Good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education

Citation

Biesta GJJ (2009) Good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21 (1), pp. 33-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-008-9064-9

Abstract
In this paper I argue that there is a need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education, particularly in the light of a recent tendency to focus discussions about education almost exclusively on the measurement and comparison of educational outcomes. I first discuss why the question of purpose should always have a place in our educational discussion. I then explore some reasons why this question seems to have disappeared from the educational agenda. The central part of the paper is a proposal for addressing the question of purpose in education—the question as to what constitutes good education—in a systematic manner. I argue that the question of purpose is a composite question and that in deliberating about the purpose of education we should make a distinction between three functions of education to which I refer as qualification, socialisation and subjectification. In the final section of the paper I provide examples of how this proposal can help in asking more precise questions about the purpose and direction of educational processes and practices.

Keywords
Good education; Evaluation; Accountability; Aims of education; Evidence-based; Education Research Methodology; Educators; Democracy and education

Journal
Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability: Volume 21, Issue 1