James Arthur is Professor Emeritus of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues and was Director between 2012-2023 in the University of Birmingham. James was Head of the School of Education from 2010-2015 and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 2015-2019. He was previously Editor of the British Journal of Educational Studies for ten years and holds numerous honorary titles and Fellowships in the academe, including Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, Faculty Affiliate at Harvard University, Senior Fellow of Boston College, Visiting Senior Fellow of the University of Virginia, and Visiting Professor at Rome’s Pontifical Angelicum University. He became the 15th Distinguished C. J. Koh Professor of the National Institute of Education in Singapore. James was made an Officer of the British Empire by the Queen in 2018 and in 2020 won the internationally prestigious Expanded Reason Award from the Ratzinger Foundation in the Vatican. He has written widely on the relationship between theory and practice in education, particularly the links between character, virtues, flourishing, religion, and education.
James is President of the European Character and Virtues Association, chairs the national UK Society for Educational Studies and has served on many UK governmental education committees, as well as the Step Up to Serve Advisory Council chaired by HRH the Prince of Wales (2013-2020). In 2023 his Centre won the prestigious QS Global Award in Education from 1,200 international entries together with the first ever Ethics in Education Award. He received the 2017 Ferdinande Boxberger Prize in Germany and in December 2024 he received the Sandy McDonald Award, becoming the first non-American to receive it. James advises several international charities, particularly the Kern Family Foundation of which he is Consultant and a Senior Fellow. James graduated with a master’s and doctorate from the University of Oxford (Oriel College) and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Glasgow in December 2025. James is a Fellow of Blackfriars Hall in Oxford.
Consultancies and honours
Honorary Professor University of Glasgow
Honorary Fellow West Point Military Academy
Honorary Doctor of Letters Glasgow University
Member of Step Up to Serve Advisory Board
Chair of Executive Board of the Society for Educational Studies
Fellow of Higher Education Foundation
Chair of Character ScotlandChair of the Journal Citizenship Teaching and Learning
Former Editor of the British Journal of Educational Studies
Selected publications
Books: single, co-authored and edited
Arthur, J. (2024) Philosophies of Catholic Education, Routledge, London
Arthur, J., (2021) A Christian Education in the Virtues: Character Formation and Human Flourishing, Routle dge, London
Arthur, J. (2019) The Formation of Character in Education: From aristotle to the 21st Century, Routledge, London
Arthur, J. (2019) The Formation of Character in Education, Routledge, London.
Arthur, J., (2017) Policy Entrepreneurship in Education , Routledge, London
Arthur, J., (ed.) (2016) Teaching Virtue, Routledge: London
Arthur, J., (ed.) (2016) Religious Education 4 Volumes, Routledge: London
Arthur, J., and Lovat, T., (eds.) (2014) International Handbook of Education, Religion and Values, Routledge, London
Arthur, J., Waring, M., and Coe, R., (eds.) (2012) (eds.) Research Methods in Educational Research, Sage, London
Arthur, J. and Peterson, A., (2011) (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Education, Routledge, London
Arthur J., and Cremin, H., (2011) (eds.) Debates in Citizenship Education, Routledge, London
Arthur, J., (2010) Of Good Character: Explorations of Virtues in Values 3-25, Imprint Academic, London.
Arthur, J., (2010) (ed.) New Direction in Character and Values Education Research, Imprint Academic, London
Arthur, J., Gearon, L., and Sear, A., (2010) Education, Politics and Religion, Routledge, London
Arthur, J., and Wright, M., (2010) (eds.) Leadership in Christian Higher Education, Imprint Academic, London.
Arthur, J., and Davies, I., (2009) (eds.) A Reader in Educational Studies, Routledge, London
Arthur, J., (2009) and Davies, I., (eds.) Handbook in Educational Studies, Routledge, LondonArthur, J., and Davies, I, (2008) (eds.) Citizenship Studies, 4 volumes, Sage, London
Arthur, J., and Davies, I., (2007) (ed.) International Handbook in Citizenship and Democracy, Sage, London
Arthur, J., and Nicholls, G., (2007) Newman – Eminent Thinkers in Education, Continuum, London
Arthur, J., (2003) Education with Character: The Moral Economy of Schooling, London: Routledge
Books: series editor
Arthur, J., (2007-) Teaching X Subject in the Primary School, Routledge, London
Arthur, J., (2001 and 2002) The Church Dimension in Higher Education – edited volumes for the Council of Church Colleges and Universities, London
Arthur, J., (1998-) Issues in the Teaching of X Subject, Routledge, London: series of books on the National Curriculum subjects in primary and secondary schools
Chapters in books
Arthur, J. (2015) Religion in Public Schools, in The Handbook of Secularism, Oxford University Press, Oxford. (in print)
Arthur, J., (2013) Secular Education, in Arthur, J., and Lovat, T., (eds.) International Handbook of Education, Religion and Values, Routledge, London
Articles in refereed journals
Arthur, J. (2019) The Value of Character?Based Judgement in the Professional Domain, Journal of Business Ethics
Arthur, J. (2018), Christianity and the Character Education Movement 1897-1914′, History of Education.
Arthur, J., (2016) The Idea of the First ‘Civic University’, British Journal of Educational Studies.
Arthur, J., (2015) Measuring Virtue Literacy in Schools, International Studies in Catholic Education, (forthcoming)
Arthur, J., (2015) The Trojan Horse Affair in Birmingham Schools, British Journal of Educational Studies, (forthcoming)
Arthur, J., (2012) Christian Commentary in Education 1930-1960, History of Education, Vol 41 No. 3, 339-359
Arthur, J. and Carr, D., (2013) Character in Learning for Life: A Virtue-Ethical Rationale for Recent Research on Moral and Values Education, Journal of Beliefs and Values, Vol. 34 No. 1, 26-35
Arthur, J., and Holdsworth, M., (2012) Secular Education in European Public Schools, British Journal of Educational Studies. Vol 60 No. 2 129-149
Arthur, J., (2012) Character and Good Citizenship, in Asia-Pacific Journal of Education, Vol. 32. No. 4. 489-497
Arthur, J., (2013) The De-Catholisation of the Catholic School Curriculum in England, International Studies in Catholic Education, Vol. 5. No. 1 83-98
Research interests
Character education and ethics