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.
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In this contribution we report about a project about Professional Learning Communities.This project combines development and research. In this contribution we pay attention to the effect of the organisational capacity of a school on the personal and interpersonal capacity and to the impact of a professional learning community on the self and collective efficacy of teachers and on the innovative attitude in the school. In order to answer these questions, we obtained data from a survey of 67 schools in the Netherlands. On the base of the results we can conclude that a school as a professional learning community influences in a positive way the collective efficacy and the innovative attitude. These attitude and feelings of efficacy can be regarded as a sustainable source for teaching and school improvement.
The artcle describes the outcomes of a pilot study on professional development of teachers. The project was initiated by the school management. Nine teachers volunteered to work on their professional development in a programme consisting of: meetings discussing on relevant teacher topics meetings discussing video fragments of own performances meetings exploring ways to coach each other and how to use videotapes for feedback peer-coaching-sessions in small groups. Within these groups three teachers took turns in different roles: trainee, coach and observer. Aims of the study are: to develop a coaching programme, to describe extensively the process and the outcomes in order to identify the main factors influencing the learning processes of teachers in peer coaching settings with video feedback.
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ALE organised an event with Parktheater Eindhoven and LSA-citizens (the Dutch umbrella organisation for active citizens). Five ALE students from the minor Imagineering and business/social innovation took responsibility for concept and actual organisation. On Jan 18th, they were supported by six other group members of the minor as volunteers. An IMEM-team of 5 students gathered materials for a video that can support the follow-up actions of the organisers. The students planned to deliver their final product on February 9th. The theatre will critically assess the result and compare it to the products often realised by students from different schools or even professional ones, like Veldkamp productions. Time will tell whether future opportunities will come up for IMEM. The collaboration of ALE and IMEM students is possible and adding value to the project.More than 180 visitors showed interest in the efforts of 30 national and local citizen initiatives presenting themselves on the market square in the theatre and the diverse speakers during the plenary session. The students created a great atmosphere using the qualities of the physical space and the hospitality of the theatre. Chair of the day, Roland Kleve, kicked off and invited a diverse group of people to the stage: Giel Pastoor, director of the theatre, used the opportunity to share his thoughts on the shifting role of theatre in our dynamic society. Petra Ligtenberg, senior project manager SDG NL https://www.sdgnederland.nl/sdgs/ gave insights to the objectives and progress of the Netherlands. Elly Rijnierse, city maker and entrepreneur from Den Haag, presented her intriguing efforts in her own neighbourhood in the city to create at once both practical and social impacts on SDG 11 (sustainable city; subgoal 3.2). Then the alderman Marcel Oosterveer informed the visitors about Eindhoven’s efforts on SDGs. The plenary ended with very personal interviews of representatives of two impressive citizen initiatives (Parkinson to beat; Stichting Ik Wil). In the two workshop rounds, ALE took responsibility for two workshops. Firstly the workshop: Beyond SDG cherrypicking: using the Economy for the common good’, in cooperation with citizen initiative Ware winst Brabant en Parktheater (including Social innovation-intern Jasper Box), secondly a panel dialogue on local partnerships (SDG 17) for the sustainable city (SDG 11) addressing inclusion (SDG 10) and the livability (SDG 3) with 11 representatives from local/provincial government, companies, third sector and, of course: citizen initiatives.
De horeca-sector en het toerisme worden zwaar getroffen door de huidige crisis. Omzetschade is historisch groot; tegelijkertijd zijn er vanuit de praktijk veel vragen over hoe nieuwe werkwijzen moeten worden ontwikkeld en toegepast. Voor onze sector voorziet onderzoek in het kader van de Impuls-regeling daarom onmiskenbaar in een grote maatschappelijke behoefte. Hotelschool The Hague (HTH) zet strategisch in op het behoud en de versterking van praktijkgericht onderzoek en op het onderzoekend vermogen van haar studenten. Onderzoekend vermogen is, voor toekomstige afstudeerders in een snel veranderende arbeidsmarkt, door de HTH gedefinieerd als cruciale kernvaardigheid. In dit kader zijn recent de onderwijs- en onderzoeksprogramma’s van de HTH hervormd rond de principes van Design Oriented Research. Door de COVID-19 crisis is de continuïteit van het praktijkgericht onderzoek van de HTH, misschien nog wel meer dan bij brede hogescholen onder druk komen te staan. Met het hier voorgestelde Impuls 2020 bestedingsplan wil HTH de onderzoeksfunctie van haar praktische outlets — haar schoolrestaurants en -hotels— verder versterken zodat deze kunnen worden ingericht en gebruikt als ‘test-beds’ of HTH Labs. De schoolrestaurants en -hotels worden hiermee een faciliteit voor experimenteel, praktijkgericht onderzoek waar in commerciële bedrijven vaak geen mogelijkheid voor is. Dit Impuls 2020 voorstel behelst de visievorming voor de HTH Labs en de netwerkvorming met andere kennisinstellingen en met bedrijven als beoogde afnemers van de kennis die in de Labs ontwikkeld zal worden. Het voorstel voorziet tevens in de uitvoering van 3 pilotstudies die de mogelijkheden van de HTH Labs inzichtelijk maken voor het bedrijfsleven. De Impuls financiering zal uiteindelijk resulteren in een operationele onderzoeksfaciliteit in de schoolrestaurants en -hotels van de HTH, en in drie onderzoeksrapporten met bijbehorende disseminatie-activiteiten.
