James Arthur is Director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues in the University of Birmingham and Professor of Education and Civic Engagement. He is currently Chair of the Society for Educational Studies and was Head of the School of Education 2010-2015 and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Staffing 2015-2019. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 by the Queen.

James is the leading academic in the UK on character education, and on policy entrepreneurship in education. He has written widely on the relationship between theory and practice in education, particularly the links between communitarianism, social virtues, citizenship, religion and education. James established the Jubilee Centre in 2012, and the Centre has grown in size, scope, and impact since its launch at the House of Lords in May 2012.

Consultancies and honours

Honorary Professor University of Glasgow

Honorary Fellow West Point Military Academy

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. (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