This paper explores how a Bildung-making approach underpinned by embodied pedagogy and didactics can contribute to a learner becoming a person and a teacher’s development of artistry. We argue that the existing Cartesian divide between mind and body can explain the fundamental differences in how teachers and learners perceive Bildung within the Dutch educational system: either as an ‘academic’ phenomenon (for ‘the head’) or as vocational (for ‘the hand’). In this study, Dutch (pre)vocational teachers designed and co-created Bildung prototypes in professional learning communities (PLCs) and classrooms. The teachers used ‘real life’ questions from their teaching practices as their departure point to develop Bildung-making. The results of the study show that when Bildung education becomes an embodied maker’s process, it enables learners to transcend barriers to educational equity. Co-created enjoyment and social emotional learning come to the foreground during Bildung-making, thus fostering inclusive education.
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A Europe-wide revival of the idea of bildung as a goal for education has been gaining momentum for a couple of decades. The main idea is that bildung enables teachers, researchers and policy makers “… to explore the ways in which education might be about something more than simply the transmission of our facts and values to the next generation,” to use a quote by Gert Biesta, the Dutch professor of educational theory and pedagogy at the University of Edinburgh. Others often narrow bildung down to a process of becoming a whole person or cultivating one’s self towards civic excellence. Those ideas come from an older tradition with bildung thinkers such as the 19th century Prussian minister of education, Wilhelm von Humboldt, who promoted bildung as a key objective of public education.
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Educational policies in the Netherlands reveal that the current mainstream participatory approach to citizenship education jeopardises students’ autonomy. Especially in Dutch post-secondary vocational education, citizenship education has been shown to be mainly aimed at socialization: initiating students into tradition, internalising rules, societal norms and values. This article reports on the findings of a research project, which is grounded in the assumption that integrating Bildung, citizenship education and critical thinking is a promising way to grapple with the perceived overemphasis on socialization strategies. We justify the interrelationship of critical thinking, Bildung, citizenship education, and professional training from two perspectives – historical and contemporary. It is only by combining these concepts, we contend, that educational professionals can create teaching materials more geared to developing autonomy, and prepare students in vocational training to navigate the political and societal dilemma’s on the work floor. Furthermore, we also clarify our perspective by offering three educational principles, used in our project to guide the design of teaching materials, that form a context for integrating citizenship, critical thinking, and Bildung in vocational education. A practical illustration is subsequently discussed.
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We are now faced with numerous examples of the use of the word ‘open’ in the context of education. There are open schools, open universities, open participatory learning infrastructures (OPLI), open courseware (OCW), massive open online courses (MOOCs), open educational resources (OER), open educational practices (OEP) and so on (see, e.g., Atkins, Brown, & Hammond, 2007; Schuwer, van Genuchten, & Hatton, 2015). What these terms at face value seem to share is their reference to the removal of barriers to the access of education. Open universities have relaxed entrance requirements, open courseware and MOOCs allow for free access to courses, as do open educational resources and open educational practices at the levels of materials and practices, respectively, although the kinds of barriers removed and the extent to which they are removed differ widely (Mulder & Jansen, 2015). However, there is more to openness than this prima facie characterization in terms of the removal of barriers reveals. A brief overview of some existing definitions of openness in education can help to make this evident.
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Het ideaal van persoonlijke autonomie speelt niet alleen op allerlei manieren een belangrijke rol in de samenleving, ook in het onderwijs geldt het als uitgangspunt en doel van vorming. In dit artikel wordt dit ideaal geproblematiseerd en opnieuw doordacht door het te verbinden met de oorspronkelijke betekenis van auto-nomie als zichzelf de wet opleggen. De vraag wordt gesteld waarin deze 'wet' bestaat en hoe zich deze verhoudt tot de christelijke notie van afhankelijkheid van God als een vorm van heteronomie. Wat betekent dit alles voor vormingsidealen in het onderwijs?
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Higher education is making increasing demands on students’ learner-agency and self-directed learning. What exactly are learner agency and self-directed learning? Why are they important? And what does it take? The aim of the five questions and answers on this poster is to support a common language and to be used as conversation starters when you want to discuss learner-agency and self-directed learning.
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The cultivation of intrinsic motivation is key in the 21th century, but most students in Dutch vocational education lack this quality. To foster intrinsic motivation, a strong career-learning environment is needed that enables students to develop career competencies and a career identity. However such an environment is absent in much of vocational education in The Netherlands. Research shows that the desired learning must be practice based (real life experiences are key), enable a dialogue (in order to attach personal meaning to real life experiences) and give students more autonomy in making choices in their school careers. Although there has been an increase in the use of portfolios and personal-development plans, these instruments are used mainly for improving success at school but are not in career and work. In addition research on the conversations between student and teachers/work-place mentors shows that the latter talk primarily to (65%), and about (21%), but rarely with (9%) students. The culture in schools is still predominately monological. Most teachers feel uncertain about their abilities to help students in developing career competencies and a career identity, though a growing number of teachers want to be trained in initiating meaningful career dialogues. In order to make such training successful in terms of promoting new guidance behaviours, it is essential that school managers create a strong career-learning environment for teachers. The Standards Era policies (Gatto, 2009) that dominate Dutch vocational education at the moment, however, leaves managers little space to do so. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50734-7_7 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/
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This six-year study, consisting of four sub-investigations (one conceptual, three empirical), describes how subjectifying education with positioning of the body and embodiment of students in the educational practice requires teacher artistry, and forms by which teachers can stimulate learners' desire to become an embodied person in the world. The purpose of this research is to reconsider subjectification as the main target domain of education from the perspective of embodied cognition. The main research question is: How can Dutch teachers develop their artistry to create an inclusive educational practice that encourages their learners (in Dutch (v)mbo and higher education) to become embodied persons situated in the world? Since schools and classrooms are mini societies, there are many opportunities in these settings for learners' encounters with the world and their micro sociocultural worlds. Qualities like feeling what is happening inside oneself, expression of emotions, reflection and reflexivity, being able to be where the other is, having meaningful relationships with teachers and other learners, and engaging with the world are important for learners' wellbeing (De Haan, 2021; Zembylas, 2007; Zheng, 2022). The sort of curriculum that would pedagogically foster the development of these qualities in education is more likely to have the learner's body (or better, their embodied mind, Varela et al., 1992) at a central position in teaching and learning, thus enhancing opportunities for emotional and bodily expression (Zembylas, 2007). An overarching conclusion follows to answer the main research question. Teaching is not implementing a method or proven intervention 'that works' in the classroom, nor is it following a recipe (Biesta, in publication). It is both craft (technē) and art (including practical knowledge, phronesis) (Eisner, 2002). Through constant attention to embodied perception in the curriculum and evoking aesthetic experiences (Stenhouse, 1988), through 'making', working with 'experientiality' (Caracciolo, 2019) and 'doing the arts', giving shape to the environment (Alibali & Nathan, 2018), vitality, emotions, uncertainties and unpredictable activities and outcomes (Eisner, 1985), teachers develop their artistry. It is important for teachers to come together, add knowledge to each other and make education together. They have a responsibility to create inclusive spaces in the classroom for plurality and possible transformation. There are at least three current barriers in Dutch education that make it difficult for teachers to create inclusive spaces in the classroom: the Dutch 'measurement culture', the gap between academic "for the head" and vocational "for the hand" education, and Cartesian dualism as the paradigm underlying education. These three barriers do not disappear when teachers 'make' and 'do arts' with their learners' Artistic principles, however, in addition to recognizing the embodiment of learners, spark the joy of improvisation and experimentation and inspire teachers to further develop their teacher artistry. Schools then become spaces where teachers approach their learners as embodied persons who are in the world, rather than as individuals with separate brains, and bodies that are not being addressed. This is an important step toward embodied subjectification in education.
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Background: The dynamics of maternal and newborn care challenge midwifery education programs to keep up-to-date. To prepare for their professional role in a changing world, role models are important agents for student learning. Objective: To explore the ways in which Dutch and Icelandic midwifery students identify role models in contemporary midwifery education. Methods: We conducted a descriptive, qualitative study between August 2017 and October 2018. In the Netherlands, 27 students participated in four focus groups and a further eight in individual interviews. In Iceland, five students participated in one focus group and a further four in individual interviews. All students had clinical experience in primary care and hospital. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Results: During their education, midwifery students identify people with attitudes and behaviors they appreciate. Students assimilate these attitudes and behaviors into a role model that represents their ‘ideal midwife’, who they can aspire to during their education. Positive role models portrayed woman-centered care, while students identified that negative role models displayed behaviors not fitting with good care. Students emphasized that they learnt not only by doing, they found storytelling and observing important aspects of role modelling. Students acknowledged the impact of positive midwifery role models on their trust in physiological childbirth and future style of practice. Conclusion: Role models contribute to the development of students’ skills, attitudes, behaviors, identity as midwife and trust in physiological childbirth. More explicit and critical attention to how and what students learn from role models can enrich the education program.
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Citizens living in food poverty can easily get caught up in a vicious cycle. Socio-economically disadvantaged people often rely on food assistance and are more likely to suffer from diseases caused by unhealthy diets, such as diabetes. They may also experience isolation and lack social networks, as they do not have the financial means to participate in social life. Moreover, this group is often overlooked in decision-making processes regarding healthy and sustainable food environments. To create equitable food environments in urban areas, it is crucial to incorporate the everyday challenges and needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged people. In our collaborative research, we explore the needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged people regarding a healthy and sustainable diet in Switzerland and the Netherlands. The aim is also to develop, in a participatory way, ideas on how to create more socially just and inclusive food environments.Keywords: food poverty, food environments, social participation, participatory action research
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