The Effectiveness of Implementing a Philosophy for Children Program on Perceived Competence and Cognitive Flexibility of Orphaned Boys

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementing a Philosophy for Children (P4C) program on the perceived competence and cognitive flexibility of orphaned boys. The quasi-experimental research was based on a pretest-posttest control group design. For this purpose, 32 unattended boys in the age groups B (nine and ten years old) and C (eleven and twelve years old) of Azna boarding center were selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to two control and experimental groups. The statistical sample of the study completed the perceived competence and cognitive flexibility questionnaires as the research instruments before and after training. The Philosophy for Children course was held during eight weekly two-hour sessions. The findings of this study, using analysis of covariance, showed that the implementation of the P4C program, with a certainty of 95% (p < 0.05), leads to increased perceived competence (64% for cognitive, 54% for social, and 51% for physical), and cognitive flexibility (70%) in the experimental group. According to the results of this study, the P4C program can be used as a suitable solution to increase perceived competence and cognitive flexibility of orphaned boys.