Peter Worley is the Founder and former CEO of The Philosophy Foundation, a charity that brings philosophy into schools, communities, and workplaces, and the former President of SOPHIA: the European Foundation for the Advancement of Doing Philosophy with Children. He is a leading figure in Philosophy for Children (P4C) and the developer of the PhiE (Philosophical Enquiry) method, widely used in classrooms and public discussions internationally. Peter is the author/editor of eleven books and multiple papers and articles on education and philosophy practice. He read philosophy at University College London (BA, 2000) and Birkbeck College (MA, 2004). Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Research interests

• Practical philosophy with children and adults
• Metacognition in learning and education
• Critical thinking and questioning
• Plato, Socratic method and dialectic
• Philosophical counselling

Selected publications

Corrupting Youth: History and Principles of Philosophical Enquiry (Big Ideas for Young Thinkers) - Volumes 1&2 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021)

100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Questioning (Bloomsbury Education, 2019)

40 Lessons to get Children Thinking (Bloomsbury Education, 2015)

Once Upon an If (Bloomsbury, 2014) Bronze award winner, Primary Teacher Update, nominated for Best Educational Book 2014

Co-author: Thoughtings (Best Teaching Book, Teach Primary Magazine 2014)

The If Odyssey (Bloomsbury, 2012) Bronze award winner, Primary Teacher Update, nominated for Best Educational Book 2013

Editor and co-author: The Philosophy Shop (Crown House) Best Philosophy Book 2012, Foreword Review Awards; Best Anthology, New England Book Festival; Best Educational Book 2013, Educational Resources Award

The If Machine (Bloomsbury, 2011 and 2019)

General editor: The Philosophy Foundation Series including Provocations and The Numberverse

‘Plato, metacognition and philosophy in schools’ in The Journal of Philosophy in Schools Vol 5, No 1 (2018)

'Open thinking, closed questioning: two kinds of open and closed question' in The Journal of Philosophy in Schools Vol 2, No 2 (2015)

'Ariadne’s Clew: absence and presence in the facilitation of philosophical conversations' in The Journal of Philosophy in Schools Vol 3, No 2 (Dec 2016)

‘If it, anchor it, open it up’ in The Socratic Handbook, edited by Michael Noah Weiss (2015)

‘The philosophy in philosophy in schools’ in Think (2009)

‘The Virtues of Thinking’ in Discourse (2009)

‘The Funnel of Righteousness’ in Philosophy Now - Issue 164: October/November 2024

“A school of thought: why British pupils should study philosophy” – The Guardian opinion piece (June 20, 2018) advocating for philosophical questions in the UK curriculum and intellectual responsibility

Selected public engagement and contributions

‘Young Plato’ Documentary (directly inspired by Worley’s and The Philosophy Foundation’s work with the Holy Cross Boys' Primary School in Belfast)

BBC ‘What makes me, me? and other interesting questions’

BBC Radio 4 The Today Programme, BBC Radio 3 Nightwaves

TEDx Talk “Plato Not Play Doh”

TEDx Talk “Collaboration - How to be a rebel”

Headline speaker at VI International Course of Philosophy, Literature, Art and Children (FLAI 2025), Spain

Invited speaker at Association of Philosophy Teachers Conference (APT 2025), Harrow, UK

Regular speaker, including headline, at ICPIC (The International Council of Philosophical Inquiry with Children), SOPHIA (The European Foundation for the Advancement of Doing Philosophy with Children), ICPP (International Conference on Philosophical Practice) conferences, and many more

Regular presenter at How The Light Gets In Festival, Hay-on-Wye and London

Literary festivals including Oxford, Hay-on-Wye, Cheltenham, Abu Dhabi