Claire Cassidy

Claire Cassidy is a full professor at the Strathclyde Institute of Education, University of Strathclyde, in Scotland. Claire has worked at the University since 2001, having previously been a primary school teacher. She has practised practical philosophy with children for over thirty years, having trained in McCall’s approach to Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI). She undertook her MPhil and PhD at the University of Glasgow. The focus of her thesis was on the philosophical concept of child and how CoPI might help us to think about children and their status and engagement in society. Claire developed the Postgraduate Certificate in Philosophy with Children at the University of Strathclyde where she trains students in facilitating CoPI. She also regularly delivers short professional development courses for teachers and others keen to engage people of any age in practical philosophy. Claire is on the editorial board of childhood & philosophy, Journal of Philosophy in Schools and Scottish Educational Review. Her research interests revolve around practical philosophy, children’s rights and concepts of child and childhood. Having evolved the use of practical philosophy as a research method, Claire often uses this in her work such as in the recent projects Because we Care that she led, exploring ideas of care and well-being with siblings of children with life-limiting conditions through philosophical inquiry (https://www.becausewecareproject.com/) and RADICAL, for which she led a work package using philosophical inquiry to engage in ideas related to respect (https://sites.google.com/view/radicalresearch/home?authuser=1).