Julian Stern
Biographic Data
| ID | 4051422 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Julian Stern |
| GIVEN NAMES | Julian |
| FAMILY NAME | Stern |
| SIGNATURE | STERN J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Bishop Grosseteste University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4126-0100 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 35 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Two kinds of hope
Who are we
I am currently carrying out research on prayer in schools. As readers may imagine, this raises issues of the meaning of prayer – across different religious, cultural and educational contexts. What
What crisis
Back in 1979, the UK prime minister, James Callaghan, came back from a trip abroad. Everyone in the UK thought we were in the middle of an economic and social crisis at that time (the so-called ‘Wi
Defending the Value of Education as a Public Good: Philosophical Dialogues on Education and the State
Centred around a philosophical argument for contemporary education as a fundamental good, this edited volume demonstrates the benefits that education brings in a civil and flourishing societal context, while also critiquing the state’s role in supporting and strengthening this educational focus. Chapters present in-depth philosophical and historical arguments that explore core aspects of education that are frequently overlooked, illustrating educ…
Insights on student-centred and knowledge-centred teaching: Jewish studies teachers, pedagogy and community
The contrast between student-centred and knowledge-centred teaching is explored through a qualitative case study exploration of the pedagogies (Bruner’s ‘folk pedagogies’) of six teachers of Jewish studies. These teachers, based in orthodox Jewish schools in the UK and Australia, discussed their roles as teachers in the context of their responsibility for inducting students into the Jewish community. They appear to overcome (or at least mitigate)…
In and out of focus: RE horizons
I understand that long-term prisoners, when they eventually leave prison, almost always have problems with their eyesight. Without any distant horizons to look at, most newly-released long-term pri
Beyond knowledge-centred versus student-centred RE
Ineffable education, the uncommunicable and the uncommunicated
This article is a philosophical and theological exploration of the role of the ineffable as one of the central features that religion and religious traditions can bring to schooling. The ineffable is described as itself related to the uncommunicable and the uncommunicated – in all of life and specifically in schools. Drawing especially on Anglophone and Polish sources, the conclusion of the article draws on Moore’s earlier account of ineffability…
A world of difference
A very long walk to freedom
Nelson Mandela’s autobiography had the evocative title, Long Walk to Freedom (Mandela 2008). It was a personal history intertwined with a history of South Africa. Every country, every community, ev
Virtually the same: Online higher education in the post Covid‐19 era
For this special section for the British Journal of Education Technology on the future of online higher education in the post-covid-19 era, we called for research papers to analyse and reflect on the lessons and experiences universities, East and West, have gained over the period of the ongoing pandemic. We intended that the special section would also explore the implications for the future of online university education. The research is, therefo…
Cross-Cultural Integration through the Lens of Loneliness: A Study of Chinese Direct Entry Students in the United Kingdom
This study explores cross-cultural integration of Chinese top-up students in a UK university from the perspective of loneliness. Existing research on integration has underplayed loneliness. This study used semi-structured interviews to collect data at three key transition points during the top-up year. The findings suggest that students experienced loneliness both within and beyond their group, notwithstanding a number of reasons why they might b…
Reforming RE: Power and knowledge in a worldviews curriculum
"Reforming RE: power and knowledge in a worldviews curriculum." British Journal of Religious Education, 43(2), pp. 238–239
Persons, pedagogy, policy and philosophy
In different countries around the world, universities and research have better or worse public reputations. I am based in England, in which universities and research currently have a peculiarly poo
We’re still teaching, we’re still learning
This editorial was written during the covid-19 pandemic, a time when schools and universities around the world have changed how they work. Many buildings have been shut to staff and/or students, ye
RE leader connectedness: A theology of the lived reality of Catholic education
The relationships between RE leaders in Catholic education and their schools and their religious communities may be ambiguous. RE leaders often appear disconnected from both ‘ordinary’ teacher issues and ‘ordinary’ leadership issues because of their religious responsibilities. In this innovative research project, the authors have explored RE leader connectedness and disconnectedness in Catholic schools around the world. Visual research methods ar…
Challenges of the pandemic
Alone, together
Challenging RE research
All research is challenging: challenging in itself, because it involves rigorous investigation leading to original insights, and challenging to others, because its very originality means that other
Icarus ignored: Understanding mundane spirituality through young people’s prayer
A major international contribution to the applied philosophy of spirituality, this article builds on Wong’s description of ‘mundane spirituality’, exploring this through empirical research on young people’s approaches to prayer in Israel and the UK. The Icarus narrative is used as a metaphor for the apparent choice between the material, everyday, mundane and the heavenly, sacred and divine spiritual. Prayer is typically regarded as a spiritual ac…
Prayer spaces in schools: A subversion of policy implementation
Based on a major evaluation project, this article presents an emerging theme from research on the activities supported by Prayer Spaces in Schools, an organisation supporting ‘pop-up’ prayer spaces in schools across the UK and internationally. Evaluating the activities primarily in terms of their possible contribution to spiritual development, a number of important issues arose relating to policy on education and religion. This article focuses on…
Solitude and Self‐Realisation in Education
This article proposes a distinct role for solitude in education, specifically as a means of promoting self-realisation.Solitude is understood as a willed disengagement, as described by Koch, and its relationship to loneliness and to silence is explained.Notwithstanding a degree of disengagement, solitude can be and often is experienced as dialogic, with dialogue not only being internal (dialogue with the self) but also with others, near or distan…
An island, entire of itself
Re-reading John Donne, the 17th century Anglican priest, we are struck by how modern he sounds. His most quoted passage is particularly prescient: ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man
The spirit of religious education
As an educational researcher I began researching spirituality because, in the UK, ‘spiritual development’ is a statutory requirement for all state schools, and I wanted to explore whether this was appropriate and what it might therefore mean. This led to my researching relational spirituality (as also described by David Hay), both in the UK and Hong Kong, and the idea of the ‘spirit of the school’ emerged. This was subsequently applied to researc…
Buddhist understanding of childhood spirituality: The Buddha’s children
"Buddhist understanding of childhood spirituality: the Buddha’s children." Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 8(1), pp. 109–110
Solitude and Self‐Realisation in Education
This article proposes a distinct role for solitude in education, specifically as a means of promoting self-realisation.Solitude is understood as a willed disengagement, as described by Koch, and its relationship to loneliness and to silence is explained.Notwithstanding a degree of disengagement, solitude can be and often is experienced as dialogic, with dialogue not only being internal (dialogue with the self) but also with others, near or distan…
Challenging RE research
All research is challenging: challenging in itself, because it involves rigorous investigation leading to original insights, and challenging to others, because its very originality means that other
Treachery & Innocence: Psychology and racial difference in South Africa
Journal Article Treachery & Innocence: psychology and racial difference in South Africa Get access Treachery & Innocence: psychology and racial difference in South Africa, by N. Chabani Manganyi. Hans Zell, London, 1992. 158 pp. £29.50 hardback. ISBN 1 873836 05 8. JULIAN STERN JULIAN STERN Maudsley HospitalLondon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 92, Issue 367, April 1993, Pages 307–…
John Macmurray, Spirituality, Community and Real Schools
This paper suggests that the work of the Scottish philosopher John Macmurray provides a valuable contribution to debates on spirituality, education, and schools as communities. In particular by recognizing the nature of the spiritual in everyday activities of people in communities, by focusing on the overall aims of schooling, and by rejecting dualism, idealism and materialism, Macmurray was able to describe how schools might properly be organize…
EMU Leadership: An egalitarian magnanimous undemocratic way for schools
This paper suggests that the nature of leadership as a significant human characteristic, derived from both philosophical and psychological theorizing, can appropriately be seen as egalitarian (in Macmurray's sense) and magnanimous (in Aristotle's sense), whilst remaining undemocratic. Empirical research carried out in schools supports the idea that, in particular circumstances, this model of leadership may indeed already be recognized in schools.…
Dialogic feedback for children and teachers: Evaluating the ‘spirit of assessment’
Assessment is often portrayed as impersonal or, if personal, rather negative or even aggressive. In schools, much assessment tends to lower the self-esteem of pupils, whilst in universities, feedback is often rated lower than other dimensions by higher education students. Yet assessment of work is generally the most intensively individual regular teacher–pupil or tutor–student communication. The work here presents an analytical framework, making …
Disabled church – disabled society: The implications of autism for philosophy, theology and politics
Surprise in Schools: Martin Buber and dialogic schooling
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Martin Buber, Empathy and Research Practice: A Response to Rachel Cope
Researching religion and spirituality raises issues about the position of the researcher and the relationship between researcher and researched. These can be explored using Martin Buber’s idea of dialogue involving Realphantasie, ‘imagining the real’. Dialogue requires a strong form of empathy, which can take place notwithstanding profound disagreement, whereas a more dialectical progress to agreement is more associated with sympathy, feeling ano…
Spiritual capital: Spirituality in practice in Christian perspective
"Spiritual capital: spirituality in practice in Christian perspective." International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 18(2), pp. 227–228
No entry’, an invitation to intrude, or both? Reflections on a group of anorexic patients
This paper describes the twice-weekly psychoanalytic psychotherapy of a young woman who had undergone major bowel surgery in her early 20s, with no clear medical indication for the surgery. Whilst the concept of 'No Entry' described by Williams (, b) aptly describes many features of more 'typical' anorexic patients, this paper describes a particular group of anorexic patients, referred by their physicians for multiple medical procedures; and prop…
Loneliness and Solitude in Education: How to Value Individuality and Create an Enstatic School
The spirit of religious education
As an educational researcher I began researching spirituality because, in the UK, ‘spiritual development’ is a statutory requirement for all state schools, and I wanted to explore whether this was appropriate and what it might therefore mean. This led to my researching relational spirituality (as also described by David Hay), both in the UK and Hong Kong, and the idea of the ‘spirit of the school’ emerged. This was subsequently applied to researc…
Buddhist understanding of childhood spirituality: The Buddha’s children
"Buddhist understanding of childhood spirituality: the Buddha’s children." Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 8(1), pp. 109–110
Icarus ignored: Understanding mundane spirituality through young people’s prayer
A major international contribution to the applied philosophy of spirituality, this article builds on Wong’s description of ‘mundane spirituality’, exploring this through empirical research on young people’s approaches to prayer in Israel and the UK. The Icarus narrative is used as a metaphor for the apparent choice between the material, everyday, mundane and the heavenly, sacred and divine spiritual. Prayer is typically regarded as a spiritual ac…
Prayer spaces in schools: A subversion of policy implementation
Based on a major evaluation project, this article presents an emerging theme from research on the activities supported by Prayer Spaces in Schools, an organisation supporting ‘pop-up’ prayer spaces in schools across the UK and internationally. Evaluating the activities primarily in terms of their possible contribution to spiritual development, a number of important issues arose relating to policy on education and religion. This article focuses on…
Solitude and Self‐Realisation in Education
This article proposes a distinct role for solitude in education, specifically as a means of promoting self-realisation.Solitude is understood as a willed disengagement, as described by Koch, and its relationship to loneliness and to silence is explained.Notwithstanding a degree of disengagement, solitude can be and often is experienced as dialogic, with dialogue not only being internal (dialogue with the self) but also with others, near or distan…
An island, entire of itself
Re-reading John Donne, the 17th century Anglican priest, we are struck by how modern he sounds. His most quoted passage is particularly prescient: ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man
Alone, together
Challenging RE research
All research is challenging: challenging in itself, because it involves rigorous investigation leading to original insights, and challenging to others, because its very originality means that other
Reforming RE: Power and knowledge in a worldviews curriculum
"Reforming RE: power and knowledge in a worldviews curriculum." British Journal of Religious Education, 43(2), pp. 238–239
Persons, pedagogy, policy and philosophy
In different countries around the world, universities and research have better or worse public reputations. I am based in England, in which universities and research currently have a peculiarly poo
We’re still teaching, we’re still learning
This editorial was written during the covid-19 pandemic, a time when schools and universities around the world have changed how they work. Many buildings have been shut to staff and/or students, ye
RE leader connectedness: A theology of the lived reality of Catholic education
The relationships between RE leaders in Catholic education and their schools and their religious communities may be ambiguous. RE leaders often appear disconnected from both ‘ordinary’ teacher issues and ‘ordinary’ leadership issues because of their religious responsibilities. In this innovative research project, the authors have explored RE leader connectedness and disconnectedness in Catholic schools around the world. Visual research methods ar…
Challenges of the pandemic
A world of difference
A very long walk to freedom
Nelson Mandela’s autobiography had the evocative title, Long Walk to Freedom (Mandela 2008). It was a personal history intertwined with a history of South Africa. Every country, every community, ev
Sociology (30 works) · Philosophy (19 works) · Psychology (18 works) · Pedagogy (14 works) · Political science (13 works) · Epistemology (12 works) · Law (9 works) · Religious Education and Schools (9 works) · Medicine (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works)