Gert Biesta: A Challenge to Educational Orthodoxy

Document Type

Book

Source of Publication

Springer Briefs in Education

Publication Date

4-24-2026

Abstract

This book focuses on the work of Dutch educational philosopher Gert Biesta. It offers a comprehensive exploration of his revolutionary ideas, guiding readers through his critique of contemporary educational thought and his alternative vision for education. By engaging with Biesta's work, we are invited to grapple with fundamental questions about the nature and purpose of education in the twenty-first century. What does it mean to be educated? What is the role of the teacher? How can education contribute to a more democratic society? The book illuminates a different approach to the key question underpinning all of Biesta’s work: what is the purpose of education? It pays particular attention to unpicking the more abstruse areas of his work, in order to make it more accessible to practitioners who are attracted to the general tenor of Biesta’s work but find some of the philosophical discussions hard to digest. This book will be beneficial to researchers, educators, policymakers, or readers interested in the future of education. At the end of it, readers will have been introduced to the key ideas of one of the most original and challenging voices in contemporary educational philosophy, as well as being able to identify exactly what it is that bothers them about modern schools and universities, and how those issues might be addressed.

ISSN

2211-1921

Publisher

Springer Nature Singapore

Volume

Part F1745

First Page

1

Last Page

100

Disciplines

Education

Keywords

beyond learning, coming to presence, constructuvism, critique of constructivism, educational philosophy of Gert Biestatheory of education, educational purpose of qualification, educational purpose of socialisation, educational purpose of subjectification, existentialism in education, Gert Biesta, learnification, the beautiful risk of education, the disappearance of the teacher, the problem with learning, the rediscovery of teaching, world-centred education

Scopus ID

105039015342

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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