ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to declare the purposes, applications, principles and philosophy of educational transactional analysis. It presents a comprehensive account of how educational transactional analysis has developed, how it is practised, and the distinctive perspective it offers to educators. The book is about the relational aspects of teaching and learning. It is also concerned with integrity in education, both that of the teacher and in theoretical terms. Biesta continues by cautioning against a simplistic understanding of a dialogic educational method in which there is a blurring of teaching and learning into a single entity: This has indeed become a popular and even fashionable idea in contemporary educational discourse and practice, as can be seen in such notions as 'communities of practice' and 'learning communities'.
