Thinking and Children

Thinking and Children

An analytical look at the rewritten stories of Kalileh va Demneh in order to apply in philosophy for children program (case study: Ketabha ye Bandangoshti)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Scientific- research

Authors
Atefeh Yousefi 1
Saeed Hamidian 2
Saeed Naji 3
1 .PHD in Persian language & literature, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
2 professor in Persian language & literature, Allameh Tabataba'i University, , Tehran, Iran
3 Associate professor in p4c, IHCS, , Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The classical Persian texts, including verse & prose, include the prominent didactic works, such as Kalileh va Demneh, Golestan and Boustan, Marzbannameh etc.  Because of the overloaded history of Persian literature, these texts have a very high literary acceptance; and since they have written with pedagogical and didactic goals, in the form of story, they contain  numerous moral and social teachings.
In this research which is reported in descriptive analytical method, the collection of Ketabha ye Bandangoshti, including ten stories of Kalile va Demneh, that is rewritten in order to apply in philosophy for children program, have been analyzed according to philosophical thinking standards and the special criteria of children literature. The review of these rewritings from the literary, philosophical and psychological perspectives, shows that the author did not adhere to the P4C storytelling standards and in some cases has violated the principles; and because of the lack of story elements and philosophical thinking criteria, some of rewritten stories have no literary adequacy and philosophical adequacy. Furthermore, due to the neglect of the age of the readers and the lack of congruence between the child moods and the theme of story, in several stories, psychological adequacy is not seen.
                                                                              
Key words: Kalile va Demneh; rewrite; philosophy for children; philosophical story.
 
Introduction:
From ancient times to the present, stories have always played a prominent role in human life and may be as old as humanity itself. Stories have long existed in all cultures and languages, and were one of the best and simplest tools for communication between people in society. In the past, stories were mostly for entertainment and were rarely used for educational purposes. The goal of stories was never to challenge the audience and place them in moral and philosophical dilemmas; the only lesson of these stories was the struggle between good and evil and the ultimate eternal victory of good over evil. With human growth and changes in lifestyle, the complexity of stories and their scope of application gradually increased and broadened; to the extent that many political, mystical, religious, social, and moral teachings were expressed in the form of allegorical stories and anecdotes, and unique works such as Paradise Lost, Divine Comedy, Mathnavi ma’navi, Kalileh va Dmaneh, Golestan and Bustan, etc. were created.This indicates that stories have a special impact on their listeners that ordinary words cannot. It is because of high ability of stories that we can also use them for indirect education. Stories, with a coherent structure, narrate an imaginary event or series of events and share an experience with the reader as characters and motivations develop; this is what highlights the role of stories as educational tools.
 
Materials & Method:
In this paper which is reported in descriptive-analytical approach, the collection of rewritten stories, ketabhaye bandangoshti, were explored based on the findings of researchers & theorists in two fields of children's literature & philosophy for children. This collection which includes ten rewritten stories from Kalileh va demneh is analyzed in literary, philosophical and psychological perspective.
 
 
Discussion & result:
One of these educational areas that has expanded significantly in recent years is the philosophy program for children. Stories play an effective and prominent role in this program and are used as a powerful tool to encourage children to think.
Because, as the founder of the FBC program, Matthew Lipman, states: Stories strengthen children’s tendency to ask questions, to think, and to understand. Stories provide children with criteria by which they can evaluate the affairs of this world. They bring together the pieces of experience and unite them into an illuminating whole. (Lipman, 1396: 182) Storytelling is like a model we apply to life, so that we can understand ourselves and our world. We can emerge from the darkness of our existence through stories. Stories have a real educational function.
There is a further justification for the centerality of the narrative text. Motivation by itself is not enough. We can not assume that children walk into the classroom are able to do philosophy well. They need to know how to proceed, and one effective way to help them aquire thise procedural knowledge is to involve them intellectually as well as emotionally, in the lives of charactors who inact and model the processes of inquiry. (see Splitter & Sharp, 1995: 99)
 
In the following research, we intend to analyze and examine a collection of ketabhaye bandangoshti that, according to the book's author, were adapted and rewritten from the stories of Kalila and Demna for use in the Philosophy for Children (p4c) program. The present research is an attempt to answer this question: Have the principles and criteria of the philosophical stories been observed in the adaptations of Persian classic texts? The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which the writers of the adapted stories adhered to the fictional criteria of P4C.
    
Conclusion:
According to research findings, These rewritten stories have received high marks in terms of linguistic editing and the suitability of the writing level to the reading abilities of children; however, the philosophical criteria have not been properly observed in them, and the average percentages in some components have not even reached half. The majority of these stories are not rewritten based on the criteria of the p4C, but are simply simplified and translated into modern language.
In some cases, there is no connection between the subject and content presented in the story and the audience's emotions and needs, and the rewriting lacks psychological acceptability.
Keywords
Kalile va Demneh
rewriting
philosophy for children
philosophical story
p4c criteria
Subjects
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Thinking and Children

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 15 February 2026

  • Receive Date 25 July 2024
  • Revise Date 23 January 2026
  • Accept Date 25 January 2026
  • Publish Date 15 February 2026