About Me
I am currently studying for a PhD in the Philosophy Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science. My work is primarily in Political Philosophy and its application to education policy.
I work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at LSE and am currently teaching Philosophy and Public Policy.
Prior to taking up the studentship at LSE, I taught Philosophy and Religious Studies to 11-18 year olds. Having spent 8 years in schools in the Greater London area, working my way from classroom teacher to Head of Department, I have a practical awareness of the impact of education policy on students and teachers, as well as first-hand experience of the dilemmas one encounters in the classroom that beg of philosophical reflection.
Philosophy
Neutrality
What would it look like to give a 'neutral justification' for a particular public policy? To what extent should the liberal state be concerned with being neutral?
Tolerance
Can a principled ground be given for tolerance? I'm interested in respect-based grounds for tolerance, and the further question of what understanding of tolerance such a ground would motivate. In my view, respect for persons should motivate engagement with the other, rather than merely the detached non-interference often argued for in the literature. I'm also interested in what the limits of tolerance are, and how one might teach tolerance when its boundaries are so unclear.
Liberal Values
How justifiable is it to teach 'liberal values', given that not everyone agrees with these values? Liberals value freedom, so doesn't that mean allowing parents the freedom to choose what values their children are taught? And if liberals value tolerance, shouldn't this extend to tolerating those with illiberal values? My research looks at whether we can justify teaching liberal values in a way that avoids the charge that children are being 'indoctrinated' into liberalism.
Philosophy of Education
John Stuart Mill declared it "almost a self-evident axiom" that all children must be educated - a view held in common with most liberals. But here the agreement stops and some seemingly intractable problems arise. Education is a means to liberty in later life, but what should we do when imposing education conflicts with present liberties? And how can the liberal be consistent in valuing a diversity of views at the same time as advocating compulsory education, for the moment we state what must be compulsory, we bring in a controversial vision of 'the good education'?
I'm also interested in thinking about the limits of free speech in the classroom and the extent to which we should see teachers to be neutral agents of the state.
Disagreement
Political philosophers often assume that reasonable disagreement is a permanent feature of free societies. Is this justified? And how can this be used to justify liberal views to those who disagree that disagreement is reasonable?
Publications
Easton, C., Goodman, A. Wright, A. & Wright, A. (forthcoming). A Practical Guide to Critical Religious Education: Resources for the Secondary Classroom (title TBC). London: Routledge.
Easton, C. (2017). Did most Brits fail in their civic duties in the EU referendum? Think 16 (45), Vol. 16.
Conference Papers
Truth in science and "truth" in religion: An enquiry into student views on different types of truth-claim, Science and Religion in Education, 28/10/16
Decriminalising polygamy in the UK: Reflections on policy change, Warwick Political and Legal Theory Conference, 13/2/2016
Exemplifying a Critical RE Approach to Philosophy and Ethics (with the FORASE team), St. Gabriels Teacher Weekend (Energising RE), 03/10/15
Critical RE Research Updates (with the FORASE team), St. Gabriels Teacher Weekend (Energising RE), 03/10/15
Applying a Critical Realist Pedagogy: A case study on Islam (with the FORASE team), St. Gabriels Teacher Weekend (Leaders for Changing RE: Defining our Future), 28/09/13
The Exemplification of a Critical RE Pedagogy (with Angela Wright, Angela Goodman), St. Gabriels Teacher Weekend (From Here to Outstanding: Pushing the Boundaries for RE), 29/09/12 and 30/09/12
Does Critical Realist Religious Education conflict with the "social cohesion agenda"? Religion, Education and Critical Realism (Oxford Brookes). 07/09/12
Discriminating Tolerance and Religious Education: Dealing with incompatible truth-claims in the classroom. Teaching and Studying Religion: choices and challenges (British Sociological Association). 15/12/11
Critical Religious Education in the Classroom (with Tom Hibberd). ISRSA Annual Conference. 27/09/10
Teaching
Philosophy & Public Policy (LSE, 2016-17)
Example topics: Immigration; global aid; statistical discrimination; paying for Higher Education; population policy; freedom of speech.
Philosophy & Public Policy (LSE, 2015-16)
Example topics: Healthcare ethics (responsibility, risk, resource distribution); climate change; killing vs. letting die; intellectual property.
Philosophy A-Level (2009-15)
Epistemology; Political Philosophy; Mill's On Liberty as set text; moral philosophy.
Religious Studies A-Level (2008-15)
Moral Philosophy; Philosophy of Religion.
Recent teaching feedback
Mean score in seminar evaluations conducted for 2015-6 classes ('How satisfied have you been with the class teaching on this course by this teacher?' where 1 = very good; 5 = poor): 1.3.
Anonymous comments from students on teaching feedback forms:
"My best teacher by a long long way! Pleasure to attend classes, worth waking up for at 10am on a Monday."
"Thought marking was great. By far the most thorough feedback I've got in any formative essay at LSE and that was really helpful."
Awards
Shortlisted for New Philosopher Writer's Award 2016 (topic: Education)
LSE studentship (tuition fees and full living expenses), 2015-2019
AHRC scholarship (tuition fees and full living expenses), 2015-2018 (declined)