Purposes of Education

John Hattie is Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and his Visible Learning series of books have been translated into 23 different languages and have sold over 1 million copies. Steen Nepper Larsen is Associate Professor in Education Science at the Danish School of Education, Aarhus, Denmark, and has published numerous academic books and journal articles. He is a critic connected to the Danish newspaper Information, among other organizations, and has worked on several popular philosophy programs for Danmarks Radio, P1.

"This book offers a mind-stretching breadth of content, a refreshingly respectful approach to debate, and an insightful analysis of the perennial 'purposes' question." - Steve Turnbull, Schools Week"The book has good section divisions, with small illustrative comics woven in and good summarizing questions after the chapters. All in all, it is a book with a very inviting and readable form." - Lark Grandjean, folkeskolen"If you are yet to read Visible Learning, I would recommend starting here. Many of the chapters can be used at teacher training colleges and other areas of higher education. I myself plan to use chapters from the book in my teaching. It comes highly recommended." - Kirsten Hyldgaard, Unge Pædagoger"It is well-edited, lively and contains many interesting conversations, which partly follow the main thematic tracks, but which also include numerous concrete experiences and examples from completely different contexts, which are interesting in themselves." - Peter Østergaard Andersen, Dansk pædagogisk Tidsskrift

• IntroductionI The encounterII Does educational data speak for itself?III Is learning a visible phenomenon? IV Is it important to teach and learn specific subjects?V How not to objectify the students and pupils you are studyingVI What is the role of the teacher?VII What is the relationship between educational research and educational politics? VIII Is it possible to revitalize the German concept Bildung (i.e., the formation of character and the higher ideas and ideals of education)? IX How to differentiate between the how, what, and why of educationX Is there a purpose of education?XI Is it possible to understand pedagogy as an art of decentering? XII How to deal with neuroscienceXIII How to deal with critiqueXIV If schools didn’t exist – would we miss them?XV Why are we longing for predictability and security?XVI The conversation stops but must continueReferencesList of abbreviationsGlossaryIndex