SUNY Cortland’s Sophia’s Garden project helps encourage philosophical inquiry and language enrichment for children. Its motto is “Engaging Curious Young Minds to Make Learning a Happy Adventure.”
I founded this project with speech pathologist Chea Snyder, and it builds on the pioneering praxis work of philosopher Tom Wartenberg and his four big ideas, detailed in his books and rich curricular guides for teachers Teaching Children Philosophy. Each semester, college students from my philosophy classes visit a local site such as the public library, elementary and forest schools to read and discuss philosophy with children.
SUNY Cortland, located in central New York, is one of the nation’s leading institutions for preparing teachers for pre-kindergarten through high school. The philosophy department offers a Social Philosophy degree and is a service department for those students, who major in early childhood and childhood education with a concentration in the humanities. Sophia’s Garden has served as a recruitment tool for education majors who can now minor in Social Philosophy and gain invaluable experience in the field as student teachers before they begin their “block program” within their major. Furthermore, the department is formalizing a 4 +1 degree for philosophy majors who wish to consider a teaching career in childhood education and complete their required Master of Teaching (MST) at the college.
Three alumni have already pursued this promising career track in elementary education and instructional design. One of the alumni, Vanessa Vegder, decided to postpone law school because she enjoyed working with children and teenagers in Sophia’s Garden and after completing her MST at SUNY Cortland, she is currently teaching in a New York State elementary school. Two teaching assistants and philosophy majors, Vegder and Naamu Harvey, authored a short reflection piece in Questions Journal: Philosophy for Young People.
Overwhelmingly, college students find the applied learning experience truly transformational. Between 30-40 students enroll in this project every semester, involving all of my philosophy courses. With the assistance of experienced TAs, who had enrolled as students the previous semester, the students practice philosophical questions with children. For instance, in a conversation about a Frog and Toad adventure, a philosophy major (who now is enrolled in an instructional design MA program) asked first graders: “What is patience?” A boy answered without hesitation, “that is when you go to the doctor.” The college student accepted the definition and asked if others had another perspective. They did; eventually, one girl said “it is when you wait in line and you don’t budge.” Such precious moments motivate college students wanting to return to these creative children’s spaces with a sense of urgency and bring back philosophical encounters into the college classroom. They marvel at the children’s spontaneity and ease of coming up with creative answers to definitional questions such as “what is a value?”
I soon realized that not only do students have a positive impact on children in the community, but their own mental health improves—an unanticipated wellness outcome. Furthermore, there are about three to five volunteers per site, who get together weekly to discuss choice of children’s books and prepare question sets with the assistance of a TA. These small group “pods” serve as unique, informal learning communities. Students who commit to this service-learning project generally do better in class and have better retention and attendance rates.
What makes Sophia’s Garden unique in the world of teaching philosophy? We also partner with the local YWCA where we offer a philosophy and girls’ empowerment workshop. Here is a superb reflection of N’Kele Amaru Brooks Gilkes, a TA, showcasing what is at stake in leading a session on social identity and status:
“The Social Identity/Status began so uncomfortable. I remember reading the excerpt from Black Ants and Buddhistsbefore I drove to the group meeting and feeling scared. I was not sure how the girls would take the conversation, especially since many of them come from families who struggle. When the girls were asked to answer questions that were general, they were eager to respond. When the question became personal, it was silent. I let the silence linger because I wanted to see if someone stepped up, but everyone continued to stay silent. I opened up and shared my story about the struggles I faced growing up …. My family struggled financially, and I had to start working at 14 years old to help with bills. Once I shared my story more people began to share their story. There was crying amongst everyone, including the girls. Again, we shared our lessons and advice and I feel like this conversation meant the world to the girls. Allowing the students the chance to see me cry and talk about my experiences helped the moment stick and they looked up to us. We gave them hope that they can succeed and escape their financial situation. This conversation also allowed students to be thankful of how they grew up because it gives them the drive and desire to push forward no matter what. I was their living example that economic status means nothing if you have grit.”
Brooks Gilkes now teaches at Clary Middle School in Syracuse, New York as a sixth grade social studies teacher, and she shares the following: “My experiences as a child and as a member in Sophia’s Garden taught me to connect with my students and help them get through similar issues. I use social emotional time in the morning to open up discussions surrounding philosophy and real-life issues amongst my students. I even utilize some of the excerpts and lessons from Sophia’s Garden to foster these conversations” (Brooks Gilkes, May 2020).
In March 2020, Sophia’s Garden’s community project was cut short, when the college closed and sent all students home. In Spring 2021, the initiative continued with five TAs who worked with student volunteers to deliver content on an online platform to three sites, from three-year old toddlers of the campus kindergarten, to first graders in Manhattan, where a Sophia’s Garden veteran, Cortland alumna Meghan Peysson, welcomed us, to another site sponsored by the Cortland Forest School homeschool program where one of our TAs, Mekayla Beschorner, taught Plato’s Cave and more to contemplative teenagers.
Currently, I am partnering with colleagues from the School of Education, Dr. Margaret Gichuru and Dr. Lin Lin. We are working on a qualitative review of three focus group sessions which we just conducted with the Spring 2021 TA cohort. The TAs assured us that the future of Sophia’s Garden is bright and even shared that some of the student volunteers wanted to switch their majors to philosophy or early childhood education, because they were so enthralled by the philosophical dialogue with young children.
Sophia’s Garden has also transformed into an institute with faculty from a dozen disciplines working on research or teaching projects devoted to promoting critical thinking and providing guidance for future teachers and administrators on the ethics of mandated reporting. The institute is associated with the Center of Ethics, Peace, and Social Justice, which also hosts an annual Summer Ethics Institute for College faculty. Thus, our Philosophy faculty are committed to assist colleagues with issues of moral importance in and beyond the classroom.
Mechthild Nagel
Mechthild Nagel is professor of philosophy and Africana studies and Director of the Center for Ethics, Peace, and Social Justice at SUNY Cortland. She is the author of eight books including Diversity, Social Justice, and Inclusive Excellence (SUNY 2014) and as a student of Gary Matthews, she has taught children philosophy in Germany and the US. Nagel is founding editor-in-chief of Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies.
