Sybolt Friso

Sybolt Friso is a researcher and PhD candidate at Utrecht University within the Humanities department and the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication. He concurrently serves as a philosophy teacher at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen (Minerva Academy) and the Foundation for Pedagogical Education (SPO) in Groningen, contributing to both academic research and practical pedagogy.

His academic foundation includes:

• BA in Philosophy from the University of Groningen
• MA (Research) in Philosophy from the University of Groningen
• MSc in Pedagogical Sciences from the University of Groningen
• Erasmus exchange at Durham University

Friso's research centers on teacher subjectification in higher education, investigating how educators develop as autonomous subjects through linguistic interactions with students, particularly during contentious classroom discussions. Grounded in Gert Biesta's educational-philosophical framework, his work examines tensions between teachers' professional socialization and their emergence as self-directed individuals, employing discourse analysis of real-world teaching scenarios.

His 2024 publication on teacher subjectification demonstrates his interdisciplinary approach, merging educational philosophy with linguistic methodology to argue that teacher subjectification is an inevitable pedagogical dimension. This research highlights critical connections between instructor identity formation and student subjectification processes within higher education contexts.

Friso actively teaches the 'Writing, reasoning & presenting' course at Utrecht University while delivering philosophy instruction at his external appointments, bridging theoretical research with classroom practice across multiple institutions.