Gert Biesta lectures at VIA University College on matters as qualification, socialisation, subjectification and formation which he regards as important issues in education.

2. REDEFINING THE BASICS: WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN EDUCATION
Gert Biesta
Brunel University London – ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, the Netherlands
where do I come from?
physics teacher for about 10 years
studied education (pedagogiek) and philosophy
taught education (pedagogiek) in the Netherlands (1990-1999)
Professor of Education in Engeland, Schotland, Luxemburg (1999-2014)
visiting professor Sweden and Norway
now: Brunel University London (education) and ArtEZ (art education)
member of the Education Council of the Netherlands
focus of my work: theory and policy of education
with an ongoing interest in democracy and democratisation
and I write a lot . . .
REDEFINING THE BASICS – Denmark February 2015

3. TWO OF MY FAVOURITE ENGLISH EXPRESSIONS
“If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.”
“To teach your grandmother to suck eggs.”
↓
I don’t claim that I say much that is new.
but perhaps we have lost a language to talk about these things,
so that there is a need to rediscover and reclaim a different language for education
and perhaps we have ended up in a system that prevents us from thinking and
talking about what really matters in education
What matters in education?
What should matter in education?
What’s it all about?

4. A FEW DIFFERENT ANSWERS
LEARNING?
a very popular option
for example: learning environments, learning communities, personalised learning,
collaborative learning, learning to learn, lifelong learning, and so on
DEVELOPMENT?
also a popular option
for example: education as supporting the child’s development, letting children develop
all their talents or their full potential, and so on
FORMATION?
perhaps an old and old-fashioned concept, but nonetheless . . .
[there may be a translation issue, as formation is not the same as Bildung]
[let’s leave Bildung to the Germans!]
↓
education as the ‘encounter’ of child and world
in which the child comes “into the world” and “into a worldly form”
↓
which requires that we also give a place to what is ‘out there’
“world-centred education”

5. A FEW STEPS BACK: THE ‘LEARNIFICATION’ OF EDUCATION
the rise of a ‘new language of learning’
in English
pupils/students/children/adults → learners
teaching → facilitating learning
schools → learning environments
adult education → lifelong learning
but also in (many) other languages
and the school that didn’t want to call itself a school
but ‘a place for learning’
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
the point of education is not that children/students learn . . .
... but that they learn something, that they learn this for a reason, and that they
learn it from someone
education always raises questions about content, purpose and relationships
the language of learning makes it far more difficult to keep this into view

6. THE QUESTION OF PURPOSE IS CENTRAL AND FUNDAMENTAL
if you do not know what you seek to achieve, you cannot decide
what the most appropriate content is, how relations should be utilised,
and what kind of educational forms are the most appropriate ones
but . . .
unique for education is that the question of purpose is multi-dimensional
↓
all education functions in relation to three domains
qualification: knowledge & skills (specific or broad/general)
socialisation: traditions and practices, ways of doing and being
socio-cultural, political, professional, religious, and so on
subjectification: the formation of the person
e.g., responsible, grown-up, compassionate
hence we need to take explicit responsibility for what may happen in these domains
three functions of education AND three domains of purpose
a detail: socialisation = identity (who am I?)
subjectification = subject-ness (how am I?)

7. A SIMPLE PICTURE (1)
an encompassing conception of education
where there is attention subject-matter, tradition and the person
also shows what the problem is when we reduce education to only one domain
(three possible reductions – hence three problems)
↓
education that is out of balance (which much education policy is)
good education is in balance
it requires three-dimensional thinking and doing
and three-dimensional policy and research
QUALIFICATION
SUBJECTIFICATIONSOCIALISATION

8. A SIMPLE PICTURE (2)
which reveals the complexity of the work of the teacher
qualification
subjectificationsocialisation

9. THE QUESTIONS THAT KEEP COMING BACK
at all levels, from the classroom all the way ‘up’ to policy (and research)
[1] WHAT DO WE WANT STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE IN EACH OF THE DOMAINS?
What should they know and be able to do?
Which traditions and practices do we want to make them part of?
What kind of qualities of persoonhood do we want to foster?
always working with the tension between connecting and ‘letting go’
engagement and emancipation
[2] WHICH EDUCATIONAL FORMS AND EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE
MOST APPROPRIATE FOR THIS?
this is not just a question of effectiveness
but it is also a question of educative quality
reward and punishment may be effective but not necessarily educative
for example: Why shouldn’t we pay students for what they produce?
effectiveness and educative quality also need to be considered
in the far too hyped discussion about digital technology

10. and perhaps the most important question of all
[3] HOW TO ENGAGE WITH THE INEVITABLE TENSION
BETWEEN THE THREE DOMAINS?
‘achievement’ in one domain often limits what is possible in other domains
↓
see particularly the one-side emphasis on qualification
How do we get/maintain a meaningful balance?
in the short term there can be temporary one-sidedness
but in the longer term we need keep the educational endeavour in balance
THE NECESSITY OF JUDGEMENT
with each question (purposes, forms, tension)
the answer does not come from research or evidence or policy
but requires judgement
↓
normative judgement – judgement that involves values
based upon/informed by a vision about good education
and a vision about being human and living together

11. WHICH VALUES? WHICH POINTS OF REFERENCE?
an often-told story . . .
society is changing at a very high pace
globalisation, digitalisation, individualisation, and so on
we do not know what the future will look like
today’s knowledge will quickly be out-dated
we use a 20th century (or even 19th century) educational system
to prepare students for the 21st century
↓
hence education needs to be completely transformed
give students skills instead of knowledge
so that they can flexibly adapt to a rapidly changing environment
(for example 21st century skills)
TRUE? or FALSE?

12. OR HALF TRUE?
“society is changing at a very high pace”
for some, in some domains and some parts of the world this is true
but for others, elsewhere and in other domains things have changed very little

13. we do not know what the future will look like
today’s knowledge will quickly be out-dated
for some, in some domains and some parts of the world this is true
but other challenges remain remarkable constant
DEMOCRACY ECOLOGY CARE
because they have to do with living and living together (not with survival),
about which our knowledge does not become out-dated that quickly

14. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EDUCATION?
in many countries there is a strong tendency to approach education in terms of
the (global) economy – competition – survival
which often inform what are considered to be ‘the basics’ of education
we need a broader frame of reference
↓
democracy – ecology – care
THE REAL BASICS – OF SOCIETY AND EDUCATION
we need to think and do economy differently
(sustainability)
we need to shift from competition to collaboration, dialogue and solidarity
(sustainability)
and we need to shift from survival to life
(sustainability)
↓
WHAT DOES THIS THEN MEAN FOR EDUCATION?

15. DOES THE SHIFT FROM SURVIVAL TO LIFE REQUIRE THAT
WE FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALL THE CHILD’S TALENTS?
developing ‘the full potential’ of the child
an educational mistake?
every child has a talent for doing right and doing wrong;
morality and criminality are both the outcome of developmental processes
the educational task is not to develop the full potential of the child
but to interrupt development: to raise questions, to examine
Is what is desired indeed desirable? Is what I desire indeed desirable?
for my own life, and our life with others on this planet
↓
transition from an ego-centric/infantile to an
other-centred/grown-up way of being in the world
grown-up-ness: being in the world, without being in the centre of the world
transforming our desires so that they can sustain a grown-up being in the world
particularly important in a world that just wants us to have more desires,
but is not interested in having the right desires
↓
democracy – ecology – care

16. TO SUM UP
WHAT IS GOOD EDUCATION?
education that knows that qualification is not the only thing that matters
education that seeks to achieve a balance between
qualification – socialisation – subjectification
WHAT SHOULD REALLY MATTER IN EDUCATION?
learning? development? formation!
↓
formation towards a grown-up way of being in the world
in which we acknowledge and care for what and who is other
grown-up-ness is at stake in
democracy – ecology – care
these are the real basics of education

17. THANK YOU
www.gertbiesta.com
www.twitter.com/gbiesta