•  17
    On The Desirability of Education: A Reply to John Wilson
    British Journal of Educational Studies 52 (1): 18-28. 2004.
    In a recent paper in BJES, John Wilson examines the question of the desirability of education and argues that the enterprise can only be justified if it is thought to be necessary 'as a means of salvation'. Here I expose a number of flaws in Wilson's argument and defend a rather more prosaic justificatory strategy
  •  67
    What Do Kids Know? A Response to Karin Murris
    Studies in Philosophy and Education 34 (3): 327-330. 2015.
    Building on Miranda Fricker’s work on epistemic injustice, Karin Murris has recently argued that children in school characteristically receive a credibility deficit based on a disparaging stereotype of children, and charged teachers with eschewing such stereotypes and committing to epistemic equality. I raise some objections to Murris’s argument
  •  86
    Towards a Theory of Moral Education
    Journal of Philosophy of Education 48 (4): 519-532. 2014.
    In this inaugural lecture, delivered at the University of Birmingham in January 2014, I sketch the outline of a theory of moral education. The theory is an attempt to resolve the tension between two thoughts widely entertained by teachers, policy-makers and the general public. The first thought is that morality must be learned: children must come to see what morality requires of them and acquire the motivation to submit to its authority. The second thought is that morality is controversial: ther…Read more
  •  7
    Book review: Religion, Education and Post-modernity (review)
    Journal of Philosophy of Education 39 (1): 171-173. 2005.
  •  23
    Framing Classroom Discussion of Same‐Sex Marriage
    Educational Theory 63 (5): 497-510. 2013.
    Assuming that the issue of same-sex marriage should be discussed in schools, how should the discussion be framed? Michael Hand first distinguishes this question from the related but distinct question of whether discussion on this topic should be steered. He then examines three possible frames for discussion of same-sex marriage: the perfectionist frame, the antiperfectionist frame, and the practical accommodation frame. He defends the perfectionist frame over the two alternatives: the purpose of…Read more
  •  20
    The Point and Perils of Public Engagement
    Philosophy Now 95 6-7. 2013.
    Michael Hand considers the pros and cons of courting media attention.
  •  31
    Patriotism in Schools
    Impact 2011 (19): 1-40. 2011.
    In the face of rising concerns about citizenship, national identity, diversity and belonging in Britain today, politicians from all sides of the political spectrum have looked to schools to inspire and invigorate a strong, modern sense of patriotism and common purpose, which is capable of binding people together and motivating citizens to fulfil their obligations to each other and to the state.In this timely and astute analysis, Michael Hand unpacks the claims made on both sides of the debate to…Read more
  •  179
    Discussing Controversial Issues in the Classroom
    with Ralph Levinson
    Educational Philosophy and Theory 44 (6): 614-629. 2012.
    Discussion is widely held to be the pedagogical approach most appropriate to the exploration of controversial issues in the classroom, but surprisingly little attention has been given to the questions of why it is the preferred approach and how best to facilitate it. Here we address ourselves to both questions. We begin by clarifying the concept of discussion and justifying it as an approach to the teaching of controversial issues. We then report on a recent empirical study of the Perspectives o…Read more
  •  122
    Patriotism in british schools: Principles, practices and press hysteria
    with Joanne Pearce
    Educational Philosophy and Theory 41 (4): 453-465. 2009.
    How should patriotism be handled in schools? We argue that schools cannot afford to ignore the topic, but nor are they justified in either promoting or discouraging patriotic feeling in students. The only defensible policy is for schools to adopt a stance of neutrality and teach the topic as a controversial issue. We go on to show that there is general support among British teachers and students for school neutrality on patriotism and that the currently preferred classroom practice is to address…Read more
  •  17
    The ‘new school system’ described in the Schools White Paper (DfE, ) presents religious organisations with two interesting opportunities. The first is an opportunity to play a significantly enhanced role in the management of faith-based schools. The second is an opportunity to rethink quite radically the content of their curricula. In this article I advance a proposal for the consideration of religious organisations: that they take up the opportunity to develop innovative, religiously distinctiv…Read more
  •  60
    Is Religious Education Possible? A Response to Philip Barnes
    Studies in Philosophy and Education 27 (1): 71-75. 2007.
  •  51
    Religious upbringing reconsidered
    Journal of Philosophy of Education 36 (4). 2002.
    There is, on the face of it, a logical difficulty as well as a practical one about ascribing to parents both a right to give their children a religious upbringing and a duty to avoid indoctrinating them. Curiously, this logical difficulty was largely overlooked in the debate on religious upbringing and parental rights between Terence McLaughlin, Eamonn Callan and Peter Gardner in the 1980s. In this paper I set out the terms of the logical problem and propose a solution to it.