AccScience Publishing / BIJP / Volume 15 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.29228/beytulhikme.78876
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

A Research on the Use of Philosophy for Children (P4C) Education Program in Religious Education

Mehmet SU1 ,  Cemil Oruç2
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1 Kilis 7 Aralık Üniversitesi, İlahiyat Fakültesi, Felsefe ve Din Bilimleri Bölümü 79000, Kilis, Türkiye
2 İnönü Üniversitesi, İlahiyat Fakültesi, Felsefe ve Din Bilimleri Bölümü 44000, Malatya, Türkiye
BIJP 2025, 15(4), 1757–1787; https://doi.org/10.29228/beytulhikme.78876
Received: 17 October 2025 | Published online: 29 December 2025
© 2025 by the Authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of Philosophy for Children (P4C) education on the development of religious thinking. A mixed-methods research design was employed. The study was structured according to a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. The quantitative data were obtained through the “Faith or Worldview Development Scale,” which was administered to both the experimental and control groups. The qualitative data, on the other hand, were derived from student journals, student interview forms, and the analysis of video recordings collected throughout the sessions. The dialogues that emerged during the sessions were transcribed and coded through a multi-layered analytical process. After each session, students were asked to keep journals in which they reflected on the weekly activities, and these journals were later refined through thematic coding. At the end of the experimental process, interviews were conducted with the students to evaluate their impressions and the competencies they had developed during the sessions. Findings obtained from both the qualitative and quantitative data indicate that the P4C program does not undermine students’ religious commitment; rather, it strengthens it. Furthermore, the program was found to contribute to the development of various cognitive skills, including comprehension, inquiry, awareness, real-life association, interpretation, and reasoning.

Keywords
Religious education
philosophy for children (p4c)
development of religious thought
inquiry.
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Beytulhikme An International Journal of Philosophy, Print ISSN: 1303-8303, Published by AccScience Publishing
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