
Dr Steven Stolz
Senior Lecturer
School of Education
Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - ste.stolz@outlook.com to discuss availability.
Qualifications:BEd (secondary), GradDipTh (theology), MA (philosophy), PhD
(philosophy)
ORCID ID #: 0000-0001-5900-0329
Brief Overview:
Steven Stolz, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer (Teaching & Research), and former
Program Director (Master of Teaching) at the University of Adelaide. In addition
to being an academic, he has a popular podcast show titled, "Deep Thinking with Dr
Steven Stolz: Where Academic Rigor Meets Real Life".
Before becoming an academic, Dr Stolz completed a Bachelor of Education (BEd), and
then taught for 10 as a secondary school teacher across a diverse array of
curriculum areas in various jurisdictions in Australia. Whilst teaching, he
completed a Graduate Diploma of Theology (GradDipTh), a Master of Arts (MA), and a
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) [latter two in philosophy]. Since becoming an academic,
he has received a number of notable academic awards and distinctions, and accepted
various invitations to be a visiting scholar in the US, UK and Australia, as well
as other accolades. Dr Stolz has over a decade of experience as an academic in the
tertiary sector. During this time, he has taught different courses at both
undergraduate and postgraduate levels, supervised postgraduate research students
to completion, held various informal and formal leadership roles, demonstrated an
active research agenda (e.g., 50+ publications), been awarded assorted grants,
engaged in extensive service to the community, academic disciplines, professional
associations, and also worked at other higher education institutions in Australia
(i.e., Melbourne). He is still a fully registered secondary school teacher, and is
passionate about education and philosophy.
His scholarship is best described as interdisciplinary in nature because it is
located at the intersection between philosophy and education. He is passionate
about philosophy and education, and hence why he is interested in, and also an
expert in the area of educational philosophy and theory. He has a particular
interest in the works of Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Nietzsche, Husserl,
Merleau-Ponty, Ryle, Wittgenstein, Dreyfus, Nagel, Kaufmann, R. S. Peters, P. H.
Hirst, MacIntyre, and other influential thinkers.
Dr Stolz is the former Convener (2013-2023) of the Australian Association for
Research in Education (AARE) “Educational Philosophy & Theory” special
interest group, and currently associate staff member of the Philosophy Department
at the University of Adelaide. In addition, he is a regular reviewer for a range
of academic journals, and currently an editorial board member for the following
academic journals: "Educational Philosophy and Theory", and "Educational
Theory".
Research: Main Field of Research (FoR) area: FoR code 3902 (i.e., “Education
policy, sociology and philosophy”), particularly FoR code 390202 (i.e., “History
and philosophy of education”). Other areas of research and interest, include:
- epistemology/educational epistemology;
- phenomenology/applied phenomenology;
- embodiment/embodied cognition/embodied learning;
- narrative/narrative inquiry;
- ethics/applied ethics;
- social justice/justice/jurisprudence;
- curriculum studies/teaching/secondary education;
- educational policy and practice;
- theology/religious education;
- qualitative approaches to research;
- psychology/psychology of learning/learning sciences;
- moral education; &,
- virtue and character development, particularly the Bildung tradition.
Supervision: Dr Stolz supervises HDR students in the following broad areas:
- philosophy of education;
- philosophy;
- education/educational studies;
- epistemology;
- phenomenology;
- embodied cognition;
- ethics or applied ethics;
- curriculum studies/secondary education;
- educational policy and practice;
- pedagogy/teaching;
- psychology of learning;
- theology/religious education;
- moral education;
- narrative inquiry; &,
- other areas relevant to the field of education, philosophy and theology.
- My Research
- Career
- Publications
- Grants and Funding
- Teaching
- Supervision
- Professional Activities
- Contact
Recent publications of note include: "The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach" (Routledge - September 2021), "Measuring Up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems" (with S. Webster & published by Routledge), "MacIntyre, Rationality and Education: Against Education of Our Age" (Springer), and "Theory and Philosophy in Education Research: Methodological Dialogues" (with J. Quay, J. Bleazby, M. Toscano, & S. Webster & published by Routledge).
Podcast show: Deep Thinking with Dr Steven Stolz: Where Academic Rigor Meets Real Life
For access to some of his research, see his Academia, ResearchGate and/or Google Scholar pages.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2020 - 2022 Program Director - Master of Teaching University of Adelaide 2019 - ongoing Senior Lecturer (Teaching & Research) University of Adelaide -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title ACU Australia PhD ACU Australia MA ALC Australia GradDipTh QUT Australia BEd -
Research Interests
Applied Ethics Education Education Policy Educational Psychology Epistemology Higher Education History and Philosophy of Education Learning Sciences Phenomenology Philosophical Psychology Philosophy Philosophy of Cognition Philosophy of Mind Professional Ethics Psychology Secondary Education Social Psychology
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Stolz, S., & Toscano, M. (2025). A narrative approach exploring the phenomenon of Pretendians in the contemporary university. Policy Futures in Education, 23(2), 518-530.
Scopus1 WoS12025 Nezhad, P. M., & Stolz, S. A. (2025). The interplay of context and need: unravelling the interwoven threads of teachers’ professional learning/development. Australian Educational Researcher, 52(2), 1315-1343.
Scopus1 WoS12025 Toscano, M., & Stolz, S. (2025). Reconsidering the Notion of Social Justice from an
Elite Theory Perspective. British Journal of Educational Studies, 73(3), 345-366.
2025 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. (2025). Intersubjectivity, embodiment and enquiry: A Merleau-Ponty and Husserlian informed perspective for contemporary educational contexts. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1-12.
2025 Stolz, S. (2025). A narrative approach exploring schools of education in the contemporary university: the good, the bad, and everything in between. Educational Review, 1-20.
2024 Mohammad Nezhad, P., & Stolz, S. (2024). Unveiling teachers’ professional agency and decision-making in professional learning: the illusion of choice. Professional Development in Education, 2349058-1-2349058-21.
Scopus11 WoS82024 Stolz, S., Winterburn, A. L., & Palmer, E. (2024). Is learning with ChatGPT really learning?. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 56(12), 1253-1264.
Scopus12023 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. (2023). Where Merleau-Ponty Meets Dewey: Habit, Embodiment, and Education. Studies in Philosophy and Education: an international quarterly, 42(6), 599-615.
Scopus5 WoS42023 Stolz, S. (2023). Nietzsche, Virtue, and Education: Cultivating the Sovereign Individual Through a New Type of Education. Studies in Philosophy and Education: an international quarterly.
2023 Stolz, S. (2023). Narrative, zombie academics, and the contemporary university. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 44(6), 873-887.
Scopus1 WoS22023 Stolz, S. (2023). The practice of phenomenology in educational
research. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 55(7), 822-834.
Scopus21 WoS152022 Stolz, S. A. (2022). Nietzsche on Aesthetic Education: A Fictional Narrative. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 56(2), 37-55.
Scopus2 WoS12021 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. A. (2021). Emphasising an embodied phenomenological sense of the self and the social in education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 69(3), 365-380.
Scopus8 WoS72021 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. A. (2021). Contemporary education and guiding pedagogical principals: the prospects for an embodied and intersubjective interpretation of phenomenology. Oxford Review of Education, 1-16.
Scopus4 WoS42021 Stolz, S. A. (2021). Nietzsche, eternal recurrence, and education: the role of the great cultivating thought in the art of self-cultivation (Bildung). Journal of Philosophy of Education, 55(1), 186-203.
Scopus10 WoS52020 Stolz, S. A. (2020). A narrative approach exploring notions of justice in education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 69(4), 415-435.
Scopus2 WoS12020 Stolz, S. A. (2020). Nietzsche’s psychology of the self: the art of overcoming the divided self. Human Arenas, 3(2), 264-278.
Scopus6 WoS42020 Stolz, S. A. (2020). Phenomenology and phenomenography in educational research: a critique. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 52(10), 1077-1096.
Scopus47 WoS412019 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. A. (2019). Understanding experience better in educational contexts: the phenomenology of embodied subjectivity. Cambridge Journal of Education, 50(1), 95-105.
Scopus20 WoS172019 Stolz, S. A., & Thorburn, M. (2019). Sisyphus, crisis discourse, and the theory-practice gap in physical education: a polemic. Sport, Education and Society, 25(5), 518-529.
Scopus13 WoS112019 Shapiro, L., & Stolz, S. A. (2019). Embodied cognition and its significance for education. Theory and Research in Education, 17(1), 19-39.
Scopus171 WoS1232018 Stolz, S. A. (2018). A genealogical analysis of the concept of 'good' teaching: a polemic. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 52(1), 144-162.
Scopus13 WoS112018 Stolz, S. A., & Ozoliņš, J. T. (2018). A narrative approach exploring philosophy in education and educational research. Educational Studies, 44(5), 578-593.
Scopus7 WoS42017 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. (2017). Embodied learning and school-based physical culture: implications for professionalism and practice in physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 22(6), 721-731.
Scopus40 WoS382017 Pill, S., & Stolz, S. (2017). Exploring Australian secondary physical education teachers’ understanding of physical education in the context of new curriculum familiarisation. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 8(1), 67-79.
Scopus152017 Stolz, S. A. (2017). Nietzsche on aesthetics, educators and education. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 36(6), 683-695.
Scopus10 WoS92017 Stolz, S. A. (2017). MacIntyre, managerialism and universities. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(1), 38-46.
Scopus10 WoS72017 Stolz, S., & Webster, S. (2017). Measuring Up in Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(4), 312-314.
Scopus4 WoS12017 Stolz, S. A. (2017). Can educationally significant learning be assessed?. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(4), 379-390.
Scopus8 WoS52017 Stolz, S. A., & Thorburn, M. (2017). A genealogical analysis of Peter Arnold's conceptual account of meaning in movement, sport and physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 22(3), 377-390.
Scopus19 WoS162016 Stolz, S. A. (2016). MacIntyre, rival traditions and education. Discourse, 37(3), 358-368.
Scopus9 WoS72016 Stolz, S. A., & Pill, S. (2016). A narrative approach to exploring TGfU-GS. Sport, Education and Society, 21(2), 239-261.
Scopus26 WoS222016 Stolz, S. A., & Pill, S. (2016). Telling physical education teacher education tales through pedagogical case studies. Sport, Education and Society, 21(6), 868-887.
Scopus16 WoS132015 Stolz, S. A. (2015). Embodied learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47(5), 474-487.
Scopus152 WoS1272015 Stolz, S. A., & Kirk, D. (2015). David Kirk on physical education and sport pedagogy: In dialogue with Steven Stolz (part 2). Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 6(2), 127-142.
Scopus52015 Stolz, S. A., & Kirk, D. (2015). David Kirk on physical education and sport pedagogy: In dialogue with Steven Stolz (part 1). Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 6(1), 77-91.
Scopus252014 Stolz, S., & Pill, S. (2014). Teaching games and sport for understanding: Exploring and reconsidering its relevance in physical education. European Physical Education Review, 20(1), 36-71.
Scopus158 WoS1392013 Stolz, S. (2013). The philosophy of G Ryle and its significance for physical education: Some thoughts and reflections. European Physical Education Review, 19(3), 381-396.
Scopus14 WoS122013 Ozoliņš, J. T., & Stolz, S. A. (2013). The Place of Physical Education and Sport in Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 45(9), 887-891.
Scopus7 WoS72013 Stolz, S. A. (2013). Phenomenology and Physical Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 45(9), 949-962.
Scopus48 WoS41 -
Books
Year Citation 2021 Stolz, S. (2021). The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach. S. Stolz (Ed.), Routledge.
Scopus82021 Stolz, S. (2021). The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach. S. Stolz (Ed.), Routledge.
Scopus82020 Stolz, S., & Webster, S. (Eds.) (2020). Measuring Up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems. Routledge. 2019 Stolz, S. A., & Webster, S. (2019). Measuring up in education. S. Webster (Ed.), Routledge. 2019 Stolz, S. A. (2019). Alasdair MacIntyre, Rationality and Education Against Education of Our Age. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
2018 Quay, J., Bleazby, J., Stolz, S., Toscano, M., & Webster, S. (Eds.) (2018). Theory and Philosophy in Education Research: Methodological Dialogues. Abingdom, United Kingdom: Routledge. 2014 Stolz, S. A. (2014). The philosophy of physical education: A new perspective. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Scopus562013 Contemporary Developments in Games Teaching (2013). . Taylor & Francis.
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Book Chapters
Year Citation 2025 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. A. (2025). Merleau-Ponty on Child Psychology and Pedagogy. Reappraising Students’ Embodied and Intersubjective Learning in Contemporary Education. In Phänomenologische Erziehungswissenschaft (pp. 97-114). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
2025 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. (2025). Merleau-Ponty on Child Psychology and Pedagogy. Reappraising Students’ Embodied and Intersubjective Learning in Contemporary Education. In M. Brinkmann, J. Türstig, & M. Weber-Spanknebel (Eds.), Realities in Pedagogical and Phenomenological Contexts. Springer.
2022 Stolz, S. (2022). Embodiment and Education: Beyond the Gap. In S. Stolz (Ed.), The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach (1 ed., pp. 1-11). Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingfom: Routledge.
2022 Stolz, S. (2022). Embodiment and Education: Beyond the Gap. In S. Stolz (Ed.), The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach (1 ed., pp. 1-11). Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingfom: Routledge.
2022 Stolz, S., & Thorburn, M. (2022). Phenomenology, embodiment, and education: first-person methodologies of embodied subjectivity. In S. Stolz (Ed.), The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach (pp. 60-78). Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Scopus52022 Stolz, S., & Thorburn, M. (2022). Phenomenology, embodiment, and education: first-person methodologies of embodied subjectivity. In S. Stolz (Ed.), The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach (pp. 60-78). Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Scopus52022 Stolz, S. (2022). Nietzsche: truth, perspectivism, and his concern with Bildung. In J. Ozolins (Ed.), Education in an Age of Lies and Fake News: Regaining a Love of Truth (1 ed., pp. 105-129). New York, United States: Routledge.
Scopus22020 Stolz, S. (2020). Can educationally significant learning be assessed?. In S. Stolz, & S. Webster (Eds.), Measuring Up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems (pp. 68-79). Routledge. 2020 Stolz, S. (2020). Can educationally significant learning be assessed?. In S. Stolz, & S. Webster (Eds.), Measuring Up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems (pp. 68-79). Routledge. 2020 Stolz, S., & Webster, S. (2020). Measuring Up in Education. In S. Stolz, & S. Webster (Eds.), Measuring Up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems (pp. 1-3). Routledge. 2020 Stolz, S., & Webster, S. (2020). Measuring Up in Education. In S. Stolz, & S. Webster (Eds.), Measuring Up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems (pp. 1-3). Routledge. 2019 Stolz, S. A. (2019). MacIntyre’s Educational Project Applied: Cultivating Independent Rational Agents with Virtuous Dispositions. In Y. Janssen (Ed.), Alasdair MacIntyre, Rationality and Education Against Education of Our Age (pp. 53-71). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
2019 Stolz, S. A. (2019). MacIntyre’s Enlightenment Educational Ideal: Cultivating Rationality and Contemporary Discourse Through Controversy and Constrained Disagreement. In Y. Janssen (Ed.), Alasdair MacIntyre, Rationality and Education Against Education of Our Age (pp. 35-51). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
2019 Stolz, S. A. (2019). MacIntyre’s Restoration of Rationality: The Essence of Human Nature Is Reason. In Y. Janssen (Ed.), Alasdair MacIntyre, Rationality and Education
Against Education of Our Age (pp. 17-33). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
2019 Stolz, S. A. (2019). The Genesis of MacIntyre’s Educational Project: A Democratic Culture and Community of Critical Enquiry. In Y. Janssen (Ed.), Alasdair MacIntyre, Rationality and Education
Against Education of Our Age (pp. 1-16). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
2018 Stolz, S., & Biesta, G. (2018). Gert Biesta on thinking philosophically about education; thinking educationally about philosophy in education and educational research: In dialogue with Steven Stolz. In J. Quay, J. Bleazby, S. Stolz, M. Toscano, & S. Webster (Eds.), Theory and Philosophy in Education Research: Methodological Dialogue (pp. 53-67). United Kingdom: Routledge. 2018 Stolz, S., & Biesta, G. (2018). Gert Biesta on thinking philosophically about education; thinking educationally about philosophy in education and educational research: In dialogue with Steven Stolz. In J. Quay, J. Bleazby, S. Stolz, M. Toscano, & S. Webster (Eds.), Theory and Philosophy in Education Research: Methodological Dialogue (pp. 53-67). United Kingdom: Routledge. 2018 Stolz, S. (2018). Past, present, and possible futures. In M. Thorburn (Ed.), Transformative Learning and Teaching in Physical Education (pp. 195-212). Abingdon, Oxford; United Kingdom: Routledge. 2018 Quay, J., Bleazby, J., Stolz, S., Toscano, M., & Webster, S. (2018). Locating theory in research: Opening a conversation. In J. Quay, J. Bleazby, S. Stolz, M. Toscano, & S. Webster (Eds.), Theory and Philosophy in Education Research: Important Methodological Dialogues (pp. 1-22). Abingdon, Oxford; United Kingdom: Routledge. 2018 Quay, J., Bleazby, J., Stolz, S., Toscano, M., & Webster, S. (2018). Locating theory in research: Opening a conversation. In J. Quay, J. Bleazby, S. Stolz, M. Toscano, & S. Webster (Eds.), Theory and Philosophy in Education Research: Important Methodological Dialogues (pp. 1-22). Abingdon, Oxford; United Kingdom: Routledge. 2018 Stolz, S. A., & Peters, M. (2018). Michael peters on science, genealogy and openness in educational research: In dialogue with Steven A. Stolz. In J. Quay, J. Bleazby, S. Stolz, M. Toscano, & S. Webster (Eds.), Theory and Philosophy in Education Research: Important Methodological Dialogues (pp. 114-128). Abingdon, Oxford; United Kingdom: Routledge.
Scopus62017 Stolz, S. A., & Thorburn, M. (2017). Aims and values in physical education: Can rival traditions of physical education ever be resolved?. In M. Thornburn (Ed.), Transformative Learning and Teaching in Physical Education (pp. 26-41). Abingdon, Oxford; United Kingdom: Routledge.
Scopus22017 Stolz, S. (2017). Macintyre, rationality and universities. In J. J. Tālivaldis Ozoliņš (Ed.), Civil Society, Education and Human Formation: Philosophy's Role in a Renewed Understanding of Education (pp. 104-121). Abingdon, Oxford; United Kingdom: Routledge.
Scopus32013 Quay, J., & Stolz, S. (2013). Game as context in physical education: A Deweyan philosophical perspective. In Contemporary Developments in Games Teaching (pp. 15-28).
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Conference Papers
Year Citation 2022 Stolz, S. (2022). Nietzsche, virtue, and education: cultivating the sovereign individual through a new type of education. In NAAPE 2022 Conference Program Vol. 43 (pp. 31-45). Chicago: North American Association for Philosophy & Education (NAAPE).
2022 Toscano, M., & Stolz, S. (2022). Equality and education: a metaphysical analysis. In Australian Association for Research in Education. Adelaide. 2021 Stolz, S. (2021). Narrative, academic leadership, and higher education. In Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference. Online. 2021 Toscano, M., & Stolz, S. (2021). The social justice turn in education: a narrative. In Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference. Online. 2021 Stolz, S. (2021). Camus and existentialism: responding to the absurdity of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Conférence Mondiale des Institutions Universitaires Catholiques de Philosophie (COMIUCAP). Online. 2021 Stolz, S. (2021). MacIntyre, rationality and education: against education of our age. In University of Adelaide. University of Adelaide.
Various internal and external grants - available on request.
EDUC 7020 - Qualitative Approaches to Research
EDUC 7065 - Mixed Methods Research
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2024 Principal Supervisor Oracy; the forgotten ‘r’: a defence of dialogical teaching Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Dr Robert Frank Stevens 2024 Principal Supervisor Mystical Theology, its origin and the nature of being:a study of the Via Negativa, with its specific practices, including unknowing and negations, their potential expressions in philosophy and theology, and implications for Educational contexts. Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Dr Julie Ann Hawkins -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2021 - 2024 Principal Supervisor Teachers’ Professional Learning Needs and Barriers: Teachers’ Perspectives from Greater Adelaide Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Parivash Mohammad Nezhad 2020 - 2022 Co-Supervisor To Blame or Not to Blame: Respect, Fittingness, and Standing Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Henry Littleton Phillips
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Memberships
Date Role Membership Country 2021 - ongoing Member Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain United Kingdom 2019 - ongoing Member Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics Australia 2019 - ongoing Member Australasian Association of Philosophy Australia 2016 - ongoing Member American Educational Research Association United States 2014 - ongoing Member Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Australia 2014 - ongoing Member Australian College of Educators Australia 2013 - ongoing Member Australian Association for Research in Education Australia 2011 - ongoing Member Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia Australia 2000 - ongoing Member Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation Australia
Connect With Me
External Profiles