Steven Stolz

Dr Steven Stolz

Senior Lecturer

School of Education

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor 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.

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. 

The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach

 

MacIntyre, Rationality & Education

 

Measuring Up in Education

 

Theory and Philosophy in Education Research

 

  • 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.
    DOI
    2025 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.
    DOI
    2025 Thorburn, M., & Stolz, S. A. (2025). Intersubjectivity, embodiment and enquiry: A Merleau-Ponty and Husserlian informed perspective for contemporary educational contexts. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 11 pages.
    DOI
    2024 Toscano, M., & Stolz, S. (2024). Reconsidering the Notion of Social Justice from an
    Elite Theory Perspective. British Journal of Educational Studies, 2415621-1-2415621-23.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI Scopus2
    2024 Stolz, S., Winterburn, A. L., & Palmer, E. (2024). Is learning with ChatGPT really learning?. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 56(12), 1253-1264.
    DOI Scopus1
    2023 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.
    DOI Scopus2
    2023 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.
    DOI
    2023 Stolz, S. (2023). Narrative, zombie academics, and the contemporary university. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 44(6), 873-887.
    DOI
    2023 Stolz, S. (2023). The practice of phenomenology in educational
    research. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 55(7), 822-834.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS2
    2022 Stolz, S. A. (2022). Nietzsche on Aesthetic Education: A Fictional Narrative. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 56(2), 37-55.
    DOI Scopus1
    2021 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.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS6
    2021 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.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS3
    2021 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.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS1
    2020 Stolz, S. A. (2020). A narrative approach exploring notions of justice in education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 69(4), 415-435.
    DOI Scopus1
    2020 Stolz, S. A. (2020). Nietzsche’s psychology of the self: the art of overcoming the divided self. Human Arenas, 3(2), 264-278.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS2
    2020 Stolz, S. A. (2020). Phenomenology and phenomenography in educational research: a critique. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 52(10), 1077-1096.
    DOI Scopus42 WoS19
    2019 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.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS13
    2019 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.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS7
    2019 Shapiro, L., & Stolz, S. A. (2019). Embodied cognition and its significance for education. Theory and Research in Education, 17(1), 19-39.
    DOI Scopus148 WoS63
    2018 Stolz, S. A. (2018). A genealogical analysis of the concept of 'good' teaching: a polemic. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 52(1), 144-162.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS7
    2018 Stolz, S. A., & Ozoliņš, J. T. (2018). A narrative approach exploring philosophy in education and educational research. Educational Studies, 44(5), 578-593.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS2
    2017 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.
    DOI Scopus39 WoS32
    2017 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.
    DOI Scopus15
    2017 Stolz, S. A. (2017). Nietzsche on aesthetics, educators and education. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 36(6), 683-695.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS8
    2017 Stolz, S. A. (2017). MacIntyre, managerialism and universities. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(1), 38-46.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS6
    2017 Stolz, S., & Webster, S. (2017). Measuring Up in Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(4), 312-314.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS1
    2017 Stolz, S. A. (2017). Can educationally significant learning be assessed?. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(4), 379-390.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS3
    2017 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.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS13
    2016 Stolz, S. A. (2016). MacIntyre, rival traditions and education. Discourse, 37(3), 358-368.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS5
    2016 Stolz, S. A., & Pill, S. (2016). A narrative approach to exploring TGfU-GS. Sport, Education and Society, 21(2), 239-261.
    DOI Scopus26 WoS17
    2016 Stolz, S. A., & Pill, S. (2016). Telling physical education teacher education tales through pedagogical case studies. Sport, Education and Society, 21(6), 868-887.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS10
    2015 Stolz, S. A. (2015). Embodied learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47(5), 474-487.
    DOI Scopus142 WoS88
    2015 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.
    DOI Scopus4
    2015 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.
    DOI Scopus24
    2014 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.
    DOI Scopus155 WoS113
    2013 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.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS10
    2013 Ozoliņš, J. T., & Stolz, S. A. (2013). The Place of Physical Education and Sport in Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 45(9), 887-891.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS6
    2013 Stolz, S. A. (2013). Phenomenology and Physical Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 45(9), 949-962.
    DOI Scopus45 WoS38

  • Books
    Year Citation
    2021 Stolz, S. (2021). The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach. S. Stolz (Ed.), Routledge.
    DOI Scopus6
    2021 Stolz, S. (2021). The Body, Embodiment, and Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach. S. Stolz (Ed.), Routledge.
    DOI Scopus6
    2020 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.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI Scopus56
    2013 Contemporary Developments in Games Teaching (2013). . Taylor & Francis.
    DOI

  • Book Chapters
    Year Citation
    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.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI Scopus5
    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.
    DOI Scopus5
    2022 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.
    DOI Scopus2
    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. (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.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI
    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.
    DOI Scopus6
    2017 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.
    DOI Scopus2
    2017 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.
    DOI Scopus3
    2013 Quay, J., & Stolz, S. (2013). Game as context in physical education: A Deweyan philosophical perspective. In Contemporary Developments in Games Teaching (pp. 15-28).
    DOI Scopus12

  • 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).
    DOI
    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

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Principal Supervisor What is oracy? Why is it important? How did it evolve? How has it been taught? 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
  • Position: Senior Lecturer
  • Phone: 83136038
  • Email: steven.stolz@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Nexus 10
  • Org Unit: School of Education
Connect With Me
External Profiles