#2 Steen Nepper Larsen | Bildung and the Purposes of Education
Steen Nepper Larsen is associate professor at the Department of Education Sciences at the Danish School of Education at Aarhus University. He is a renowned Danish intellectual and author of many publications. Among them is book together with John Hattie in which Steen challenges the Visible Learning approach. How this book came into life and what Steen assumes to be severe flaws of the education system today, is examined closer in this podcast episode, where Steen also gives an in-depth account of Bildung and why it is so fundamentally different from education.
00:01:02 – Working with John Hattie on the book project “The Purposes of Education”
00:04:13 – Steen's main critique of John Hattie’s Visible Learning approach
00:07:06 – What is Bildung?
00:12:26 – How have the themes of Bildung come under pressure?
00:16:36 – Steen's main arguments against evidence-based teaching
00:21:56 – What would an education without “evaluation fever” and the chase for evidence look like?
00:26:09 – Is the concept of Bildung relevant for today’s professional studies?
00:30:11 – Is there a relation between Bildung and responsibility as presented in the European Qualifications Framework?
00:35:41 – What is needed from us to become truly “seeing”?
00:40:00 – Bildung as the “God-given” in humans?
Between Theory and Practice – Questions for Reflection
00:04:13 – Steen's main critique of John Hattie’s Visible Learning approach
00:07:06 – What is Bildung?
00:12:26 – How have the themes of Bildung come under pressure?
00:16:36 – Steen's main arguments against evidence-based teaching
00:21:56 – What would an education without “evaluation fever” and the chase for evidence look like?
00:26:09 – Is the concept of Bildung relevant for today’s professional studies?
00:30:11 – Is there a relation between Bildung and responsibility as presented in the European Qualifications Framework?
00:35:41 – What is needed from us to become truly “seeing”?
00:40:00 – Bildung as the “God-given” in humans?
Between Theory and Practice – Questions for Reflection
How might the insights from this dialogue inspire your own practice? The following questions are intended to inspire further inquiry, whether explored individually or in conversation with colleagues, students, or peers.
- Steen Nepper Larsen argues that education should be more than preparation for predefined goals, performance indicators, or labor market demands. Reflect on your own professional life: Which ideas, values, texts, experiences, or encounters have genuinely shaped who you are—not merely what you can do—and how do they continue to influence your work today?
- Throughout the conversation, Larsen presents Bildung as the cultivation of independent judgment and the courage to think critically, even when prevailing systems, routines, or expectations push in another direction. Where in your own practice do you feel called to question assumptions, challenge taken-for-granted ways of thinking, or open up new possibilities for yourself and others?
Literature:
- Hattie, J. & Larsen, S. N. (2020): The Purposes of Education: A Conversation between John Hattie and Steen Nepper Larsen. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Larsen, S. N. (2022): Evalueringsfeber og evidensjagt. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur
- Larsen, S. N. (2019): Blindness in Seeing: A Philosophical Critique of the Visible Learning Paradigm in Education. Educational Science 9(1) 47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9010047
- Larsen, S.N (2016). At ville noget med nogen – filosofiske og samtidskritiske fragmenter om dannelse og pædagogik. Turbine akademisk.
