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.
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PurposeSexuality and relationships education (SRE) often do not accommodate the needs of vulnerable young people in child and youth social care, (school) social work, and residential or foster care, leaving professionals in these fields a vital role in delivering SRE to these young people. This scoping review examines what competencies professionals need to facilitate adequate guidance and education about sexuality and relationships in their work with vulnerable children and young people.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search in five databases – PsychINFO, Eric, Medline, CINAHL and Social Services Abstracts – for articles published between 1991 and 2021 on March 6, 2021, using a set of predefined search strings. Articles on sexuality and relationship education (SRE) or sexual health, related to competencies of (future) professionals and published in English were included.ResultsOur review revealed a range of competencies that professionals may need, such as providing basic prevention, dealing with children struggling with their sexual orientation, handling disclosure of sexual abuse or dealing with problematic sexualized behavior (often combinations of the above), but also supporting young people in exploring positive aspects of relationships and sexuality.ConclusionSRE is an integral part of the work of professionals in child and youth social care. Wider organizational and educational commitment is needed for implementation of SRE to facilitate a safe environment for diverse young people.
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Extended Reality (XR) technologies—including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—offer transformative opportunities for education by enabling immersive and interactive learning experiences. In this study, we employed a mixed-methods approach that combined systematic desk research with an expert member check to evaluate existing pedagogical frameworks for XR integration. We analyzed several established models (e.g., TPACK, TIM, SAMR, CAMIL, and DigCompEdu) to assess their strengths and limitations in addressing the unique competencies required for XRsupported teaching. Our results indicate that, while these models offer valuable insights into technology integration, they often fall short in specifying XR-specific competencies. Consequently, we extended the DigCompEdu framework by identifying and refining concrete building blocks for teacher professionalization in XR. The conclusions drawn from this research underscore the necessity for targeted professional development that equips educators with the practical skills needed to effectively implement XR in diverse educational settings, thereby providing actionable strategies for fostering digital innovation in teaching and learning.
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In the fast-changing world of IT, relevant competencies are getting more important as these determine how successful you can function in practice. As a consequence, organizations are introducing competency frameworks like the European e-Competence Framework (e-CF, 2014) in their IT departments. However, for many organizations it is unclear what good practices and pitfalls are when introducing such a framework. In this paper this topic is studied by analysing 13 interviews with IT- and HR-managers who are (or recently have been) involved in a transition towards the use of competencies with their IT-staff.
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The aim of this paper is to present materials designed for adult numeracy training. In the successive Erasmus+ projects, "The Common European Numeracy Framework" (2018-2021) and "Numeracy in Practice" (2022-2024), professional development modules have been designed for teachers specialising in adult numeracy education. The primary objective of these modules is to enhance teacher awareness of the competencies required for teaching numeracy and to address the changing demands of numeracy in adults’ personal and professional lives.
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Only a few efforts have been made to define competencies for epidemiologists working in academic settings. Here we describe a multi-national effort to define competencies for epidemiologists who are increasingly facing emerging and potentially disruptive technological and societal health trends in academic research. During a 1,5 years period, we followed an iterative process that aimed to be inclusive and multi-national to reflect the various perspectives of the diverse group of epidemiologists. Competencies were developed by a consortium in a consensus-oriented process that spanned three main activities: two in-person interactive meetings in Amsterdam and Zurich and an online survey. In total, 93 meeting participants from 16 countries and 173 respondents from 19 countries contributed to the development of 31 competencies. These 31 competencies included 14 on "Developing a scientific question" and "Study planning", 12 on "Study conduct & analysis", 3 on "Overarching competencies" and 2 competencies on "Communication and translation". The process described here provides a consensus-based framework for defining and adapting the field. It should initiate a continuous process of thinking about competencies and the implications for teaching epidemiology to ensure that epidemiologists working in academic settings are well prepared for today's and tomorrow's health research.
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The focus of the present study is the extent to which an internship or study abroad contributes to students’ development of international competencies, such as interpersonal and intercultural competencies, foreign language skills, and international academic and professional competencies.
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This article focuses on which aspects of the learning environment, aimed at fostering career learning, correspond with the development of career competencies among students (aged 12-19 years) enrolled in prevocational and secondary vocational education in The Netherlands. Aspects of the learning environment that are taken into account here are the following: career orientation and guidance methods used, instruments implemented, and the degree to which the curriculum is practice-based and dialogical. In the study, three career competencies are identified: career reflection (reflective behaviour), career forming (proactive behaviour), and networking (interactive behaviour). To research the relationship between the learning environment and the presence of career competencies, a study was done among 3499 students and 166 teachers in 226 classes in 34 schools. The results show that career guidance in school, in which a dialogue takes place with the student about concrete experiences and which is focused on the future, contributes most to the presence of career competencies among students. Without this dialogue, career guidance methods and instruments barely contribute to the acquisition of career competencies.
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Using survey data gathered among Dutch public sector management accountants, this contribution shows that appreciative skills and personal skills are considered the most important competencies of these professionals. The authors found gaps between the assigned importance and the actual level of competencies in the fields of interpersonal skills and technical skills. As well, there were differences between age groups.
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As more and more older adults prefer to stay in their homes as they age, thereandapos;s a need for technology to support this. A relevant technology is Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven lifestyle monitoring, utilizing data from sensors placed in the home. This technology is not intended to replace nurses but to serve as a support tool. Understanding the specific competencies that nurses require to effectively use it is crucial. The aim of this study is to identify the essential competencies nurses require to work with AI-driven lifestyle monitoring in long-term care.
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