Understanding Biesta's three purposes of education
A framework proposal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11159582 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dalila Pinto Coelho (0000-0001-5108-146X, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences CIIE, University of Porto Porto Portugal), Miriam Ham (0000-0002-3337-299X, Central Queensland University North Rockhampton QLD Australia, corresponding author), Sarah‐Louise Jones (0000-0002-6218-0882, School of Education University of Hull Hull UK) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 2536-2554 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Educational Research Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0141-1926 • E-ISSN: 1469-3518 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/berj.4155 |
| OpenAlex | W4410308208 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 32 |
The purpose of ‘doing’ education is often unconsidered or assumed in educational thinking and practice, despite the diversity of understandings. Gert Biesta's perspective that education has a threefold purpose of qualification, socialisation and subjectification is among the most known. However, the interpretation of Biesta's thinking is challenging, namely, due to intrinsic complexity and contradiction between the domains of purpose and a loose use of the author's theory that tends to conflate and overlook core elements of each purpose. The current work proposes an innovative framework to support the understanding and application of Biesta's three purposes of education and is a contribution in overcoming the theoretical and empirical constraints faced. The framework proposed is composed of two levels: a theoretical level, resulting from the deductive interpretation of Biesta's thinking on purpose, where the core domains and subdomains of education are depicted; and an empirical level, resulting from the application of the framework to research data, in which a potential expansion of the three purposes is presented. Overall, this original work demonstrated the framework's adequacy as an analytical tool for education research on the issue of purpose and the adaptability of Biesta's theory and the framework developed to future studies
Epistemology · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Sociology · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Philosophy · Psychology
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Good education in an age of measurement
Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews
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“Global citizenship means different things to different people”
Risking Ourselves in Education
Conceptualizing Socialization, Qualification, and Subjectification as Purposes of Education
What lies within Gert Biesta’s going beyond learning
The global dimension in education and education for global citizenship
Qualification, socialization, and subjectification
Learning from Levinas
Democracy, Education and the Need for Politics
Gert Biesta – Education between Bildung and post-structuralism
What should Educational Institutions be for
Taking Education Seriously
Deductive Qualitative Analysis
Intercoder Reliability in Qualitative Research
| Citations per year | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |