Peters , Richard Stanley , b 1919 , Professor of Philosophy of Education

Peters , Richard Stanley , b 1919 , Professor of Philosophy of Education

Richard Stanley Peters was born in India in 1919. As a child he was sent to live with his grandmother in England where he attended boarding school. From 1933-1938 Peters attended Clifton College, Bristol, and then proceeded to study for an Arts Degree at Queen's College, Oxford University from 1938-1940 (he was awarded a war degree in 1942). In 1940 he joined the Friends Ambulance Service and was drafted to London during the Blitz. From 1944 to 1946 he was Classics Master at Sidcot Grammar School, Somerset.

In 1946 he was granted a Studentship (to study Philosophy and Psychology) at Birkbeck College, where he also worked as a part-time Lecturer. Peters graduated with a BA in 1946 and a PhD in 1949. He was then subsequently a Lecturer (1949-1958) and Reader (1958-1962) in Philosophy at Birkbeck. In 1962 he was appointed Professor of Philosophy of Education, Institute of Education, a post that he held until his retirement in 1982.

Among other roles, Peters was Visiting Professor of Education, Harvard University, 1961; Visiting Professor, Australian National University, 1962; Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of London, 1971-1974; Member of the American National Academy of Education, 1966; Chair, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain.