Hello everybody! Since the semester has just begun, I wanted to shift the focus of my blog post here today away from just art and instead towards education. Something we discussed in one of my education classes so far this semester is the purpose of public education and why it’s important. This stuck with me because when I think of why I want to be a teacher, Gert Biesta’s ideas of what the purpose of education looks like aligns with my ideals.
Gert Biesta describes the purpose of education through three domains: qualification, socialization, and subjectification. He describes the qualification of education as providing students with the knowledge and skills necessary for functioning in society. This means not only preparing your students for college, but also preparing them for life outside of school. But in order for education to be successful, it must also include socialization, or integrating individuals into cultural norms, and subjectification, or having a self of individuality and security despite outside influences. The qualification of education teaches students the cultural norms of their society and helps shape them into good and prepared citizens. The subjectification of education teaches students to be the subject of their own lives, while also acknowledging how they live their lives affects others.
These three domains of education align with my reasons for wanting to be teacher because they intend to create intentional, mindful, and compassionate students. By adequately preparing students for the future through the qualification of education, they become passionate and intentional learners who yearn to further their education. By preparing the students for the cultural norms of the future society in which they will be a part of, they become intelligent and compassionate citizens who will make a change in the world and be prepared for life’s realities. And finally by incorporating the subjectification of education, our students will become mindful people who realize that their actions have either positive or negative effects on not only others’ lives, but also their own.
