Universities have the potential, and the responsibility, to take on more ecological and relational approaches to facilitating learning-based change in times of interconnected socioecological crises. Signs for a transition towards these more regenerative approaches of higher education (RHE) that include more place-based, ecological, and relational, ways of educating can already be found in niches across Europe (see for example the proliferation of education-based living labs, field labs, challenge labs). In this paper, the results of a podcast-based inquiry into the design practises and barriers to enacting such forms of RHE are shown. This study revealed seven educational practises that occurred across the innovation niches. It is important to note that these practises are enacted in different ways, or are locally nested in unique expressions; for example, while the ‘practise’ of cultivating personal transformations was represented across the included cases, the way these transformations were cultivated were unique expressions of each context. These RHE-design practises are derived from twenty-seven narrative-based podcasts as interviews recorded in the April through June 2021 period. The resulting podcast (The Regenerative Education Podcast) was published on all major streaming platforms in October 2021 and included 21 participants active in Dutch universities, 1 in Sweden, 1 in Germany, 1 in France, and 3 primarily online. Each episode engages with a leading practitioner, professor, teacher, and/or activist that is trying to connect their educational practice to making the world a more equitable, sustainable, and regenerative place. The episodes ranged from 30 to 70 min in total length and included both English (14) and Dutch (12) interviews. These episodes were analysed through transition mapping a method based on story analysis and transition design. The results include seven design practises such as cultivating personal transformations, nurturing ecosystems of support, and tackling relevant and urgent transition challenges, as well as a preliminary design tool that educational teams can use together with students and local agents in (re)designing their own RHE to connect their educational praxis with transition challenges. van den Berg B, Poldner K, Sjoer E, Wals A. Practises, Drivers and Barriers of an Emerging Regenerative Higher Education in The Netherlands—A Podcast-Based Inquiry. Sustainability. 2022; 14(15):9138. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159138
International field visits aim to provide transformative learning experiences that stimulate the professional development of staff, but outcomes may vary among programs. In this mixed-methods study, we investigated the transformative learning experiences of Dutch and German professionals (n = 28) from early childhood education and care (ECEC) who participated in a blended intensive exchange program with mutual field visits. Our findings indicate a transformative learning process in which the participants developed an awareness of cultural differences, moved to understanding these differences and, occasionally, to adaptation of new professional beliefs related to the interaction with young children. However, it proved difficult to implement new practices in the own centers after the program. We discuss how international exchange programs may foster transformative learning and the professional development of ECEC staff.
The purpose of the design-based research reported here is to show – as a proof of principle – how the idea of scaffolding can be used to support primary teachers in a professional development programme (PDP) to design and enact language-oriented science lessons. The PDP consisted of six sessions of 2.5 h each in which twelve primary school teachers took part over a period of six months. It centralised the language support that pupils need to reason during science lessons. In line with the idea of scaffolding, the structure of the PDP targeted teachers' gradual independence in designing lessons. The first research question is how scaffolding was enacted during the PDP. The analysis of video recordings, field notes, researcher and teacher logs, and teacher design assignments focused on the enactment of three scaffolding characteristics: diagnosis, responsiveness and handover to independence. The second research question concerns what teachers learned from the participation in the PDP that followed a scaffolding approach. The data analysis illustrates that these teachers had learned much in terms of designing and enacting language-oriented science lessons. In terms of diagnosis and responsiveness, our PDP approach was successful, but we problematise the ideal of scaffolding approaches focused on handover to independence.
Dit onderzoek richt zich op het ontwikkelen van principes voor duurzame ontsluiting van een uniek archief binnen de Nederlandse podiumkunstensector: het archief van de Nederlandse mime. Hierbij staan drie vragen centraal: 1) Hoe ontsluit je een archief dat betrekking heeft op belichaamde kennis en voortkomt uit een bij uitstek fysieke praktijk? 2) Hoe kunnen principes voor ontsluiting ontwikkeld worden in antwoord op actuele vragen van studenten, docenten, en het brede professionele nationale en internationale werkveld? 3) Welke innovatieve vormen van kenniscirculatie zijn geschikt om de potentie van het archief ook voor andere kennisgebieden, buiten de kunsten, zichtbaar te maken? Dit postdoconderzoek van ATD docent Marijn de Langen bouwt voort op haar recente proefschrift Mime denken: Nederlandse mime als manier van denken in en door de theaterpraktijk (Universiteit Utrecht, 2017). Het onderzoek brengt actuele vraagstukken met betrekking tot het archief vanuit de opleiding en het beroepsveld in kaart, inventariseert sterke voorbeelden en bestaande strategieën van archiefontsluiting binnen- en buiten de podiumkunsten en analyseert relevante theorievorming. Gedurende het onderzoeksproces worden, in samenwerking met studenten, docenten en vakbeoefenaars, een aantal testcases/pilots gecreëerd waarin geëxperimenteerd wordt met mogelijke principes van ontsluiting. Dit kan de vorm aannemen van bijvoorbeeld een digitale presentatie, artistiek onderzoek, re-enactment. Het onderzoek laat zien hoe urgentie gegeven kan worden aan een archief, en positioneert zich binnen een hedendaags discours in wetenschap en kunst rondom de ontwikkeling van methodologie om belichaamde kennis te expliciteren en te dissemineren. Het project legt hierdoor een concrete basis voor toekomstige multidisciplinaire samenwerkingsprojecten.
