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Exemplary Bildung in VMBO 

The aim of this 18-month project is to encourage VMBO (secondary vocational education) teachers to make their classrooms and schools places where pupils can experience Bildung, and to investigate how VMBO teachers do this and what pupils notice about their efforts. 

Description

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are being set up in four provinces, within which VMBO teachers exchange and further develop their experience and knowledge of bildung education. This takes place in six meetings via a research-based design process, with the emphasis on the exemplary role of teachers. This leads to more Bildung-inspired lessons for pupils. A programme for school leaders will also work towards a school-wide implementation of Bildung. Teacher-researchers from the teacher training programmes at Fontys, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Arnhem-Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences and Windesheim will supervise the meetings. 

At the same time, the University of Humanistic Studies is conducting practical scientific research to determine the extent to which and how VMBO teachers demonstrate Bildung in their exemplary behaviour, and how this is perceived by their students. Specifically, we are examining the extent to which teachers’ ideals regarding Bildung correspond with their actual lesson plans, their behaviour in the classroom and their students’ perceptions of this behaviour. This research contributes to a more solid knowledge base about Bildung in education, and the results will be widely shared via a website, webinars, a book and articles.  

Over the past decade, Bildung has often been cited as an alternative to an educational vision that focuses on the transfer of subject-specific knowledge and skills and preparation for the labour market. Bildung, on the other hand, is about the formation of the whole person as an end in itself. The German Bildung tradition was developed for general and higher education, but hardly at all for secondary vocational education (VMBO). This is despite the fact that personal development is an important part of VMBO, and approximately half of all VMBO students attend VMBO. In this project, the potential of the Bildung tradition for VMBO will be developed and critically monitored.   

Follow-up to pilot 

This project is a follow-up to the pilot project Bildung doen in het vmbo (Bildung in secondary vocational education), which ran from 1 March 2020 to 1 May 2021.  In this pilot project, two professional learning communities (PLCs) on bildung were set up for secondary vocational education teachers from the central and southern parts of the country. Thirteen secondary vocational education teachers from nine secondary schools were involved. Teacher-researchers from the teacher training programmes at Fontys and Utrecht University of Applied Sciences supervised the meetings. UvH (together with HU and UU) conducted a study into the characteristics of the education developed and the professional development of the VMBO teachers during the professional learning community.  

Researchers

Dr. Wouter Sanderse

Partners

(Co-)funding 

A Dutch foundation. 

Alse see:

Contact

Wouter Sanderse, W.Sanderse@UvH.nl.