Among other things, learning to write entails learning how to use complex sentences effectively in discourse. Some research has therefore focused on relating measures of syntactic complexity to text quality. Apart from the fact that the existing research on this topic appears inconclusive, most of it has been conducted in English L1 contexts. This is potentially problematic, since relevant syntactic indices may not be the same across languages. The current study is the first to explore which syntactic features predict text quality in Dutch secondary school students’ argumentative writing. In order to do so, the quality of 125 argumentative essays written by students was rated and the syntactic features of the texts were analyzed. A multilevel regression analysis was then used to investigate which features contribute to text quality. The resulting model (explaining 14.5% of the variance in text quality) shows that the relative number of finite clauses and the ratio between the number of relative clauses and the number of finite clauses positively predict text quality. Discrepancies between our findings and those of previous studies indicate that the relations between syntactic features and text quality may vary based on factors such as language and genre. Additional (cross-linguistic) research is needed to gain a more complete understanding of the relationships between syntactic constructions and text quality and the potential moderating role of language and genre.
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Introduction: Youth activity guideline compliance is generally low across most western countries and Dutch youth are no exception to this. Thirty-two percent of 4-11 year old boys and girls, and 15% of 12-17 year olds are currently meeting the physical activity (PA) guideline recommendations of one hour of daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (Hildebrandt, Ooijendijk, & Hopman Rock, 2008). Physical education (PE) has been attributed an important role in providing young people with physical activity (Kahn, et al., 2002). If sufficiently active, PE lessons could contribute to physical activity levels in youth. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the overall intensity of Dutch primary and secondary school physical education (PE) lessons and the influence of various lesson characteristics on these intensity levels. Methods: Heart rates were measured using the Polar Team System in a nationally distributed sample of 913 students in 40 schools (20 primary schools and 20 secondary schools) in the Netherlands. A total of 106 lessons were assessed, with 10 students per class (5 boys and 5 girls) wearing a heart rate monitor for the duration of their PE class. Teachers were asked not to deviate from their regular PE program and to carry out their lessons as they had planned. None of the lessons had a specifically planned physical activity intensity focus. Results: Overall percentages lesson time in MVPA were 46.7% and 40.1% during primary school and secondary school PE respectively. Primary school students engaged in significantly more MVPA than did secondary school students (t (890) = 4.635, p<.001). Furthermore, results indicated a sharp decline in girls' PE intensity levels in secondary school, where boys were more active than girls (F (1,912) = 9,58, p<.01). Subsequent analyses of lesson content in secondary school students indicated that girls were less active during teamgames, but not during individual activities or lessons with a mixed subject (both teamgames and individual activities) (45.7% vs. 34.7% F (3,451) = 16.31, p<.001, figure 1). Discussion: Our results show that one PE lesson roughly accounts for one-third of the daily amount of physical activity as prescribed by activity guidelines. Furthermore, previous research has shown that by including lesson intensity as an additional lesson goal it is relatively simple to increase lesson intensity (Verstraete, Cardon, De Clercq, & De Bourdeaudhuij, 2007). Therefore, increasing lesson intensity combined with increasing the number of weekly PE lessons seems an effective strategy to increase youth physical activity through PE. However, given the curricular and time constraints in most schools, PE should not be seen as a stand-alone solution for combating inactivity. Combined with other school-based PA opportunities (active transport, active breaks) however, PE could make a meaningful contribution to daily PA in youth. Finally, the high prevalence of coeducational teamgames (61% of all lessons) in the Dutch secondary school PE curricula might prevent girls from attaining similar physical activity levels to boys during PE. Therefore, more research is needed on maximising secondary school girls' participation during teamgames.
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While Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is nowadays widely recognized, the implementation of CLT in foreign language (FL) classrooms remains difficult. In the Netherlands, communicative learning goals have been formulated at the national level, but in daily practice assessments and learning activities tend to focus on knowledge of grammar rules and vocabulary out of context. Under the principle of constructive alignment, assessment and learning activities should be in line with learning objectives in order to enable effective teaching. Evaluation in particular plays a key role, because it has a direct impact on teachers’ pedagogical choices and students’ learning behavior (i.e., washback effect). To enhance alignment in the Dutch FL curricula of lower form education, the first author and 21 FL teachers collaborated to create a realistic, theoretically grounded communicative assessment program that would enable positive washback. This paper takes inventory of the challenges faced by teachers during the co-design process and the decisions that have been made to overcome them.
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How to encourage students to choose for a future in agrifood? Not like we always did. The labor market shows an increasing shortage. The agrifood sector plays a significant role in achieving global food security and environmental sustainability. Scholars hardly realize what they can contribute to these social, ecologic and economic issues. The sector needs to expand the range of career opportunities in the agriculture-food-nutrition-environment nexus. Most importantly, it means creating incentives that encourage young people to see agrifood as one of the best options for a career choice. We developed inspiring learning materials to achieve awareness in secondary schools in the Netherlands. A Genomics Cookbook with food metaphors to explain biological principles is highly appreciated by both teachers and students. It is a way to increase influx into green colleges and universities, and thereby efflux to the agrifood sector.
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In this chapter, we discuss the education of secondary school mathematics teachers in the Netherlands. There are different routes for qualifying as a secondary school mathematics teacher. These routes target different student teacher populations, ranging from those who have just graduated from high school to those who have already pursued a career outside education or working teachers who want to qualify for teaching in higher grades. After discussing the complex structure this leads to, we focus on the aspects that these different routes have in common. We point out typical characteristics of Dutch school mathematics and discuss the aims and challenges in teacher education that result from this. We give examples of different approaches used in Dutch teacher education, which we link to a particular model for designing vocational and professional learning environments.We end the chapter with a reflection on the current situation.
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Orthography is considered to be a major problem in Dutch education, since many pupils don’t seem to be able to master orthographic rules, even after years of education. In educational literature it is argued that the problems related to spelling are caused by approaches that focus more on rules of thumb than on linguistic insights. This is somewhat remarkable, since a good understanding of the Dutch orthographic system requires a fair amount of morphological knowledge. In order to effectively implement this knowledge, the development of a morphological awareness (MA) seems to be required. Therefore, a short intervention was designed for the upper levels of secondary schools (4 havo) which aimed to foster MA and, subsequently, improve orthographic skills. Results of this quasi-experimental study indicate that a short intervention can significantly boost MA, but that students don’t seem to be able to use MA effectively to enhance spelling performance.
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How to encourage students to choose for a future in agrifood? Not like we always did. The labor market shows an increasing shortage. The agrifood sector plays a significant role in achieving global food security and environmental sustainability. Scholars hardly realize what they can contribute to these social, ecologic and economic issues. The sector needs to expand the range of career opportunities in the agriculture-food-nutrition-environment nexus. Most importantly, it means creating incentives that encourage young people to see agrifood as one of the best options for a career choice.Inspiring learning materials have been developed to achieve awareness in secondary schools in the Netherlands. A Genomics Cookbook with food metaphors to explain biological principles is highly appreciated by both teachers and students. It is a way to increase influx into green colleges and universities, and thereby efflux to the agrifood sector.
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Between 1 March 2021 and 30 April 2023, a consortium (consisting of in the Netherlands: the National Library of the Netherlands (Koninklijke Bibliotheek -KB), The Hague University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum; in Belgium: Media & Learning Association in Leuven and Public Libraries 2030 in Brussels; and in Spain: Fundación Platoniq in Barcelona) carried out an Erasmus+-funded research project on news media literacy among young people. It involved Dutch, Belgian and Spanish young people aged 12-15. The acronym SMILES, which stands for 'innovative methodS for Media & Information Literacy Education involving schools and librarieS', was chosen for the project title. The main goals of the SMILES project are: • Forming pairs between librarians and secondary school teachers in the three European countries, who were empowered through train-the-trainer workshops to teach secondary school students about news media literacy in relation to disinformation; • Helping students use digital technologies more safely and responsibly with a focus on recognising reliable and authentic information versus becoming more resilient to disinformation; • Developing five building blocks serving as teaching materials for Dutch, Belgian and Spanish pupils aged 12-15 with the aim of making them recognise disinformation and making them more resilient against it; • A scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of the implemented lessons through impact measurement using 'pre-knowledge tests' and 'post-knowledge tests'; • A strengthening of existing collaborations and creation of new collaborations between schools and libraries in the three partner countries. The SMILES project was implemented through three work packages. In the first work package, five so-called 'Baseline studies', or literature reviews, were conducted. The focus was on what the different educational approaches in Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands are with regard to disinformation and how these approaches can be linked. Based on these studies, the five building blocks were developed in the second work package. In addition, the teaching pairs were offered the training programme developed by SMILES through a 'train-the-trainer methodology' to safely and responsibly deploy the use of digital media tools during lessons with students. Also, based on the disinformation literature, the knowledge tests were designed to conduct an impact measurement of the train-the-trainer workshops and lessons among the trainers (teaching pairs) and students, respectively. These knowledge tests contained statements on disinformation that were answered correctly or incorrectly by respondents. The number of correctly answered statements prior to the lessons was compared with the number of correctly answered statements after the lessons. In this way, an attempt was made to prove a positive learning effect of the deployed lessons. In the third work package, the results from the pre-knowledge tests and the post-knowledge tests were analysed. In addition to these quantitative analyses, qualitative results were also used to analyse and look at the extent to which the training provided to trainers (teaching pairs) and the lessons with the five building blocks for students proved effective in teaching, recognising and becoming more resilient to disinformation, respectively. In doing so, we also reflect on whether the methodology tested has been effective in the three countries: what are the best practices and where do we see areas for improvement?
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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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Civil society as a social sphere is constantly subjected to change. Using the Dutch context, this article addresses the question whether religiously inspired engagement is a binder or a breakpoint in modern societies. The author examines how religiously inspired people in the Netherlands involve themselves in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and voluntary activities. Religious involvement and social engagement in different European countries are compared and discussed. In addition, the author explores the models of civil society and applies these to both the Christian and Islamic civil society in the Netherlands. Using four religious ‘identity organizations’ as case studies, this article discusses the interaction of Christian and Islamic civil society related to secularized Dutch society. The character and intentions of religiously inspired organizations and the relationship between religious and secular involvement are examined. This study also focuses on the attitude of policymakers towards religiously inspired engagement and government policy on ‘identity organizations’ in the Netherlands.
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