-
Allen, Terry L. Interview 6 May 2025
Terry Allen, Maughn Rollins Gregory, and Megan Jane Laverty
In this IAPC Oral History interview, veteran teacher Terry L. Allen tells about learning philosophy for children from a class he took from Dale Cannon at the University of Washington in Oregon while teaching school in Salem, Oregon (see attached articles). He describes his masters and doctoral degrees in philosophy for children at Montclair State University – including his memories of Matthew Lipman, Ann Margaret Sharp, and David Kennedy – culminating in his doctoral dissertation, Exploring Worldview Perspectives with 8th Grade Students: Criteria-Mapping as a Method of Value Disclosure and Worldview Discovery.Allen discusses his 32 teaching at Eastern Christian Middle School in Wyckoff, New Jersey, where he practices a “Pedagogy of Asking,” to engage young people in philosophical dialogue in a community of inquiry to work out their own beliefs and values.
-
Berman, Matthew L. Interview 14 April 2025
Matthew L. Berman, Maughn Rollins Gregory, and Megan Jane Laverty
In this IAPC Oral History Interview, Mathew "Matt" L. Berman describes his experience as a student in the Masters of Arts in Teaching Philosophy for Children program at Montclair State College in the 1980s, his use of philosophy as a teacher at the Metairie Park Country Day School in Metairie, Louisiana, and the database of Philosophy and Children’s Literature he created during his 1989 sabbatical funded by the “Teacher-Scholar Program for Elementary and Secondary School Teachers,” awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
-
Dianuzzo, Nicholas Interview 17 April 2025
Nicholas Dianuzzo, Maughn Rollins Gregory, and Megan Jane Laverty
In this interview Professor Nicholas Dianuzzo describes his recovery from drug dependency, his undergraduate study of philosophy and his experience in the Master of Arts in Teaching Middle School Philosophy at Montclair State College. At the time, he was counseling drug-dependent teenagers and was the first person to use philosophy to do so--an approach he developed in consultation with Colin Clayton, whom he met at the IAPC Summer Course at Mendham, New Jersey, and who became one of the first practitioners of philosophical counseling in the UK. In October 1992 Dianuzzo and Clayton presented their work at the 5th International Conference on Philosophy for Children at the University of Graz. In 1996 Dianuzzo and Matthew Lipman were interviewed about this approach on the public television program Ethics in the 90s (see that episode here).
-
Heinegg, James Interview 18 April 2025
James Heinegg, Maughn Rollins Gregory, and Megan Jane Laverty
In this interview, James Heinegg reflects on his formative involvement with the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC), beginning with his participation in the Master of Arts in Teaching program with a concentration in Philosophy for Children at Montclair State College during the 1988–1989 academic year. Heinegg describes the structure of the MAT program—including residential sessions in Mendham, New Jersey, and supervised philosophy teaching in Montclair and Newark public schools—and the pedagogical practices of the community of inquiry as they were taught and enacted at the time. He discusses his subsequent work as a full-time and part-time Program Assistant at the IAPC, detailing his responsibilities in teaching, mentoring students, editorial work for Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, and supporting the Institute’s international programs. Heinegg offers rich reflections on the mentorship of Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp, emphasizing their commitment to community, collaboration, and philosophical inquiry. The interview also traces Heinegg’s later career as an elementary school teacher, director of curriculum instruction, and school district superintendent, highlighting the enduring influence of philosophy for children on his educational leadership and curriculum work.
-
Lyell, Elizabeth Interview 21 November 2025
Elizabeth Lyell, Maughn Rollins Gregory, and Megan Jane Laverty
In this IAPC Oral History Interview, Dr. Elizabeth Lyell reflects on her participation in the first cohort of the Master of Arts in Teaching degree with a Concentration in Philosophy for Children at Montclair State College during the 1981–1982 academic year. Lyell recounts her introduction to philosophy for children, her intensive year of study with Matthew Lipman, Ann Margaret Sharp, and Phil Guin, and teaching philosophy in public school classrooms in Montclair, New Jersey and Harlem. Lyell offers vivid memories of Lipman as a teacher, mentor, and moral presence, highlighting his pedagogical generosity, seriousness, and commitment to grounding philosophy in lived experience. The interview traces her subsequent career teaching philosophy for children, training teachers, working in higher education and adult education, and later counseling, demonstrating the lasting influence of philosophy for children on her professional and personal life. In 2002 Lyell accompanied Lipman to receive the American Philosophical Association Innovation Prize.
-
Oyler, Joe Interview November 2008
Joe Oyler and Peter Shea
In this interview, Joe Oyler reflects on his participation in the Master of Arts in Teaching program with a concentration in Philosophy for Children and the Doctor of Education in Pedagogy and Philosophy at Montclair State University and his work as a Graduate Assistant at the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. He reflects on the contemporary state of education and the benefits and challenges of bringing philosophy to American public schools.
-
Pacillo-Dellino, Maria Interview
Maria Pacillo-Dellino
Maria Pacillo-Dellino earned the Master of Education, Concentration in Philosophy for Children (2003), and the Doctor of Education in Pedagogy and Philosophy (2010) at Montclair State University, during which time she was a Graduate Assistant for the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children and an adjunct professor at the University. (Her doctoral dissertation, Community of Inquiry and the Intersection of Epistemology and Pedagogy: A Grounded Theory Analysis, is available on the IAPC Digital Commons: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/239/.) In this interview she describes doing philosophy in Montclair public schools, being an editor for Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, and how her graduate studies informed her career as a philosophy teacher.
-
Pardales, Michael J. Interview 15 May 2025
Michael J. Pardales and Maughn Rollins Gregory
In this IAPC Oral History Interview, Michael J. Pardales, Ph.D. reflects on his professional trajectory and sustained engagement with Philosophy for Children (P4C). He recounts his initial turn from pre-medicine to philosophy and his subsequent discovery of P4C through undergraduate study at Michigan State University. He describes his graduate experience in the Philosophy for Children program at Montclair State University (1992–1993) and the formative influence of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC) seminars at Mendham, New Jersey. He offers vivid recollections of Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp as educators, highlighting Lipman’s distinctive integration of philosophy, curriculum design, and pedagogy, and Sharp’s passionate commitment to early childhood philosophy. The interview also details Pardales’ early classroom experiences, including student teaching and a challenging year teaching fourth grade in a residential school for emotionally impaired students, where he integrated philosophical activities into the broader curriculum. Pardales reflects critically on the possibilities and limits of implementing philosophy in schools, particularly under conditions of standardized testing and high-stakes accountability, while underscoring the transformative potential of philosophical inquiry for students often marginalized by conventional educational settings.
-
Strohecker, Margaret Interview 30 October 2025
Margaret Strohecker and Maughn Rollins Gregory
In this IAPC Oral History Interview, Margaret Strohecker reflects on her formative role in the early development and implementation of Philosophy for Children (P4C) in the United States. She recounts her introduction to P4C as an undergraduate philosophy student, her participation in the inaugural Master of Arts in Teaching program at Montclair State College in the early 1980s, and her experiences studying with Matthew Lipman, Ann Sharp, and other central figures of the IAPC. She offers detailed recollections of the IAPC seminars at Mendham, New Jersey, the structure and challenges of the early MAT program, and the communal intellectual culture fostered by Lipman and Sharp. Strohecker also discusses her subsequent work implementing P4C in public schools, particularly in Lynbrook, New York, addressing issues of teacher resistance, large-scale curricular implementation, assessment, and media attention. Through vivid anecdotes—especially classroom moments that reveal children’s emerging self-reflection—she articulates the pedagogical and ethical significance of philosophical inquiry with children. The interview further explores tensions between P4C and academic philosophy, questions of implementation across diverse educational contexts, and Strohecker’s later work in science education and homeschooling.
Printing is not supported at the primary Gallery Thumbnail page. Please first navigate to a specific Image before printing.