I am Professor of Education and Director of Research at The Stirling Institute of Education, University of Stirling and editor of the journal Studies in Philosophy and Education. I am Visiting Professor for Education and Democratic Citizenship at Mälardalen University, Sweden. I conduct theoretical and empirical research on a range of topics, and am particularly interested in the relationships between education, democracy and citizenship. My work falls within four broad domains: the theory and philosophy of education; empirical research on civic learning in informal settings; critical policy analysis; the theory and philosophy of educational and social research..

I write about the theory and philosophy of education. I have tried to make original contributions to understanding educational processes and practices, particularly in Beyond Learning: Democratic Education for a Human Future (2006) and Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy (2010) and in the book-project Iam currently working on (The Weakness of Education, scheduled for 2011). I am also interested in the educational potential of complexity theory – see Complexity theory and the politics of education (2010), co-edited with Deborah Osberg. In addition I have made major contributions to the educational interpretation of key theorists and philosophers, including George Herbert Mead (G.H. Mead’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Education, co-edited with Daniel Tröhler, 2008), Jacques Derrida (Derrida & Education, co-edited with Denise Egéa-Kuehne, 2001), Jacques Rancière (Jacques Rancière: Education, Truth, Emancipation, with Charles Bingham, 2010), John Dewey, Emmanuel Levinas and Hannah Arendt.

My empirical research focuses on civic learning of young people and adults particularly in informal settings, on the formation and transformation of learning cultures in educational settings (Improving Learning Cultures in Further Education, with David James 2007), and on learning through the life course (for example Transitions and Learning through the Lifecourse, co-edited with Kathryn Ecclestone and Martin Hughes, 2009; and Narrative Learning, with Ivor Goodson, Michael Tedder and Norma Adair, 2010). I have also published on teachers’ professional learning and on the significance of young people’s participation in sport.

In the field of critical policy analysis I have particularly focused on lifelong learning policies, on policies and practices of citizenship education, on the civic role of Higher Education, and on educational research policy.

With regard to the theory and philosophy of educational research I have published on the significance of pragmatism for educational research (Pragmatism and Educational Research, with Nicholas C. Burbules, 2003), on problems surrounding the idea of evidence-based education (particularly my articles “Why ‘what works’ won’t work: Evidence-based practice and the democratic deficit of educational research”, in Educational Theory, 2007; and “Why ‘what works’ still won’t work: From evidence-based to value-based education” in Studies in Philosophy and Education 2010), on the role of values in educational evaluation and measurement, and on the philosophical dimensions of mixed methods research.