Professor David Aldridge

Profile

Biography

David Aldridge taught religious education and philosophy in secondary schools before moving into Higher Education.  He has held positions at King’s College London, Oxford Brookes University and Brunel University London.

Research Interests

My research cuts across all faculty themes. I am originally a philosopher and linguist but also a competent generalist theorist with a broad range of research interests, so I have something to contribute to most areas of educational research. My three main projects are (i) the idea of evidence and evidence-based practice in teacher development and policy, as well as the idea of an educational ‘science’ (my current writing project in this area is an intervention to policy and practice around the long term effects of school attendance).  (ii) An interdisciplinary project that draws on history, philosophy and theology to explore the legacy of the theological origins of schooling in contemporary educational practice.  My writing in this area touches on literacy, constructions of intelligence and ideas of educational fairness, faith schools, moral education and the curriculum.    I am also developing (iii) an interest in artificial intelligence and education. My specific contributions here are around the importance of embodiment to human intelligence (philosophical) as well as risks involved in AI-supported lesson-planning (empirical). I have previously written on the philosophy of educational technology.

Teacher education, philosophy of education, religion and education, literature and education, moral education, technology and education, schooling.  

Teaching

David welcomes prospective doctoral students interested in teacher education or a range of themes in philosopy of education, artificial intelligence and education, moral education, religion and education or the interaction of literary studies and education.