Jennifer Bleazby

While undertaking a Bachelor of Arts at La Trobe University, I completed a unit called Philosophy for Children as a part of a philosophy major. As a result, I became very interested in Matthew Lipman and Ann Sharp's ideas about teaching philosophy in schools using the community of inquiry pedagogy. After writing an honours thesis about Philosophy for Children and feminist epistemology, I completed a Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Melbourne in 2002 and I have worked as a secondary school Media Studies, SOSE/Humanities, History and Philosphy teacher in both government and independent schools. In 2007, I completed a PhD in the School of Philosophy at the University of New South Wales. My PhD thesis developed my work on Philosophy for Children and feminist epistemology but also involved research into how the ideas of the philosopher John Dewey had influenced Philosophy for Children. In general, my research involves an exploration of the implications of philosophical problems and theories for educational theory and practice. My research also involves an investigation of the value of teaching philosophy in schools.