Below you’ll find my MA dissertation. This one has been a long time coming! The central question is: Can extrinsic rewards be used to induce intrinsic motivation for virtuous behaviour? I first wrote about this controversial question in the final essay of my PGCE in 2022, and then in the first, second, third, and fifth […]
Evaluating the lure hypothesis in the classroom Read More »
Below you’ll find one of two abstracts submitted to the Jubilee Centre’s 2026 annual conference. You can find the other abstract here. Neither were accepted. In the abstract, I propose mapping the Jubilee Centre‘s three strategies of character “caught”, “taught”, and “sought” onto Self-Determination Theory’s (SDT) three basic psychologcal needs: relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Specifically,
Character education and basic psychological needs Read More »
Below you’ll find one of two abstracts submitted to the Jubilee Centre’s 2026 annual conference. You can find the other abstract here. Neither were accepted. The abstract reports on my MA dissertation study, which attempted to test the lure hypothesis in a school setting. The lure hypothesis, recall, suggests that rewards can be used to
A method for evaluating character education interventions Read More »
Below you’ll find an abstract that I submitted for presentation at the Association for Moral Education’s 2025 annual conference. It didn’t really fit with the conference theme, but it was accepted for a poster presentation. I will include the poster below once I have made it. I submitted the same abstract for the European Character
Below you’ll find one of two abstracts submitted for presentation at the Phronesis in Theory and Practice conference at the University of Gdańsk. Both were accepted. I chose to present this one, as it drew explicitly on my proposed PhD research. You can find my presentation slides below, too. (You can read the other accepted
Phronesis and virtue internalisation Read More »
Below you’ll find an abstract based on the sixth essay I wrote for my MA in Character Education (2022-25). The abstract was accepted for presentation at the European Character and Virtue Association’s (ECVA) 2024 annual conference in Rome. Alas, due to teaching commitments, I was unable to attend. However, I later submitted it as one
Rewards and justice Read More »
My thinking regarding my PhD research often changes. I will use this post to chronicle those changes, starting with my most recent thoughts. As of 26th September 2025: The following is an abstract I wrote for my student profile: Character development involves internalising virtues such as honesty, kindness, and bravery; and a virtue is internalised
The role of reflection in character development Read More »
The sixth module of my MA in Character Education (2022-25) was about leadership. This was my opportunity to articulate a vision for leading character education at my school. I had already critiqued my school’s approach to character education – especially its rewards policy – in several previous essays. Now, I had to think about what
Character is what we do in the toilets! Read More »
Below you’ll find the sixth essay I wrote for my MA in Character Education (2022-25). I struggled with this one. I had an idea that I wanted to explore – something I’d touched on in a previous assignment. I wanted to investigate the effect that rewards have on onlookers (i.e., non-recipients), an important issue given
Rewards, justice, and dialogue Read More »
For the fourth module of my MA in Character Education (2022-25), I returned to the idea that rewards can be used to lure otherwise unmotivated children into developing intrinsic (or more autonomous) motivation for virtuous behaviours (see Key concepts). In a previous essay, I outlined how this “lure” hypothesis might be tested in a controlled
Testing the lure hypothesis in school Read More »
