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
