James Brown

Thesis Title: Practical Wisdom and Virtue Internalisation: Addressing the Paradox of Moral Education via Reflection

Character development involves internalising virtues such as honesty, kindness, and bravery; and a virtue is internalised as it becomes increasingly autonomous or “self-governed.” Young children, however, are not autonomous; it is necessary for adults to control and shape their behaviour through extrinsic motivators (rewards, sanctions, etc.). But how could external control ever give rise to autonomy? This is the famous “paradox of moral education.” My PhD investigates whether the paradox might be resolved by encouraging children to engage in phronesis-guided reflection.

Phronesis, or “practical wisdom,” refers to excellence in ethical decision-making. It has several components, including adjudication (resolving conflict among conflicting virtues) and a “blueprint” (an overarching picture of what it means to live a good life). Invoking these two components, phronesis-guided reflection would encourage children to consider how conflict between virtues should be resolved in light of the sort of life they want to lead. Could such reflection prompt a shift towards autonomy?

To answer this question, I plan to conduct a classroom-based intervention. Students initially motivated by extrinsic rewards will engage in a virtuous activity (e.g., gratitude journaling) and be randomly assigned to an intervention (phronesis-guided reflection) or control group. Autonomy will be measured via Self-Regulation Questionnaires before and after the intervention. The hypothesis predicts that the intervention group will make significantly greater gains in autonomy than the control group. We’ll see what happens!

Biography:

My motivation for undertaking PhD study has its roots in 2013, when I chose to study philosophy alongside mathematics for my undergraduate degree at Lancaster University (2013-16). I have loved philosophy ever since! After completing an MPhil at the University of Warwick (2016-19), I decided to retrain as a maths teacher (PGCE at Warwick, 2021-22). I soon found employment at an inner-city comprehensive school in Coventry, my hometown, where I have worked happily ever since.

For the final essay of my PGCE, I chose the topic of character education. This essay brought together my longstanding love for philosophy and my newfound passion for education, setting me upon my current path. From 2022 to 2025, I completed a part-time MA in Character Education at the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham, where I also gained familiarity with the empirical methods of modern psychology, especially Self-Determination Theory.

Meanwhile, at school, I have led a shift toward explicitly emphasising moral virtues such as honesty, kindness, and bravery; developed a higher attainers programme to foster independent thinking; founded a philosophy of education reading group for staff; and advised two Midlands schools on reforming their character education provision.

My ultimate goal is to become a social scientist dedicated to furthering our understanding of how best to empower young people – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – to lead flourishing lives.

Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, School of Education

University of Birmingham

2025 Cohort

Email:

X: @mrbrownpod

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Supervisory Team:

Kristján Kristjánsson

Shane McLoughlin