Laaggeletterdheid is een erkend maatschappelijk probleem en staat de laatste jaren nadrukkelijk op de politiek-bestuurlijke agenda. De cijfers over laaggeletterdheid zijn verontrustend. Volgens het onderzoek van de OESO geldt landelijk 12% procent van de beroepsbevolking als laaggeletterd, voor Amsterdam was al bekend dat 16% behoort tot die categorie (Buisman en Houtkoop, 2014). Uit eerder veldonderzoek van het lectoraat Management van Cultuurverandering komen veel hogere uitkomsten naar voren dan de cijfers die al bekend waren: 27% van de beroepsbevolking in Amsterdam Nieuw-West is hoogstwaarschijnlijk onvoldoende leesvaardig. De hoogste percentages zijn te vinden in Slotermeer Noordoost (41%) en Slotermeer Zuidwest en Geuzenveld (allebei 37%) (Achbab, Fukkink, Straathof & Faddegon, 2015). Leesvaardigheid is een noodzakelijke voorwaarde voor geletterdheid. Dat betekent dus dat het probleem van laaggeletterdheid in een aantal delen van Amsterdam mogelijk groter is dan men denkt. Dat geldt waarschijnlijk ook voor Amsterdam Zuidoost. Veel van die problematiek is verborgen laaggeletterdheid waardoor de populatie moeilijk te bereiken is.
Within a short period of time, the Netherlands transformed itself from a relatively tolerant country to a nation that called for cultural assimilation, tough measures and neo-patriotism. The discursive genre of 'new realism' played a crucial role in this retreat from multiculturalism, and that had a dual effect for immigrant women. Whereas formerly they were virtually ignored by both the integration and the emancipation policy, since the triumph of new realism they are in the centre of both policy lines and there is now more policy attention for their needs and interests. Yet in the public debate the culture card is drawn frequently and immigrant women are portrayed as either victims or accomplices of their oppressive cultures. Policy makers and practitioners in the field, however, succeeded in avoiding cultural stereotyping by developing cultural-sensitive measures, while naming them in culture-blind terms.
BackgroundIn the Netherlands, there has been a strong increase in diversity among students in recent decades. Even though access for previously underrepresented groups based on economic status, ethnicity or culture has been realised to a certain extent, differences in student performance between groups persist. Research shows that teacher performance influences student achievement and that this influence is more pronounced for 'non-western students'. This creates a need for reflection on the way teachers cope with their increasingly diverse student population. This paper explores the attitudes of Dutch teachers in higher vocational education towards their diverse student population and the translation of these attitudes into teaching practice.MethodsTwenty-five teacher teams at two universities of applied sciences participated in this research. The teams came from a broad range of programmes that educate students for different future professions. A mixed method methodology was used to gather data, in which the qualitative method was most substantial. Focus group interviews on diversity and student achievement were held with each teacher team. Additionally, a questionnaire was distributed to all 274 participants, which was completed by 215 teachers. Data from the questionnaire were analysed using SPSS. In order to analyse the qualitative data we used AtlasTI. Because we applied a grounded approach, allowing teachers to form their own ideas on both diversity and student achievement, we used a similar approach in the first analytical phase. In a second phase, we compared the concepts arising from the grounded theory approach with concepts from the literature.Results and conclusionsAround 40% of the teachers repudiated the influence of diversity on student achievement and did not take student diversity into account in their teaching practice. Problems regarding the student achievement of students or groups thereof are considered as something that the students, the educational institution or society at large should cope with, not teachers themselves. Of the teachers, 60% recognised diversity among students, but mainly based on students’ shortcomings and perceived problems. A minority of this 60% not only recognised but also understood diversity’s effect on student achievement. Teachers do not always translate this understanding into their teaching practice. They feel they lack the skills, knowledge or time to do so. Teachers seemingly translate their understanding of diversity into their didactic and pedagogical approaches only when these conditions are met.
