ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the basis for a dialogue between the Anglophone discourse of (New) Education Studies and its Germanophone counterpart, ‘Pädagogik’. So far, few attempts have been made to compare these two traditions on a theoretical level. However, the Dutch philosopher of education Gert Biesta argues that in Anglophone Education Studies, educational theory is seen through the lens of disciplines deemed relevant to education, and hence treated merely as an ‘applied field of study’. Within the Germanophone context of ‘Pädagogik’ Biesta claims the study of education as an ‘academic discipline in its own right’. The concept of education in itself thus becomes the subject of study, not merely the object of ancillary disciplines, as in the Anglophone case. This chapter argues that the underlying assumptions of this comparison are over-simplified and no longer hold true. It will be shown by tracing the lines of development of both traditions. This chapter will therefore trace some key markers in this cross-over and stress the importance of conceptualising education as a discipline-defining concept qua subject of study by underscoring the current need for both discourses to enter into closer dialogue.
