Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy

by Gert J.J. Biesta

The widespread use of the measurement of educational outcomes in order to compare the performance of education within and across countries seems to express a real concern for the quality of education. This book argues that the focus on the measurement of educational outcomes has actually displaced questions about educational purpose. Biesta explores why the question as to what constitutes good education has become so much more difficult to ask and shows why this has been detrimental for the quality of education and for the level of democratic control over education. He provides concrete suggestions for engaging with the question of purpose in education in a new, more precise and more encompassing way, with explicit attention to the ethical, political and democratic dimensions of education.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Gert Biesta is Professor of Educational Theory at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Exeter and Visiting Professor for Education and Democratic Citizenship at Örebro University and Mälardalen University, Sweden.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are living in times where measuring results, proving the effectiveness of what we do, has become the norm. This is also the case in the field of education.

Gert Biesta challenges this development in this book. One of the basic questions –and an important one- he poses is: ‘are we indeed measuring what we value, or are we just measuring what we can easily measure and thus up valuing what we (can) measure?’

The question we should be asking, says Biesta, is ‘What is education for? He makes the case that education basically serves three functions: qualification, socialization and subjectification. He demonstrates that these functions are partly synergetic, but also conflicting. The bigger question of what education is for, is determined by who sets the agenda and how this is done. Biesta argues for a profound democratic approach.

In exploring these issues, Biesta refers to the work of such philosophers as Dewey, Bauman, Levinas, Arendt and Rancière. Inevitably, this leads to an abstract, philosophical treatise. For instance, on subjectification, we come across statements such as:

The subjectification function might perhaps best be understood as the opposite of the socialization function.
Subjectification has to do with the ways in which our beginnings are taken up by others in ways that do not preclude them bringing their beginnings into the world as well.
Rancière defines subjectification as ‘the production through a series of actions of a body and a capacity for enuncation not previously identifiable within a given field of experience, whose identification is thus part of the reconfiguration of the field of experience.’

How to put the ideas that Biesta presents in this book into practice in the ineluctable everyday reality of the classroom, is a question that most teachers will undoubtedly be left with after they finish reading. Still, it is important that the questions that Biesta raises are raised, and that teachers, educators and policymakers are kindled to challenge their presumptions. That is a function that Biesta’s work serves very well.

[Jordan Hawkesworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very insightful and thought-provoking book about how one might attempt to approach the question, “what is good education?” The second half delves into the theory of democracy, but the ideas explored there are often not explicitly linked backed up the thesis in a thorough manner.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler alert measurement stinks

[Elin Thurhagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

* 3.5-ish. Väldigt intressanta tankar och perspektiv osv, men den innehåller lite väl många upprepningar för min smak.

[Saga Vītoliņa Jönsson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book! Had to read it for one of my courses in Uni and it was very repetitive and not for me!

[René P. Bosman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ongelofelijk wat een gezever! Een heel boek schrijven over wat iets niet is alleen bedoeld om de discussie te stimuleren over hoe goed onderwijs eruit zou kunnen zien. Er worden geen antwoorden gegeven door de auteur op de vraag, 'wat is goed onderwijs'. Had de schrijver zich daar maar op gericht dan had je er nog iets aan. Zijn doelstelling was om de kaders aan te geven. Dat kan en dat mag maar doe het dan in minder woorden.

[Michiel Poell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een interessant betoog van Gert Biesta.

[Willemf · Rating 4 out of 5]

In dit boek stelt Biesta een aantal belangrijke vragen.