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 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!
Original post, 31st May 2025:
Below you’ll find my PhD proposal.
Much of my MA work has focussed on the “lure” hypothesis – the common but controversial idea that rewards can be used to lure children into developing more internal motivation for virtuous behaviours. In truth, the lure hypothesis is less about rewards per se and more about the effect that a certain class of behaviours – namely, behaviours that instantiate intrinsically valuable moral virtues (e.g., honesty, kindness, bravery) – can have on those who start off extrinsically motivated. The suggestion is that engaging in such behaviours can prompt an internal shift in motivation. For my MA dissertation, I attempt to test the lure hypothesis via an intervention at my school. For my PhD, I will start looking at strategies that might speed up the internalisation process – specifically, that of phronesis-guided reflection.
Phronesis is an idea from ancient Greek philosophy, especially Aristotle; it means “practical wisdom” – the sort of wisdom that enables us to make good moral decisions (see Key concepts). There are (arguably) four components of phronesis:
- Moral perception, which allows us to recognise/identify the morally important aspects of a situation;
- Emotional regulation, which prevents our emotions from running away with us;
- Moral adjudication, which enables us to decide between competing virtues (e.g., honesty and kindness);
- An overarching picture – or “blueprint” – of what it means to live a good life.
When I suggest that phronesis-guided reflection could speed up the internalisation of virtue, the component I most have in mind is the blueprint component. Teachers and parents often rely on such strategies when trying to correct negative behaviour. If a child has just been unkind, say, they might ask, “Is that really the sort of person you want to be when you grow up?” This kind of questioning invites the child to begin forming a blueprint, which might then be brought to bear on the present in order to help regulate behaviour. “I don’t want to be unkind when I grow up, so I should refrain from being unkind.” For my PhD, I plan to investigate whether the same sort of blueprint-invoking questioning might actively promote positive (i.e., morally virtuous) behaviours. Moreover, I will attempt to test this idea via a randomised controlled trial at my school… Wish me luck! I will post updates as I go along here.
I have already delivered one conference presentation based on my proposed PhD research. For those interested in applying for PhD funding, it is worth noting that the proposal below comprised the largest part (40%) of an application that won an ESRC studentship. If you think I might be able to help with a funding application, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.