Dr Claire Cassidy

Professor

Education

Personal statement

I joined the University in 2001 and am currently a Professor in the School of Education. I am also currently the Deputy Head of School with responsibility for Innovation and Impact.

My research interests primarily relate to three areas: practical philosophy with children and young people, children’s human rights and human rights education, and concepts of children and childhood. While these areas may be considered discretely, my work often demonstrates the overlap between the these.

In the area of Philosophy with Children (PwC), I am particularly interested in children’s dialogue, participation and in what PwC might offer children and young people through the curriculum, notably in citizenship, Time for Reflection and well-being. My work also asserts that PwC can support children and young people’s deliberative participation, which aligns with my interest in human rights education and children’s human rights. I have also proposed that PwC may be used as a rights-based research method. The view I have is that practical philosophy supports children and young people to see themselves as in-and-of the world and to be able to consider themselves in-relation to others.

A key feature of my work is that I enjoy collaborating with teachers on research projects relating to Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) in their classrooms. My empirical research, therefore, is undertaken in early years, primary school and secondary school contexts. I have also worked with young people in secure accommodation and am involved in a project in Further Education considering how participation in CoPI might support TESOL students in their English language learning.

I am on the editorial board for Childhood & Philosophy: Journal of the International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children and for Scottish Educational Review: an International Journal of Education Research.

I am the course leader for the Postgraduate Certificate in Philosophy with Children, a course that is unique internationally.  It is part of the MEd (Education Studies) at the University of Strathclyde. For more information on this course: https://www.strath.ac.uk/courses/postgraduatetaught/educationstudiesmed/

I teach on various modules on the other courses within the School of Education, including: Children and Childhood, Thinking in and about Education, Understanding Education in the 21st Century, Education Studies and Professional Values.

I supervise a range of MEd dissertations on various topics, but predominantly these pertain to: PwC, children and young people’s voice and participation, citizenship, children’s human rights and human rights education.

I welcome opportunities to work with doctoral students. I supervise EdD and PhD students working in the areas of Philosophy with Children, social justice education, children and young people’s citizenship, voice and participation, critical thinking skills, problem-based learning, and teachers’ professional learning. Please contact me if you’d like to discuss doctoral opportunities. You may be interested to know there is an EdD(PwC) available in the School of Education.

In relation to CPD/Career-long Professional Learning (CLPL) and Knowledge Exchange, my work relates to both Philosophy with Children and human rights education/children's rights.  I often work with schools and other organisations to provide CLPL in these areas. I have worked extensively with Glasgow City Council’s CREATE and also work with Stirling Council's Creative Learning Network, providing PwC training for many of their teachers to advance their own and children’s creativity. I also work with schools to support them in embedding PwC into their curriculum and everyday practice.

I established and lead the Philosophy with Children and Communities Network.  This group brings together teachers and others trained to facilitate Community of Philosophical Inquiry with children and adults.  We meet on a monthly basis to explore ways of developing philosophy in schools and the wider community, we engage in joint research activity, and we continue to practise facilitating CoPI as a group to maintain our facilitation skills.  We have members around Scotland, but also in England, Australia and the USA.  Our website is currently under construction.

I am a member of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children, and the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow.

Publications

The present and future of doing Philosophy with Children : practical philosophy and addressing children and young people's status in a complex world
Cassidy Claire
Childhood and Philosophy Vol 19 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.12957/childphilo.2023.71920
Philosophieren – eine kinderorientierte Forschungsmethode
Conrad Sarah-Jane, Cassidy Claire
Philosophieren und Ethik (2023) (2023)
Philosophy for/with children and learning for sustainability : lessons for teachers
Cassidy Claire
Philosophy with Children and Teacher Education Global Perspectives on Critical, Creative and Caring Thinking (2022) (2022)
Podcast #38 : Meet an academic: Anna Robinson
Robinson Anna, Cassidy Claire
(2022)
Podcast #37 : Meet an academic: Amy Hanna
Cassidy Claire, Hanna Amy
(2022)
Creating a learning environment conducive to children's well-being through Philosophy with Children in a Scottish classroom
Cassidy Claire, Marwick Helen, Dwyer Cillian, Lucas Emma
Education 3-13, pp. 3-13 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2022.2125333

More publications

Professional activities

Community of Philosophical Inquiry: Addressing issues of our time
Speaker
26/4/2023
What's Best for You? Different P4C Approaches
Speaker
21/3/2023
Community of Philosophical Inquiry
Speaker
12/3/2023
Learning for Sustainability through Philosophy with Children
Speaker
7/3/2023
Children’s human rights education: A view from Scotland
Speaker
6/3/2023
Children's Rights and Ethical Research with Children
Speaker
23/2/2023

More professional activities

Projects

Thinking Together to Live Together
Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator)
This session was provided for Imaginate, an arts-based charity. It involved training and staff development in children's rights and practical philosophy with children and young people.
25-Jan-2021 - 25-Jan-2021
Philosophy with Children: an Introduction and Children as Researchers
Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator)
This short course offers five half-days of training in Philosophy with Children to teachers in St. Rose of Lima Primary School, Glasgow. It also includes a project, working with Primary 7 children as researchers.
18-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2022
Philosophy with Children, embedding it in the curriculum
Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator)
This is similar to other introductory five half-day sessions. This short course is provided for teachers in Robert Smillie Memorial School. In addition to the short course, I will work closely with school staff to embed the practice in the curriculum in order that it becomes part of teachers' everyday practice, and children's experience across the school.
06-Jan-2021 - 16-Jan-2022
Contemporary Childhood Conference
Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator)
This is the fourth biennial Contemporary Childhood Conference. The theme of the conference is Border and Boundaries. The conference is an international, multi-disciplinary conference. It is held on-line due to COVID restrictions.
09-Jan-2021 - 10-Jan-2021
Philosophy with Children: an Introduction
Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator)
This short course was undertaken over five half-days with teachers from Croftfoot Primary School, Swinton Primary School, St. Albert's Primary School and Mount Florida Primary School. The teachers will work to embed practical philosophy across their four schools in this partnership project.
23-Jan-2021 - 04-Jan-2021
Proposal for Process and Impact Evaluation of the East Lothian Tutoring Initiative (ELTI)
Sosu, Edward (Principal Investigator) Cassidy, Claire (Co-investigator) Kennedy, Aileen (Co-investigator) Klein, Markus (Co-investigator)
06-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2021

More projects