) was higher than in the conventional group (M=15.7, SD=1.6). There was a significant difference between learning outcome scores in the experimental and control groups (P<0.001). In addition, the mean score of philosophical mentality in the experimental group (M=146.3, SD=8.7) was significantly higher than that in the control group (M=131.8, SD=11.7), (P<00.1). Conclusion: Considering the findings of this study, it is suggested that the prominent principles in P4C programs be used in teaching the Thinking and Media Literacy course.