This text is based on the publication: Wolff, R. & M. de Jong (2018), Doceren voor een inclusieve klas. Een literatuurstudie ter voorbereiding op docenttrainingen in het hoger (beroeps)onderwijs. (Teaching for an inclusive class. A literature study as preparatory input for teacher trainings in higher (vocational) education) Diemen/Rotterdam: Inholland/Risbo
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The international classroom is presumably a far more effective learning environment for the acquisition of intercultural competence when students receive adequate training to make the most of their intercultural encounters. This paper provides a summary of the intercultural training taught to first-year students of an international programme in The Hague University of Applied Sciences. The purpose of the paper is to investigate how the students respond to this intercultural training as well as what signs of intercultural awareness they show after completing the course. The findings were obtained via qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews, observations and student homework assignments. Overall, students evaluate the training positively. Furthermore, students show some awareness of the necessary ingredients for effective intercultural communication in the international classroom as well as of the challenging nature of this communication due to cultural diversity. Finally, this paper provides recommendations from the facilitators on stimulating intercultural learning in the international classroom.
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Seven college lecturers and two senior support staff were interviewed during 2021 about their experiences teaching in hybrid virtual classrooms (HVC). These technology-rich learning environments allow teachers to simultaneously teach students who are in class (on campus) and students who are joining remotely (online). There were two reasons for this choice: first, ongoing experimentation from innovative teaching staff who were already using this format before the COVID-19 pandemic; secondly, as a possible solution to restrictions on classroom size imposed by the pandemic. Challenges lecturers faced include adjusting teaching practice and lesson delivery to serve students in the class and those online equally; engaging and linking the different student groups in structured and natural interactions; overcoming technical challenges regarding audio and visual equipment; suitably configuring teaching spaces and having sufficient pedagogical and technical support to manage this complex process. A set of practical suggestions is provided. Lecturers should make reasoned choices when teaching in this format since it requires continued experimentation and practice to enhance the teaching and learning opportunities. When external factors such as classroom size restrictions are the driving force, the specific type of synchronous learning activities should be carefully considered. The structure and approach to lessons needs to be rethought to optimise the affordances of the hybrid virtual and connected classroom. The complexity of using these formats, and the additional time needed to do it properly, should not be underestimated. These findings are consistent with previous literature on this subject. An ongoing dialogue with faculty, support staff and especially students should be an integral part of any further implementation in this format.
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This open access book is a valuable resource for students in health and other professions and practicing professionals interested in supporting effective change in self-management behaviors in chronic disease, such as medication taking, physical activity and healthy eating. Developed under the auspices of the Train4Health project, funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union, the book contains six chapters written by international contributors from different disciplines. This chapter presents open-access educational products that supplement this book: case studies and a web application to simulate behaviour change support in persons with chronic disease. The former is of particular interest for academic educators, while the latter may interest students independently pursuing training outside the classroom. These products can also be useful for professionals aiming to enhance behaviour change competencies in practice. First, it addresses key aspects of product development, including hallmarks such as the incorporation of behaviour change science and transnational co-production with users. Then, the main features of case studies and the web application with 2D virtual humans are described.
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A research into classroom interaction (behaviour and communication) between teachers and pupils in the light of social justice. The research is based on the concern that educational praxis, defined as 'practice which implies a conscious awareness of the practitioners that their actions are morally committed, and oriented by tradition' are, under modern policy pressures in danger of being replaced by a form of practice which amounts simply to following rules.
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This study shows how learner initiatives are taken during classroom discussions where the teacher seeks to make room for subjectification. Using Conversation Analysis, subjectification can be observed when students take the freedom to express themselves as subjects through learner initiatives. Drawing on data from classroom discussions in language and literature lessons in the mother tongue, the authors find that learner initiatives can be observed in three different ways: agreement, request for information, counter-response. A learner initiative in the form of an agreement appears to function mostly as a continuer and prompts the previous speaker to reclaim the turn, while the I-R-F structure remains visible. In contrast, making a request for information or giving a counter-response ensures mostly a breakthrough of the I-R-F-structure and leads to a dialogical participation framework in which multiple students participate. Findings illustrate that by making a request for information or giving a counter-response, students not only act as an independent individual, but also encourage his peers to do so.
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Background to the problem Dutch society demonstrates a development which is apparent in many societies in the 21st century; it is becoming ethnically heterogeneous. This means that children who are secondlanguage speakers of Dutch are learning English, a core curriculum subject, through the medium of the Dutch language. Research questions What are the consequences of this for the individual learner and the class situation?Is a bi-lingual background a help or a hindrance when acquiring further language competences. Does the home situation facilitate or impede the learner? Additionally, how should the TEFL professional respond to this situation in terms of methodology, use of the Dutch language, subject matter and assessment? Method of approach A group of ethnic minority students at Fontys University of Professional Education was interviewed. The interviews were subjected to qualitative analysis. To ensure triangulation lecturers involved in teaching English at F.U.P.E. were asked to fill in a questionnaire on their teaching approach to Dutch second language English learners. Thier response was quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. Findings and conclusions The students encountered surprisingly few problems. Their bi-lingualism and home situation were not a constraint in their English language development. TEFL professionals should bear the heterogeneous classroom in mind when developing courses and lesson material. The introduction to English at primary school level and the assessment of DL2 learners require further research.
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Research conducted by Henk van den Hurk shows that teachers’ knowledge of effective instructional behaviour is of limited influence on their actual performance in daily teaching. Observing teachers within their own educational practice and the subsequent feedback in teacher training college, however, has shown to be effective in improving teacher instructional practice. Van den Hurk studied the effects of the application of a cyclic model for data-feedback in initial teacher training as well as in a master course for teachers. In the applied model, teachers are observed with standardised observational instruments, while teaching their own classes. Back in teacher training college they are supported in formulating specific points of improvement for their own instructional behaviour. Subsequently, in their own classroom, the students practice the skills they further have to develop. After a short while another classroom observation is scheduled. The use of this model has proven to lead to a substantial improvement of teacher instructional behaviour. It is remarkable that advances in the quality of teacher instructional behaviour are reached in a limited time-span of only several weeks.
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In the current study differences between primary school teachers classified as high-performing in their implementation of cooperative learning (CL) in their classrooms and teachers who were less successful in implementing cooperative learning were investigated. The levels of implementation of cooperative learning differed significantly between teachers, especially in teaching students the needed cooperative behaviours. Based on semi-structured interviews, it was found that low-performing CL teachers struggle more with student behaviour during cooperative learning, while high-performing CL teachers feel more able to regulate student behaviour. We concluded that teachers who differed in their teacher performance of implementation of cooperative learning also differed in their attitudes and beliefs about this approach. An integrated model on professional development and teacher change is proposed to interpret the results of differences between teachers. This model shows that positive attitudes and beliefs before implementation, but also experiencing positive student outcomes (incl. positive student behaviour) during implementation are important factors in making cooperative learning successful in practice. We suggest that teachers should be prevented from entering a negative spiral in which they experience student behaviour during cooperative learning only as difficult and, therefore, do not succeed in improving students’ cognitive and behavioural outcomes.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore how experienced teachers learn informally, and more specifically, how they learn through the activities they undertake when teaching classes. Regarding these activities we studied four aspects: behaviour, cognition, motivation and emotion. During one year, data were collected through observations of and interviews with four experienced teachers. For the analysis we used Eraut’s distinction into three types of learning which differ in the degree of consciousness that is involved. We found several activities that represented each of these types of learning. The findings demonstrate how cognitive, affective, motivational and behavioural aspects are interrelated in classroom teaching and that learning from classroom teaching occurs at several levels of awareness. Hence, we argue that a theory of teacher learning should account for activities involved in the alignment of behaviour to plan and for the role of motivation and emotion. The findings suggest that fruitful development of the quality of teaching requires more attention for the relation between teachers’ cognition, emotion, motivation and behaviour, and for promoting teachers’ awareness of their implicit beliefs and behavioural tendencies.
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