Introduction: The health-promoting school (HPS) approach was developed by the World Health Organization to create health promotion changes in the whole school system. Implementing the approach can be challenging for schools because schools are dynamic organizations with each a unique context. Many countries worldwide have a health promotion system in place in which healthy school (HS) advisors support schools in the process of implementing the HPS approach. Even though these HS advisors can take on various roles to provide support in an adaptive and context-oriented manner, these roles have not yet been described. The current study aims to identify and describe the key roles of the HS advisor when supporting schools during the dynamic process of implementing the HPS approach. Methods: The study was part of a project in which a capacity-building module was developed for and with HS advisors in the Netherlands. In the current study, a co-creation process enabled by participatory research was used in which researchers, HS advisors, national representatives, and coordinators of the Dutch HS program participated. Co-creation processes took place between October 2020 and November 2021 and consisted of four phases: (1) a narrative review of the literature, (2) interviews, (3) focus groups, and (4) a final check. Results: Five roles were identified. The role of “navigator” as a more central one and four other roles: “linking pin,” “expert in the field,” “critical friend,” and “ambassador of the HPS approach.” The (final) description of the five roles was recognizable for the HS advisors that participated in the study, and they indicated that it provided a comprehensive overview of the work of an HS advisor in the Netherlands. Discussion: The roles can provide guidance to all Dutch HS advisors and the regional public health organizations that employ them on what is needed to provide sufficient and context-oriented support to schools. These roles can inspire and guide people from other countries to adapt the roles to their own national context.
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In this study we investigated the functioning of a data-team in a secondary school in the Netherlands. A data-team works on a problem that is relevant for the school and uses of all kinds of 'data' that are present in school. Our research questions were twofold: 1) 'what is needed for a datateam to be able to function?' and 2) 'what benefits do participants of the data-team report?'. We used a qualitative approach to answer these questions by analysing the minutes of the meetings of the data-team. Results show that a data-team needs acces to data (!) and that goals for the investigated problem have to be clear. The participation of a line-manager is essential to establish both access to data and setting of clear goals. Participants claim that they have become more critical and they are also proud that they have contributed to (partially) solving the schools' issue.
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When teaching is considered as a collaborative activity, the aimof research projects in schools needs to exceed the individualand personal levels and aim to contribute to research-informedreflection of a team of teachers. Within this multiple case study, weadapted the graduation research project within a primary teachereducation programme, trying to bridge the personal level (wherestudent-teachers show their individual competence) and thecollaborative level (where the graduation research project aims toinspire practice of several teachers within a school). In this redesignof the graduation research project, the concepts of boundary activity,ownership, meaningfulness and dialogue were helpful. However,our study shows that connecting graduation research projects withschool development is not just a matter of redesigning a part of thecurriculum, but that it requires new perspectives and new qualities ofstudent-teachers, research supervisors from the university and actorswithin the school.
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Teachers have a crucial role in bringing about the extensive social changes that are needed in the building of a sustainable future. In the EduSTA project, we focus on sustainability competences of teachers. We strengthen the European dimension of teacher education via Digital Open Badges as means of performing, acknowledging, documenting, and transferring the competencies as micro-credentials. EduSTA starts by mapping the contextual possibilities and restrictions for transformative learning on sustainability and by operationalising skills. The development of competence-based learning modules and open digital badge-driven pathways will proceed hand in hand and will be realised as learning modules in the partnering Higher Education Institutes and badge applications open for all teachers in Europe.Societal Issue: Teachers’ capabilities to act as active facilitators of change in the ecological transition and to educate citizens and workforce to meet the future challenges is key to a profound transformation in the green transition.Teachers’ sustainability competences have been researched widely, but a gap remains between research and the teachers’ practise. There is a need to operationalise sustainability competences: to describe direct links with everyday tasks, such as curriculum development, pedagogical design, and assessment. This need calls for an urgent operationalisation of educators’ sustainability competences – to support the goals with sustainability actions and to transfer this understanding to their students.Benefit to society: EduSTA builds a community, “Academy of Educators for Sustainable Future”, and creates open digital badge-driven learning pathways for teachers’ sustainability competences supported by multimodal learning modules. The aim is to achieve close cooperation with training schools to actively engage in-service teachers.Our consortium is a catalyst for leading and empowering profound change in the present and for the future to educate teachers ready to meet the challenges and act as active change agents for sustainable future. Emphasizing teachers’ essential role as a part of the green transition also adds to the attractiveness of teachers’ work.
Verschillende maatschappelijke veranderingen dwingen de bouwbranche tot innovaties. Ondanks de potentie op het vlak van circulariteit en duurzaamheid van 3D-printen met kunststoffen kent deze technologie nog nauwelijks toepassingen in de bouw. Redenen hiervoor zijn achterblijvende materiaaleigenschappen en het verschil in cultuur tussen de bouwwereld en kunststofverwerkende industrie. Het bedrijf Phidias, richt zich op innovatieve en creatieve vastgoedconcepten. Samen met Zuyd Hogeschool (Zuyd) willen zij onderzoek doen naar het printen van bouwelementen waarbij de meerwaarde van 3D-printen wordt gezien in het combineren van materiaaleigenschappen. Zuyd heeft afgelopen jaren veel onderzoek gedaan naar het ontwikkelen van materialen voor 3D-printen (o.a. 2014-01-96 PRO). De volgende fase is de opgedane kennis toe te passen voor specifieke applicaties, in dit geval om de vraag van het MKB bedrijf Phidias te beantwoorden. Vanuit een ander MKB-bedrijf, MaukCC, ontwikkelaar van 3D printers, komt de vraag om de afstemming tussen materialen en hardware te optimaliseren. De combinatie van beide vragen uit het werkveld en de expertise bij Zuyd heeft geleid tot dit projectvoorstel. In deze pilotstudie ligt de focus voornamelijk op het 3D printen van één specifiek bouwkundig element met meerdere eigenschappen (bouwfysisch en constructief). De combinatie van eigenschappen wordt verkregen door gebruik te maken van twee (biobased) kunststoffen waarbij tevens een variatie wordt aangebracht in de geprinte structuren. Op deze manier kunnen grondstoffen worden gespaard. Het onderzoek sluit aan bij twee zwaartepunten van Zuyd, namelijk “Transitie naar een duurzaam gebouwde omgeving” en “Life science & materials”. De interdisciplinaire aanpak, op het grensvlak van de lectoraten “Material Sciences” (Gino van Strydonck) en “Sustainable Energy in the Built Environment” (Zeger Vroon) staat garant voor innovatief onderzoek. Integratie van onderwijs en onderzoek vindt plaats door studenten samen met een coach (docent) en ervaren professional aan dit onderzoek te laten werken in Communities for Development (CfD’s).
The project’s aim is to foster resilient learning environments, lessen early school leaving, and give European children (ages 4 -6) a good start in their education while providing and advancing technical skills in working with technology that will serve them well in life. For this purpose, the partnership has developed age appropriate ICT animation tools and games - as well as pedagogical framework specific to the transition phase from kindergarten to school.
Lectoraat, onderdeel van NHL Stenden Hogeschool
