ÂÒÂ×Ðã

Drawing together research and collaboration to examine philosophical approaches in education.

Head of centre: Professor
Operational Director:Ìý±Ê°ù´Ç´Ú±ð²õ²õ´Ç°ùÌý

Our centre is committed to rigorous exploitation of a variety of philosophical approaches, encompassing such topics as pedagogy, teaching, learning, the curriculum, democracy, citizenship, human rights, inclusive education, moral agency, new technology, arts and humanities research, mental health, and the environment.

About usÌý

Study with usÌý

Programmes

We support research students and training through:

• The Doctoral School –ÌýResearch Training Programme, the EdD programme and postdoctoral fellowship
• Research Days for doctoral students in philosophy of education which are held on a termly basis. These include reading sessions and opportunities for students to present their work.

For more info contact Jan Derry:Ìýj.derry@ucl.ac.uk

Master's degrees

• Philosophy of Education MA

Activities

Our academic staff publish, teach and speak widely on a range of topical educational issues, including:

• the arts and creativity
• citizenship and belonging
• the humanities
• human rights
• inclusion, disability and special educational needs
• moral agency
• knowledge and the curriculum
• language and translation
• race and racism
• technology
• student-teacher relationships.

Our research

Examples of research carried out at the centre include:

• Mental Health, Education and Therapeutic Philosophy in conjunction with Warwick University, funded by the British Academy – Alison Brady and Emma Williams.
• Project on TV series and moral education, principally with colleagues from Paris 1er (the Sorbonne) – Paul Standish.
• Project on moral perfectionism, principally with colleagues from Paris 1er (the Sorbonne), Sapienza University of Rome, and Kyoto University –ÌýPaul Standish.
• Developing experimentation-based probability education: Inferentialism, contextualization and variation in collaboration, funded by the Swedish Research CouncilÌý–ÌýJan Derry with colleagues.
• The Utopias, Axioms and Science Fiction – A Quest for Educational ImageriesÌýdoctoral school, funded by PESGB and the Polish Naval Academy – Alison Brady, Aline Nardo, Piotr Zamojski, Stefano Oliverio and Kai Wortmann.
• An evaluation of the use of Philosophy for Children in Southwark primary schoolsÌýfor Southwark Local Education Authority –ÌýJan Derry with colleagues.
• Philosophy of Technology Enhanced Learning special interest group –ÌýJan Derry.
• Phenomenology and Existentialism SIG at PES – Alison Brady.
• Post-Critical Researcher Network –ÌýAlison Brady, in conjunction with colleagues from across Europe and North America.

See details onÌýÌýto find more about our researchers, publications, activities, groups and themes.

Public engagement

• British Society of Aesthetics Conference: Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Gender-Based Violence, 20–21 February 2025 at ÂÒÂ×Ðã (Paul Standish in collaboration with Warwick University)Ìý
• .ÌýAlison Brady interviewed for Neil Selwyn’s Meet the Education Researcher, 2023
• Webinar | What is Education and Why Do We Need It?Ìý()Ìý().ÌýCranfield School of Management, 2023
• Daniel Vanello interviewed for a podcast episode by the British Educational Research Association (BERA) on emotions and moral learning in early childhood, April 2022
• Emotions and Moral Learning in Early Childhood Education, workshop by Daniel Vanello in collaboration with the British Educational Research Association (BERA), October 2021
• The Possibility of Agency: examining assumptions about knowledge through an Inferentialist lens. Keynote, Educational Studies Association of Ireland, March 2021. Keynote by Jan Derry
• A Problem for Cognitive Load Theory –Ìýthe Distinctively Human Life-Form. PESGB Annual Conference 2019. IOE. University of Oxford. Keynote by Jan Derry
• Knowledge in education: Why philosophy matters, IOE, 22 May 2018. Public Lecture by Jan Derry
• Understanding the use and integration of assistive technology for students with additional needs. University of Edinburgh workshop, 18 June 2018. Presented by Professor Jan Derry
• . British Wittgenstein Society Conference 2018. Keynote lecture by Paul Standish
• (YouTube video). Danish Philosophy Association Conference, 2017. Keynote lecture by Paul Standish
• . British Wittgenstein Society Conference 2017. Keynote lecture by Paul Standish
• (YouTube video). Kyoto International Frontiers of Educational Research (2016). Presentation by Paul Standish
• Ìý(YouTube video). ECER, 2016. Keynote by Paul Standish
• (YouTube video). Kyoto International Frontiers of Educational Research (2016). Presentation by Paul Standish
• (YouTube video). Kyoto International Frontiers of Educational Research (2016). Presentation by Paul Standish
• (YouTube video). Kyoto International Frontiers of Educational Research (2015). Presentation by Paul Standish
• (YouTube video). Kyoto International Frontiers of Educational Research (2014). Presentation by Paul Standish
• Ìý(YouTube Video). Kyoto International Frontiers of Educational Research (2014). Presentation by Paul Standish

Publications

• Vanello, D. (ed.) (Forthcoming). Autobiographical Memory and Moral Agency. Routledge
• Vanello, D. (Forthcoming). Autobiographical Memory and Moral Identity Development. Journal of Consciousness Studies
• Standish, P. (2024) Crisis of Expression, in Francesco Gandellini, Gordon Bearn, and Filippo Casati (eds), Special Issue on Stanley Cavell’s Here and Now, Conversations
• Standish, P. (2024) Coming into the world, coming into language, reading the world, A contrario
• Standish, P. (2024) Exceeding Thought: essays on philosophy and education Tokyo: Hosei University Press (Japanese)
• Standish, P. (2024) Reading Paul Standish’s Philosophy of Education, translated and introduced by Sang-eun Lee and Sojin Lee, Paju: Kyoyukbook (Korean)
• Standish, P. (2024) Thoreau’s Exemplary Act, in: Paola Marrati (ed.) Understanding Cavell, Understanding Modernism (London, Bloomsbury)
• Vanello, D. (2024). Moral Identity, Moral Integration, and Autobiographical Narrative. Review of Philosophy and Psychology
• Bennett, Pip Seton; (2023) Degrees of Care: Success, Recognition, and Completion. Hypatia , 38 (3)
• Bennett, Philip Pip Seton; (2023) Care ethics, needs recognition, and educational encounters. Journal of Philosophy of Education
• Brady, A. M. (2023). Being a Teacher: From Technicist to Existential Accounts, in conversation with Jean-Paul Sartre. Springer
• Standish, P. (2023) The provenance of the forms of knowledge thesis, in: Patricia White and David Bridges (eds), Special Issue on Paul Hirst, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 57.1
• Brady, A. M. (2022). Mental health, resilience and existential literature. Journal of Philosophy of Education
• Brady, A. (2022). Accounting for oneself in teaching: trust, parrhesia, and bad faith. Studies in Philosophy and Education: an international quarterly
• Vanello, D. (2022). Moral Understanding, Affect, and the Imagination. Inquiry: an interdisciplinary journal of philosophy.
• Vorhaus, J. (2022) Membership in a kind: Nature, norms, and profound disability. Metaphilosophy , 53 (1)
• Vorhaus, J. (2021) Respect, cognitive capacity and profound disability. Metaphilosophy, 52 (5)
• Vorhaus, J. (2021) Bringing people down: degrading treatment and punishment. New Criminal Law Review: an international and interdisciplinary journal , 24 (3)
• Brady, A. M. (2020). Response and Responsibility: Rethinking Accountability in Education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 55 (1)
• Brady, A. M. (2020). From the Reflective to the Post-Personal Teacher, Educational Theory
• Brady, A. M. (2020). Struggling Teachers and the Recognition of Effective Practice. Journal of Philosophy of Education
• Derry, J. (2020). . Journal of Philosophy of Education 54 (1)
• Vorhaus, JS. (2020) Respect, identification and profound cognitive impairment. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Disability. Oxford University Press
• Brady, A. M. (2019). Anxiety of performativity and anxiety of performance: self-evaluation as bad faith. Oxford Review of Education
• Bicker, J. (2018). Teacher-led codeswitching: Adorno, race, contradiction, and the nature of autonomy. Ethics and Education, 13(1)
• Derry, J. (2018). . IOE PressÌý
• Derry, J. (2017). . Mathematics Education Research Journal. doi:10.1007/s13394-017-0193-7Ìý
• Derry, J. (2013). . Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

Seminars

The Philosophy Centre runs a weekly Philosophy of Education Research Seminar, in conjunction with the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, every Wednesday evening during term time.