John White is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies at the Institute of Education University of London. He has worked here since 1965, before which time he taught in secondary schools and colleges in Britain and France. He is Honorary Vice-President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. His first degree was in Modern History from Brasenose College Oxford University (1957), but his higher education in fact began with a part-time degree course in Philosophy and Psychology at Birkbeck College London (1960-5).

John has always been interested in applying philosophy, not least work on well-being, morality, political philosophy and philosophy of mind, to the world of education. His enduring concern has been about what schools in a democracy should be for and what children should be learning in the light of this. This has oftentimes led him into critical engagement with current policy and practice. In his Towards a Compulsory Curriculum (Routledge and Kegan Paul 1973), he was one of the first advocates of a state-imposed curriculum. At a deeper level, much of his work, through The Aims of Education Restated (RKP 1982) to Exploring Well-being in Schools 2011, has had to do with constructing a philosophically defensible account of schools’ aims. He is still waiting patiently for the time when British governments take aims seriously as the source of sensible curriculum planning.

I was lucky enough to be taught philosophy by Richard Peters at Birkbeck and then to become a colleague of his at the Institute. As well as trying to get clearer about educational aims, and exploring the mind of the learner, eg, in The Child's Mind (2002), I have also always enjoyed bringing philosophical argument to bear on major issues of the day. This has led me, for instance, into tangling with Cyril Burt and Hans Eysenck over intelligence testing in the 1960s through to Howard Gardner over multiple intelligences in the 2000s. For a historical-cum-philosophical critique of intelligence testing, see Intelligence, Destiny and Education (2006). Since 1988, while still in support of a national curriculum in principle, I have felt obliged to keep battering away at the shape National Curriculum has actually taken in England, e.g. in Rethinking the School Curriculum: Values, Aims and Purposes (2004). I would like to see the public service that philosophy can perform in putting our educational institutions and practices to the test given greater recognition, not least in teachers’ continuing professional development.

For the complete list of John’s publications, click here.