Professor Michael Hand

School of Education
Professor of Philosophy of Education
Director of Postgraduate Research for the School of Education

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 415 8277
Email: m.hand@bham.ac.uk

Address: School of Education
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

Michael Hand is Professor of Philosophy of Education and Director of Postgraduate Research in the School of Education. He is Vice-Chair of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, Series Editor of Bloomsbury Philosophy of Education and Co-Editor of the Journal of Philosophy in Schools. He is Adjunct Professor at the Education University of Hong Kong.

Michael's research interests are in the areas of moral, political, religious and philosophical education. His books include A Theory of Moral Education (Routledge, 2018), Education, Ethics and Experience (Routledge, 2015), Patriotism in Schools (Wiley, 2011), Philosophy in Schools (Bloomsbury, 2008) and Is Religious Education Possible? (Bloomsbury, 2006). Further details can be found on his personal website.

Michael coordinates the School’s philosophy of education seminar series.

Qualifications

DPhil in Philosophy of Education, University of Oxford
MSc in Educational Research Methodology, University of Manchester
PGCE in Primary Education, Open University
BA Hons in Theology and Religious Studies, University of Cambridge

Biography

Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of Birmingham
Adjunct Professor at the Education University of Hong Kong
Vice-Chair of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain
Editor of the Bloomsbury Philosophy of Education book series.

Teaching

BA Education

Postgraduate supervision

Michael supervises doctoral students working in the field of philosophy of education, primarily in the areas of moral, political, religious and philosophical education. He is currently supervising doctoral theses on the place of philosophy on the school curriculum, the ethics of belief in the classroom, existential thinking in religious education, and tackling extremism through philosophy in schools.

Research

Michael works on a range of topics in philosophy of education, including:

the nature and aims of moral education
teaching controversial issues
education for patriotism
philosophy in schools
the nature and aims of religious education
the justifiability of faith schools
relationships and sex education
autonomy as an educational aim
punishment in schools
education against extremism

Publications

Highlight publications

Hand, M 2017, A Theory of Moral Education. Routledge, London.

Recent publications

Article

Hand, M 2025, 'Does indoctrination still matter?', Educational Theory, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 276-291. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70004

Hand, M 2025, 'Education, extremism and exemption from basic morality', Educational Philosophy and Theory. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2025.2480769

Elton-Chalcraft, S, Cooling, T, Hand, M & Hannam, P 2025, 'Knowledge and religious education: a metalogue', British Journal of Religious Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2025.2548522

Hand, M 2025, 'Revisited: What Should We Teach as Controversial? A Defense of the Epistemic Criterion', Educational Theory. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70065

Hand, M 2024, 'Tillson on religious initiation', Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 104-107. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopedu/qhae010

Hand, M 2023, 'Education, extremism, and aversion to compromise', Educational Theory, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 341-354. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12582

Hand, M 2023, 'Hirst on rational moral education', Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 308-322. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopedu/qhac003

Hand, M 2022, 'Consent and mutuality in sex education', Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 677-684. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12681

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Hand, M 2026, Against flourishing as an educational aim. in J Beale & C Easton (eds), The Future of Education: Reimagining Its Aims and Responsibilities. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 133-148. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197669761.003.0009

Hand, M 2024, Is there a principled exception to the epistemic criterion of controversiality? in J Drerup, D Gronostay & D Yacek (eds), Teaching Controversy: The Politics and Ethics of Classroom Conflict. Oxford University Press.

Hand, M 2024, Moral education and the spectre of indoctrination. in L Nucci, T Krettenauer & WC Thompson (eds), Handbook of Moral and Character Education. 3rd edn, Educational Psychology Handbook, Routledge, London, pp. 26-42. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003374077-4

Hand, M 2024, Re-engineering educational concepts: a note of caution. in J Gatley & C Norefalk (eds), Conceptual Engineering in Education: Philosophical Analysis for Educational Problems. Philosophy of Education. Debates and Constellations, Brill, pp. 32-45. https://doi.org/10.30965/9783969753033_004

Hand, M 2023, Moral education and democratic education. in J Culp, J Drerup & D Yacek (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Democratic Education. Cambridge Handbooks in Education, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 146-159. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009071536.013

Editorial

Hand, M & Burbules, N 2025, 'Symposium Introduction: Educating Responsible Believers', Educational Theory, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 188-191. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70011

D'Olimpio, L & Hand, M 2023, 'Symposium introduction: education against extremism', Educational Theory, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 337-340. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12580

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Expertise

philosophy of education; moral education; political education; religious education; sex and relationships education; teaching controversial issues; education for patriotism; faith schools; philosophy in schools

Expertise

Philosophy of education; moral, political, religious and philosophical education; education for patriotism, teaching sexuality; the aims of religious education; faith schools; philosophy for children; teaching of controversial issues.