Dr Ruth Wareham

• PhD Philosophy of Education, University of Birmingham, 2018
• PGCE Primary Education, National SCITT in Outstanding Primary Schools, University of Nottingham, 2005
• MPhil Philosophy, University of Birmingham, 2004
• BA (Hons) Philosophy, University of Birmingham, 2002

I have a long association with the Department of Philosophy, having studied and worked here in various capacities since 1999. I returned to the department as a Teaching Fellow in January 2025, which very much feels like coming home.

For the past four years, I have been based in the School of Education, first as a Lecturer in Philosophy of Education and then as a Policy Impact Fellow for the Education Equity Initiative. Alongside this, I have worked at national charity Humanists UK in a range of public affairs and policy roles focused on education, and I continue to be involved as a voluntary Research Associate and in related advisory roles connected to this work.

This experience has fed directly into my academic work, allowing me to connect philosophical analysis with real-world educational policy questions, particularly those that engage children’s rights, freedom of religion or belief, and wider issues of justice. I have written extensively on these themes in academic and policy-facing contexts, including through my previous Postdoctoral Research Fellowship on the Faith Schooling: Principles and Policies project at the University of Warwick. This work informed a co-authored book, How to Think About Religious Schools (OUP, 2024), written with Matthew Clayton, Andrew Mason, and Adam Swift, and I am currently developing my own research on the topic further through a sole-authored monograph on faith schools.

Before becoming an academic, I worked as a primary school teacher in Birmingham and the West Midlands, and this professional experience continues to shape my interest in philosophy for children and education as a lived practice. I have also written philosophy with students in mind, recently co-authoring an introduction to philosophy of education with Laura D’Olimpio and Jane Gatley, which was published as part of the Palgrave Philosophy Today series.

I currently sit on the Editorial Board of the IMPACT pamphlet series and am a trustee of the Inclusive Education Trust (Accord). I have served as Conference Organiser for the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain for seven years, and I am also a parent governor at a local secondary school and a humanist representative on Birmingham’s Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE).

• LC Problems of Philosophy (B)
• LI Feminist Philosophy

I am currently supervising PhD students working on the educational uses of philosophy to cultivate justifiable doxastic attitudes, and on deemed consent education and training for specialist organ donation nurses. I have expertise in range of areas in philosophy of education, as well as moral and political philosophy. This includes: Religious education, Faith schools, Relationships and sex education, Moral education, Citizenship education, Education policy, Children’s rights, Autonomy, Liberal theory

My research predominantly focuses on philosophical issues at the intersection between religion, belief, and education, and explores their ethical and political implications for educational policy and decision-making. This includes work on faith schools and religious education, as well as broader questions about moral and civic education, children’s rights, and how educational institutions respond to moral and religious diversity.