Philosophy for Children

The accelerating complexity of the twenty-first-century knowledge economy demands educational frameworks that cultivate not merely the acquisition of facts, but the capacity to interrogate, synthesise, and evaluate information with reasoned rigour. This paper investigates the underutilised yet transformative role of philosophical inquiry—particularly Socratic dialogue, formal logic, and epistemological reflection—in fostering critical thinking competencies among learners at secondary and tertiary levels. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach that combines a systematic literature review with qualitative analysis of curriculum documents from ten Indian universities, the study reveals a systemic marginalisation of philosophy-based pedagogies in favour of content-delivery models. The findings indicate that structured philosophical engagement measurably improves argumentation skills, intellectual humility, and metacognitive awareness. The paper proposes an integrated Philosophy-for-Critical-Thinking (PCT) curricular framework and offers actionable recommendations for policy-makers, curriculum designers, and educators. The study concludes that restoring philosophy to the heart of modern education is neither nostalgic nor impractical, but is, in fact, an urgent pedagogical imperative.