The Purpose of Education: In Conversation with Professor Gert Biesta

Renowned educator Professor Gert Biesta joins Talking Teaching to explore the deeper purpose of education beyond knowledge transfer. In this episode, Professor Biesta reflects on his journey from post-war Rotterdam to his influential academic career and introduces his three key dimensions of learning: qualification, socialisation, and subjectification. Together, they discuss the role of teachers in fostering student agency, the importance of high expectations, and the idea of world-centred education in an age of complexity. Gert Biesta is a Professor of Public Education in the ⁠Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy⁠, Maynooth University, and Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the ⁠Moray House School of Education and Sport⁠, University of Edinburgh. More information and useful links are available via this ⁠link ⁠. We’d love to hear your feedback on the series, send your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to foe-news@unimelb.edu.au. This podcast is produced by the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne.