In contemporary societies, there is a strong push toward seeing education as an instrument for the delivery of particular societal agendas. On such a view, the only questions that remain are how effective education is at delivering such agendas and how its effectiveness can be increased. While this might be a desirable way forward for those who…

In this paper, based on an invited keynote given at the 2022 Colloquium of the Society for Educational Studies, I explore the question of the integrity of educational studies. I ask is whether educational studies in their current configuration are able to offer resistance to the instrumentalisation of education and the push towards empirical…

This paper problematizes current thinking about education by arguing that the question of educational purpose is not simply a socio-political question concerned with what the ends should be and why, but can also be understood as a structural question, concerned with the way we understand education's directional impetus. We suggest that it is…

The question I address in this paper is to what extent the prevailing description of educational reality that can be found in contemporary research, policy and practice can be considered complete. The motivation for asking this question stems from an educational paradox to which I refer as the Parks-Eichmann paradox. This paradox has to do with…

In previous publications, Gert Biesta has suggested that education should be oriented toward three domains of purpose that he calls "qualification," "socialization," and "subjectification." Many educators, policymakers, and scholars have found this suggestion helpful. Nonetheless, the discussion about the exact nature…

Gert Biesta is one of the leading contemporary educational theorists. He was a keynote speaker at the recent ATEA Conference (July, 2019) at the Sunshine Coast in Australia and generously gave Stephen Heimans some time for an interview in which Gert talked about his latest work and the trajectory of his thinking and writing over his career.

While 'head teacher' is still a prominent designation in many countries, there has been a tendency over the past two decades to refer to those 'in charge' of schools with a number of other words, most recently, that of lead learner. While one could say that these are 'only words' they nonetheless have a significant impact on how the position, role…

The question I address in this article is how we might understand the role of the teacher in education that seeks to promote emancipation. I take up this question in conversation with German and North-American versions of critical pedagogy with, the works of Paulo Freire and with that of Jacques Rancière. I show that in each case we find not only…

This paper is about the notion of conflict in the work of John Dewey. Special attention is given to "Democracy and Education" (1916) because of its centennial and its acclaimed status of "magnum opus". After depicting "conflicts as gadflies" that stir thinking--reflection and ingenuity--and relating it to Socrates, in…