Search results

Learning and developing teaching competencies in a Professional Learning Community

Context When the pandemic hit the world, teachers were forced to change their education from onsite to virtual overnight Understandably, teaching quality decreased in the beginning, as there was little experience in how to adapt the educational design Zuyd University of Applied Sciences ( recognized the problem that teachers were on different didactic and pedagogical levels when it comes to online education Unfortunately, the pandemic made it hard for teachers to connect with each other In the Domain of Health and Welfare, this led to the idea of establishing a professional learning community A professional learning community ( can be seen as an informal group of people who share knowledge and experiences among each other on a common topic they are all highly interested in Zuyd’s vision “passion for development” sets a good basis for the start of such a community. Steps we took In order to find out how a professional learning community can look like in Zuyd, the following steps were taken Firstly, we collected and evaluated literature and best practices around the topic Based on our findings we developed an interview guideline and conducted interviews with eight teachers from the Domain of Health and Welfare Throughout the whole report a SWOT analysis was performed with the literature and best practices filling opportunities and threats and the interviews providing content for strengths and weaknesses Main findings From these sources, we derived enablers for a successful learning community, which led to recommendations for Zuyd on how to strategically position, implement and organize a PLC One of our major recommendations is to make didactic and pedagogical skills an important topic within Zuyd in order to strategically implement the learning community into Zuyd’s strategy Furthermore, we recommend giving the lead in organizing and facilitating the PLC to the blended learning task force To collect a diverse set of interested employees to the core group, the educational managers should personally approach teachers that might be interested The sense of urgency around the topic needs to be addressed regularly through the directors of the Domain, the task force of blended learning, as well as the PLC itself In this way, interest in the topic of didactic and pedagogical skills and blended learning can be enhanced In the report we go into greater detail on how to organize and apply these recommendations. We are convinced that implementing these steps will pay off in the future and will successfully enhance competencies on blended learning and didactic and pedagogical skills through knowledge exchange.

Innovative teaching and learning practices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Denmark and Sweden

European polices and instruments for teaching and learning with innovative component in higher education.

Inclusive STEM teaching from a language perspective

Worldwide, pupils with migrant backgrounds do not participate in school STEM subjects as successfully as their peers. Migrant pupils’ subject-specific language proficiency lags behind, which hinders participation and learning. Primary teachers experience difficulty in teaching STEM as well as promoting required language development. This study investigates how a professional development program (PDP) focusing on inclusive STEM teaching can promote teacher learning of language-promoting strategies (promoting interaction, scaffolding language and using multilingual resources). Participants were five case study teachers in multilingual schools in the Netherlands (N = 2), Sweden (N = 1) and Norway (N = 2), who taught in primary classrooms with migrant pupils. The PDP focused on three STEM units (sound, maintenance, plant growth) and language-promoting strategies. To trace teachers’ learning, three interviews were conducted with each of the five teachers (one after each unit). The teachers also filled in digital logs (one after each unit). The interviews showed positive changes in teachers’ awareness, beliefs and attitudes towards language-supporting strategies. However, changes in practice and intentions for practice were reported to a lesser extent. This study shows that a PDP can be an effective starting point for teacher learning regarding inclusive STEM teaching. It also illuminates possible enablers (e.g., fostering language awareness) or hinderers (e.g., teachers’ limited STEM knowledge) to be considered in future PDP design.

Learning in networks Community of Practice: a new approach to entrepreneurial learning

Educational programs teaching entrepreneurial behaviour and knowledge are crucial to a vital and healthy economy. The concept of building a Communities of Practice (CoP) could be very promising. CoP’s are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavour (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002). They consist of a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Normally CoP’s are rather homogeneous. Saxion institute Small Business & Retail Management (SB&RM) started a CoP with entrepreneurs September 2007. Typical in the this community, are the differences between the partners. The Community consists of students, entrepreneurs and members of an institution for higher education. They have different characteristics and they don’t share the same knowledge. Thus, building long-lasting relations can be complicated. Solid relations for longer periods are nevertheless inevitable in using CoP as a mean in an educational concept that takes approximately 4 years. After one year an evaluation took place on the main aspects of a lasting partnership. The central problem SB&RM in Deventer faces is to design the CoP in a way possible members will join and stay for a longer period and in a way it ensures entrepreneurial learning. This means important design characteristics have to be identified, and the CoP in Deventer has to be evaluated to assess whether it meets those design characteristics in an effective and efficient way. The main target of the evaluation is to determine which key factors are important to make sure continuity in partnership is assured and entrepreneurial learning is best supported. To solve the problem, an investigation on how a CoP works, what group dynamics take place, and how this can be measured has to be conducted. Furthermoreusing the CoP as a tool for entrepreneurship means key aspects of entrepreneurial learning have to be identified. After that the CoP in Deventer has to be examined on both aspects. According to literature CoP’s define themselves along three dimensions: domain (indicating what is it about), community (defining how it functions), and practice (indicating what capabilities it has produced) (Wenger, 1998). This leads to meaningful, shared and coordinated activities (Akkerman et al, 2007): Key aspects of a successful CoP lie in both hard and soft sides of creating a partnership. It means on one hand a CoP has to deal with defining their own overall vision, formulating long term goals and targets on the short term. They have to formulate how to achieve those targets and create meaningful activities (reification). On the other hand a CoP has to deal with relations, trust, norms and values (participation). Reification and participation as design characteristic can provide indicators on which the CoP in Deventer can be evaluated. A lasting partnership means joining the CoP and staying. Weick provides us with a suitable model that enables us to do research and evaluate whether the CoP in Deventer is successful or not, Weick’s model of means convergence. To effectively ensure entrepreneurial learning the process in the CoP has to provide or enable actionoriented forms through Project-based activity, accompanied by reflection, with high emotional exposure (or cognitive affection) preferably caused by discontinuities to be suitable as a tool in entrepreneurial learning. Furthermore it should be accompanied by the right preconditions to work effectively and efficiently. The evaluation of the present CoP in Deventer is done by interviewing all participants at the end of the first year of the partnership. In a structured interview, based on literature studies, all participants were separately questioned

Innovative learning for innovation

Introduction Innovation is crucial for companies who have to react to constantly changing markets. Several national and European research institutes stress the importance of developing innovation for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). This was a trigger to design a minor on strategic innovation for different disciplines - technical and economic departments - of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences. It prepares students to be more competent to take initiatives in developing innovation. The newly designed education should be an answer to the question of how to help companies to become more able to adapt to new changes in the market by providing them with higher educated personnel, who have developed competences on strategic innovation. The starting point for the research is the perceived effectiveness of teaching students to take part in developing innovation at SMEs. More specifically, the question is how to develop action-oriented learning environments to develop competences for innovation development. Research The central research question of this thesis is: In what way could a competence-based and action-oriented learning environment on innovation development in SMEs be designed? This research question provides a basis for evaluating three implementations of the minor learning program (30 EC) on strategic innovation. Findings of the research indicate the importance of educating students about innovation. Educational strategies such as partnering learners with SME staff, simulation exercises, and hands-on exercises all contribute to students' analytical skills. 'Real world' experience in corporate settings helps students bridge the gap between theory and practice, and consequently prepares them to be competitive in their chosen employment. In the period from 2006 till 2009, three academic years were spend to teach students knowledge and competences on strategic innovation. The parameters evaluated are relevance and effectiveness and the system to be analysed is the minor 'strategic innovation'. These two parameters are described as follows: Relevance Teachers and students consider all teaching elements of the minor required to adequately prepare for contributions to innovation development in SMEs relevant. Key persons from SMEs believe that such knowledge and competences are important for companies to increase market competitiveness through innovation. Effectiveness Students develop perceptions on how innovation developments should be initiated in SMEs. They learn how to analyse companies for indicators of and preparation for changes. Students are capable of formulating an innovation development advice for companies, and explain how current activities could be changed to improve corporate success. These parameters are the focus of the measuring method. Optimization of the parameters improves the learning conditions. There is a relation between the two parameters and the variables of a conceptual model with which data can be categorised. Conclusions and recommendations The thesis concludes with a model to analyse the different positions and perspectives of the stakeholders. It is also used for designing a competence-based and action-oriented program. During the research, it became clear that teachers were having a major role in the learning processes of students to change them from rather inexperienced in strategic innovation, into being experienced to the level of starting professionals. Teachers must therefore have many different abilities/competences. For these teachers, it is important that they have - to a certain extent - an expertise in the field of study so they are able to coach and lecture their students properly. Therefore it is necessary that they have their networks with companies on this matter, which enables them to discuss the reality of innovation in the company. Next to the ability to understand the content, teachers must have the ability to determine the starting level of the students of different disciplines joining the minor and choose lecture and coaching conditions with which each student can learn effectively. Teachers therefore must be able to use several strategies of teaching. Students themselves also need to be experienced in interdisciplinary cooperation to work in strategic innovation projects. From these multidisciplinary approaches, teachers must be able to guarantee learning effectiveness to the major goal of the minor education. In order to do so, teachers need to collaborate themselves with their colleagues and agree to the formulated conditions of the minor education. The conclusions as presented from the data of the research are focussed on the teacher being the provider of knowledge and the "manager" of learning activities of students. The main success factors of these conclusions can be formulated as follows. 1. Teachers need to get the opportunity to become adapted to new fields of study in order to have a relevant contribution. 2. Teachers must use their network to find companies that fit to the goals of the minor. 3. Teachers need to determine the match of complexity of the minor and minimum conditions for students to join. 4. Teachers must understand how to help students to work interdisciplinary. 5. Teachers must adapt to new teaching and learning strategies to make the educational processes effective. 6. Teachers in a multidisciplinary teaching and learning context need to be informed on the background of students to make their teaching more effective. 7. Teachers must be able to present the specific theme of their lectures in the context of the goal of the minor to make their teaching activities effective. 8. Teachers from various disciplines working in a multidisciplinary minor need to work interdisciplinary with their colleagues. 9. Teachers must agree to the formulations of the competences. Universities of applied sciences mostly educate young professionals in the region they are situated in. They need to feel the responsibility to follow the needs of companies, like competences of starting professionals on innovation development, and give teachers the opportunities to make improvements of the education with which starting students are being prepared to become starting professionals in companies.