It’s time to meet Rhea Kuthoore, from India. We started exchanging some e-mails in 2023, and we follow each other’s work.

She’s the brilliant mind behind Children Doing Philosophy, an amazing initiative focused on nurturing philosophical thinking in education. You can check out her inspiring projects and resources directly on her website.

How did you first encounter Philosophy for and with Children and Young People? 

I first encountered philosophy for and with children and young people in 2018-2019 while completing my undergraduate studies in Philosophy at Ashoka University in India. It was an unexpected discovery for me. For several months, I had been contemplating the possibilities and purposes of engaging young people in philosophising, believing that I was coming up with something original and novel that hadn’t been explored before. Fortunately, when I finally searched for “philosophy with children” online, I discovered that it was an educational movement happening around the world, and that there were theories and pedagogies on the topic. I downloaded as many relevant books as I could and spent the summer after graduation reading them, reaching out to scholars in various parts of the world, and visiting numerous schools across India to find opportunities to introduce philosophy to their students. 

But why was I considering doing philosophy with children in the first place? 

I believe this to be a confluence of many factors. First, I experienced a form of philosophical teaching that was not merely an abstract exploration of theory, but one that involved self-reflection, examining different perspectives, and reasoning. This process helped me expand my understanding of myself and the world beyond the confines of my own lived experiences. It also encouraged me to be more thoughtful in the situations I faced and to better navigate the uncertainties of not knowing. Encountering this style of pedagogy led me to wonder: shouldn’t such learning begin at a younger age? 

Second, during my time at University, I worked with young children who lived in a nearby village. I was passionate about the field of education and enjoyed engaging with these children after school. I began to notice that they often exhibited existential, ethical, and philosophical thoughts by asking us open-ended questions and expressing their beliefs and confusions. However, as young facilitators, we often felt unprepared to address these deeper aspects of their inquiries and were frequently left either speechless or answering their questions. We struggled to create a teaching approach that would allow young people to explore these questions collaboratively. This experience led me to wonder: how can we encourage children to engage in philosophising at a younger age? 

Finally, I believe the seeds of my interest were in fact sown when I was a child myself. My parents and teachers frequently reminded me how curious I was, and I was fortunate to grow up in an environment where asking questions was encouraged rather than dismissed. When I was in middle school, my father started studying Indian philosophy and began discussing concepts like consciousness, desire, and greed with my sister and me. I found it fascinating to learn about ideas that had not been introduced in school. 

What do you know today that you didn’t know when you started working in this field? 

I have so much to share in response to this. Over the years, I have gained valuable insights into creating provocations and facilitating dialogue. One of my most significant learning experiences occurred in 2025 during my research fellowship at The International Youth Library in Munich. There, I discovered many beautiful stories from around the world in the field of philosophical children’s literature. 

In succinct points, here is some knowledge I have now that I did not have when I began – 

– It may be impossible to be a co-inquirer and facilitator at once if one is intentional about taking certain resources, picture books, topics and activities into the classroom. To be a genuine co-inquirer, one must think of one’s own standpoint, listen and engage with other standpoints. A co-inquirer need not prepare anything at all before hand and does not have to think all-at-once about how reasoning is taking place, how words are being used/defined, what assumptions are being made, what implications a perspective has, whose voice is missing, how consistent a viewpoint is, what contradictions exist between shared perspectives, present relevant alternatives, hypotheticals and counter-examples, make group thinking visible, etc. However, a facilitator must not only do all of this but also make decisions regarding when to utilize which thinking-move. Some may argue that it is the role of a mature co-inquirer to slowly begin doing all that a facilitator does. However, I believe that it is cognitively and emotionally challenging to bring yourself and your views to a dialogue while also fulfilling the aim of carrying a dialogue to deeper understanding. Some may also argue that it is the role of a mature facilitator to become a co-inquirer but then again, is it really possible to go deeper into one’s perspectives, think again, revise your ideas while also guiding the whole group to think collaboratively? In other words, can a facilitator really do justice to being a vulnerable co-inquirer if the latter requires following your own thought train while the former requires following the group’s train of thought? 

– Young people’s involvement in a philosophical dialogue is highly dependent on the puzzling nature of a prompt. When students face dilemmas, ambiguous situations, and philosophical problems that scaffold different perspectives and that invite their own perspective, they get excited. Not every prompt, story and activity is puzzling enough. 

– When children and students are not supported with oratory skills in their language of thinking, philosophising becomes challenging. 

– Although philosophising with children is not about arriving at answers, it is definitely about arriving. Children are not only inquisitive, but are hungry for meaning-making. To arrive at better questions, better conceptions and better understandings is crucial to philosophising together. 

What question do you think our community should be asking more often? 

Questions that our community should be asking more seriously – 

– How can the field contribute to the growth of the genre of philosophical children’s literature? Across the globe, there are wonderful authors who are intentionally writing literature and picture books that speak to young people’s philosophical self. How can we be in touch with and support these authors and how can we also support the growth of many more authors who contribute to such literature? 

– Besides select publications to share experiences, how can the material and resources created by young practitioners also be utilized by the field at large? 

What are we taking for granted in our work with children and young people? 

– I think our field takes-for-granted the challenges that are faced by children with learning difficulties arising from social inequalities and the ways in which philosophy with children becomes inaccessible to them. 

– I think our field has theorised the role that children play in exposing the limits of the discipline of philosophy and further enriching it with children’s philosophical reflections. However, there is still a lot to be done in order for the field of philosophy to in fact include and take seriously the voices of young people. 

What concerns you — or gives you hope — about the future of this field? 

As one of the few practitioners of philosophy with children in India, I have a lot of hope for the growth of this field. This year, we had the chance to open a small space – Room of children’s philosophies, Chennai, India – that houses over 150 picture books that lend themselves to philosophising together. Here, we invite curious individuals to come engage with our work and our books. We also curated and facilitated a one-of-a-kind ten day children’s exhibitions for about 17 schools and 700 participants, in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, Chennai. This exhibition featured 10 philosophical explorations for young people to engage with, wherein each exploration contained an installation, picture book and philosophical question to invite children into philosophical play. We also took on collaborations with the Museum of Art and Photography, in Bangalore, to engage young people in philosophising with art as a provocation. We conduct weekly sessions in schools and after-schools in the city. To see the growth of philosophy with children in third spaces and not merely within the bounds of schools has been a necessary step to take it to the masses. We look forward to publications that include the growth of philosophy with children in India as well. Having said this, there are several concerns and questions that we continue to grapple with. Some of these include, 

1. We need to build a larger group/support of individuals so that we can also take it to many children who cannot afford to pay for a program. 

2. For philosophy with children to merely grow as a private sector would be a big concern for our vision. 

3. Philosophy with children is slowly growing in India. However, the general educational atmosphere in the country is very goal and result oriented. If this rubric is applied to philosophy with children, it will most definitely stifle our efforts.