Collaborative philosophical inquiry for schoolchildren: cognitive gains at 2-year follow-up

Area of Science:

• Cognitive science
• Educational psychology
• Philosophy of education

Background:

• Evidence of sustained cognitive gains from thinking skills interventions is limited, especially across different educational sectors.
• Maintaining intervention effects after transitions, such as moving to secondary school, is a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the long-term cognitive effects of collaborative philosophical inquiry.
• To assess if cognitive gains persist for two years after the intervention, including after a school transition without further inquiry.
• To evaluate the transferability of cognitive benefits across educational contexts.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal study followed students who participated in collaborative philosophical inquiry for 16 months.
• The Cognitive Abilities Test was administered at pre-test, post-test, and a 2-year follow-up.
• Participants transitioned from primary to secondary school between the post-test and follow-up assessments.

Main Results:

• Significant cognitive ability gains observed in the experimental group during primary school were maintained by the end of the second year of secondary school.
• Higher-achieving students showed a slight advantage in sustaining these cognitive gains.
• The control group exhibited a persistent, though not statistically significant, decline in scores from pre-test to follow-up.

Conclusions:

• Collaborative philosophical inquiry demonstrates sustained cognitive benefits that transfer across educational settings.
• The study provides rare evidence of maintained gains from a thinking skills intervention.
• Findings have implications for educational policy and practice regarding the long-term impact of inquiry-based learning.