Dutch Secondary Education Research Articles

What Lies Beneath: A Development-Oriented Auditing Approach to Understand Organizations Beyond the Surface of Hard-Control.

Auditing procedures aim to improve educational quality in vocational education and training. Auditing approaches often focus on checking for compliance to rules and standards. Through dialogue, development-oriented audits are thought to inspire soft-control, a form of control that aims to address what is beneath the surface of mere compliance. These kinds of audits offer opportunities to demonstrate ethical leadership as part of an ethical culture. It is expected that an ethical culture variables positively influence working climate variables and ultimately intrinsic motivation. In this study, conducted as part of the (Hermanussen et al., 2022) study, we employed structural equation modeling to test if model behavior and sanctionability positively influenced perceived autonomy, perceived relatedness, trust, and self-efficacy, and ultimately intrinsic motivation. The study was conducted at eight different Dutch secondary vocational education and training organizations including 1223 participants. Results demonstrate a good model fit, χ2 = .12, df = 3, p = .989, GFI = 1.00, AFGI = 1.00, and RMSEA <.001. All presumed effects were significant. The strongest effects include model behavior on autonomy (.49) and autonomy on intrinsic motivation (.45). Future research should employ designs and analyses that are able to account for a multilevel structure in educational organizations.

Why, When, and for Whom Does Career Education in Secondary Schools Work? A Qualitative Study of Stakeholders’ Perspectives in The Netherlands

Career education in secondary schools plays a pivotal role in supporting students as they navigate the complex decision-making process involved in the transition to higher education. However, the evidence base regarding the effectiveness of career education is limited and fragmented, with a distinct lack of clarity regarding the underlying mechanisms. This study aimed to identify the best practices and underlying mechanisms of career education within Dutch secondary education. Based on focus group interviews with stakeholders with diverse interests and positions (N = 25), we identified five categories of best practice activities alongside a framework consisting of ten mediators, eight moderators, a meta-moderator, and four contextual factors. This framework, while reinforcing some previous identified mechanisms, brings new elements into focus, distinguishing additional mechanisms and their categorisation as mediators, moderators, and contextual factors. These findings may serve as a foundational framework for future research and can support schools in enhancing their career education curricula. It is crucial that career education activities align with the students’ current capacities and potential for growth, ensuring that these programs are responsive to students’ developmental stages and their zone of proximal development.

Language ideologies and proximity: The position of German in Dutch secondary schools

Abstract This paper presents ongoing research on German as a foreign language in secondary education in the Netherlands. Specifically, it discusses the question what the language-ideological construct of proximity can tell us about people’s willingness to invest in German language education in this country. The paper is based on quantitative data about the number of German language learners in Dutch secondary education, as well as on qualitative data about the discourse surrounding German as a subject in Dutch secondary education. Through the perspective of proximity, the paper highlights three aspects of these data. First, it highlights the language-ideological nature of the historical separation of Dutch and German as two distinct language varieties. Second, it underlines the apparent foreignness of German language-culture as an explanation for the decline in the number of German language learners in the Netherlands. Third, it highlights the uneven distribution of the proportion of German language learners in the Netherlands, which may be explained by differences in the perceived proximity of Germanness in different parts of the country. Ultimately, the paper invites other researchers to consider the value of the notion of proximity for applied linguistics.

Dutch secondary school counselors’ and tutors’ views on how students should make study profile choices

Student counselors and tutors guide students’ choices of study profiles (subjects) within Dutch secondary education. This study addressed three research questions: (1) According to counselors and tutors, what factors should inform students’ study profile choices? (2) Into what types can the views of counselors and tutors be classified? (3) According to counselors and tutors, which factors should secondary school students consider when choosing their study profiles in a forced-choice situation? Interviews held with 70 tutors and counselors identified students’ interests, abilities, and future-oriented considerations as most important (RQ1). Six types of views were identified in which one, two, or all of the above-mentioned factors were regarded the most important by the participants (RQ2). Responses to the forced-choice situations largely confirmed different perspectives on the factors: the majority of participants perceived students’ interests very important (RQ3).

Reading short stories in a foreign language: Is it as pleasurable as in the L1? Absorption and appreciation of short stories in Dutch secondary school students learning German as a foreign language

Against the background of a decreasing interest in reading among Dutch adolescents, we investigated whether reading short stories in a foreign language other than English (i.e., German) in an educational context, as opposed to reading in the first language leads to less absorbing reading experiences and, related to that, lower appreciation of stories.We collected absorption and appreciation data from 277 learners of German in Grade 10 of Dutch secondary education. Half of them read an originally German short story, whereas the other half read its Dutch translation.Our results indicate that adolescents learning a foreign language in secondary school become less absorbed in foreign language literary texts and that this is related to their lower appreciation of these texts, compared to their first language translations.

Low-achieving adolescent students' perspectives on their interactions with classmates. An exploratory study to inform the implementation of a social emotional learning program in prevocational education

Social and Emotional Learning programs, designed to enhance adolescents’ social and emotional skills, are implemented in schools worldwide. One of these programs is Skills4Life (S4L), for students in Dutch secondary education. To strengthen this program and adapt it to students’ needs, we conducted an exploratory study on their perspectives on their own social-emotional development, focusing on low-achieving students in prevocational education.We interviewed eleven boys and eleven girls in five focus groups on (1) their general school life experiences, (2) their perceptions and experiences regarding interactions with peers, the problems they encountered in these interactions, and (3) the strategies and skills they used to solve these problems. Driven by findings in related studies initial thematic analyzes were extended using a three-step approach: an inductive, data-driven process of open coding; axial coding; and selective coding, using the social-emotional skills comprised in an often-used SEL framework as sensitizing concepts.Overall, students were satisfied with their relationships with classmates and teachers and their ability to manage their daily interaction struggles. Their reflections on their interactions indicate that the skills they preferred to use mirror the social-emotional skills taught in many school programs. However, they also indicated that they did not apply these skills in situations they experienced as unsafe and uncontrollable, e.g., bullying and harassment. The insights into adolescents’ social-emotional skills perceptions and the problems they encountered with peers at school presented here can contribute to customizing school-based skills enhancement programs to their needs. Teacher training is required to help teachers gain insight into students’ perspectives and to use this insight to implement SEL programs tailored to their needs.

Control and inclusivity

This paper discusses Dutch secondary education language teachers’ attitudes towards multilingualism with a particular focus on the concepts of classroom control and inclusivity. The Netherlands is composed of regions with various degrees of multilingualism: areas traditionally perceived as monolingual, an officially bilingual province and linguistically diverse cosmopolitan urban centres. By means of a qualitative analysis of ten semi-structured interviews with language teachers working in the different regions, this research examines the type of discourse used to describe multilingualism and the potential implementation of multilingual practices in the classroom. With the use of methods from Critical Discourse Analysis, a patchwork of ideologies reveals how attitudes about non-official varieties and languages deemed ‘too different’ from the expected standard language are expressed. The analysis shows that teachers in areas with little migration-induced multilingualism emphasise in particular their hypothetical difficulty when dealing with an aspect of the pupils’ competence that they cannot control. The interview data also sheds light on the topic of linguistic inclusivity which encompasses not just the acknowledgement of the pupils’ backgrounds but also the teachers who fear feeling left out by a multilingualism that goes beyond what they are familiar with.

At the gymnasium through your football buddy's aunt. Accessibility of classical education in the Netherlands

AbstractHow accessible is the field of Latin and ancient Ancient Greek languages in the Dutch education system? In recent years this discussion has resurfaced in the light of societal developments which focus on equality of opportunities.1 Moreover, our field faces the challenge to explain in both international and national discussions what makes its study so relevant in the current times, both in secondary and tertiary education.2 This article provides a short overview of the current situation of Latin and ancient Ancient Greek education within the Dutch secondary education system before looking in more detail at its impact on Dutch students. It ends with directions for improving the accessibility of the field of Classics education. In order to illustrate the functioning and consequences of the current situation, in June 2021 a large-scale survey among 1,700 Dutch students of the gymnasium (secondary education with Latin and ancient Greek) provides us with interesting experiences, biases and thoughts about the accessibility of classical education. If we believe that knowledge of the ancient languages and literatures is a valuable resource for the younger generations of our modern society and in addition we see that our field, as any field, would profit from a more diverse group of researchers and teachers, the direction for future improvements is clear; but concrete steps in that direction should be taken at various levels. With this article, I hope to contribute to such improvements to the educational system and contemporaneously to our field.

Citizenship in public, non-religious private and religious private schools. A comparison of student citizenship competences in Dutch secondary education

ABSTRACT Social outcomes of education are crucial for both the individual and society. This paper focuses on the extent to which state-funded (non-)religious private and public schools differ in citizenship outcomes. Data were used on 123 schools from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 in the Netherlands. Using multilevel analyses, we tested whether possible differences in school orientation can be understood from the characteristics of the population. The results of our study do not show systematic differences in the citizenship competences of students. However, private religious schools with an orthodox Protestant profile differ in terms of the citizenship attitudes of their students. This relation cannot be explained by the religious views of students as such and is also found when controlling for their socio-economic background and religiousness.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Gender Bias and Heteronormativity in Dutch Textbooks

In this study, we examined gender and sexuality representation in language and math textbooks for Dutch secondary education. We analyzed all male and female characters in 13 language textbooks (N = 7,347) and 12 math textbooks (N = 4,591). Our results confirmed our expectations based on the theory of the hidden curriculum: female characters were underrepresented in all textbooks (40% in language, 44% in math textbooks), but overrepresented in household tasks and EHW (Education, Health, and Welfare) professions. Male characters were overrepresented in occupational roles, especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) professions and technical tasks. Further, female characters in language textbooks were overrepresented in parental roles, and male characters were overrepresented among characters with disharmonious traits and behaviors. We found no characters from sexual minorities in any of the textbooks. In conclusion, in line with theories of the hidden curriculum, Dutch textbooks include gender stereotypic messages and are heteronormative. These findings are relevant in light of previous studies demonstrating the negative impact of these biases on children. Publishers and schools that want to be more inclusive are recommended to be more critical in their selection of stories and role models in their books.

Study profile choices in secondary education: searching for factors underlying the recommendations made by school guidance counsellors and tutors to vignette students

ABSTRACT Dutch secondary education counsellors and tutors guide students in their study profile choices. Case studies were used to identify factors that characterise profile recommendations. In Case Study 1, vignette (fictitious) students asked for advice. Of the 12 participants, eight provided product advice (study profiles) and 12 provided process advice (important factors), mainly relating to students’ interests. In Case Study 2, vignette students wanted to choose between a profile for which they had better marks, or one in which they were more interested. Of the 19 participants, 12 recommended study profiles. All participants provided process recommendations: these mainly involved interests, but also marks. In both case studies, recommendations were not characterised by students’ SES, and a few were somewhat characterised by gender.

Achieving professional agency for school development in the context of having a PhD scholarship: An intricate interplay

In this multiple case study, we investigated teachers professional agency in relation to school development in the context of having a PhD scholarship, and the interplay of personal and social resources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 Dutch secondary education teachers with PhD scholarships. Teachers are achieving bounded, restricted and extensive agency, and performed informed actions aiming to influence curriculum development and research culture. The interplay between personal and social resources we found influences teachers achieving of professional agency. Implications for future research include more in-depth analysis of this interplay of resources in achieving agency.

Bridging theory and practice: conceptualisations of global citizenship education in Dutch secondary education

ABSTRACT With the rise of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in education systems worldwide, recent research has attempted to categorise its various types and orientations. There are, however, limited insights into how different education stakeholders perceive and implement GCE in pedagogical practice. To bridge this gap between theory and practice, we apply a social cartography of GCE types from a recent study to identify management staff’s, teachers’, and pupils’ perceptions of GCE in the context of Dutch (bilingual) secondary education. Based on a content analysis of 12 interviews and three focus groups with pupils, our findings indicate a clear dominance of a liberal orientation towards GCE, focusing on political and moral themes, but also evidence of a critical orientation, as well as liberal-critical and neoliberal-liberal interfaces. We propose that the reflections of practitioners and pupils presented in this study should be used to further develop (Dutch) GCE.

Teacher and student perceptions of L1-oral language lessons in Dutch secondary education

Little is known about contemporary L1-oral language lesson practices in secondary education. In The Netherlands experts work on an upcoming L1-educational reform. In this study, we investigate teachers’ and students’ perceptions of contemporary L1-oral language lesson practices as well as the underlying rationales of these lessons. Eleven L1-teachers were interviewed and 212 of their students completed a digital questionnaire. Both teachers and their students mentioned L1-oral language education is important, even though in most cases it forms a rather small part of the L1-curriculum. In general, both groups reported that in L1-oral language lessons attention is paid to cognitive (such as rhetoric and argumentation theory), linguistic and presentational content elements. Teachers also reported that they teach their students how to use feedback and how to give constructive peer feedback. Both teachers and students considered practising and receiving feedback as mutually reinforcing for developing oral language skills. However, due to shortage of time in the lessons, teachers and students in particular, expressed concerns about having insufficient opportunity to practise oral language skills. The teachers reported two other hindrances for good L1-oral language teaching: difficulties with organizing a safe learning environment and valid assessment procedures. These barriers have to be taken into account when designing educational innovations for L1-oral language lessons.

Constructive alignment in foreign language curricula: an exploration of teaching and assessment practices in Dutch secondary education

ABSTRACT While Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is recognised as an effective approach worldwide, its implementation in foreign language (FL) classrooms remains difficult. Earlier studies have identified factors impeding CLT implementation, such as a lack of communicative lesson materials or teachers' more traditional views on language learning. In the Netherlands, CLT goals have been formulated at the national level, but are not always reflected in daily FL teaching and assessment practice. As constructive alignment between learning goals, classroom activities and assessments is a precondition for effective teaching, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the degree of alignment in Dutch FL curricula and the factors influencing it. The current study therefore aims to take a systematic inventory of classroom practices regarding the translation of national CLT goals into learning activities and assessments. Findings revealed that teaching activities and classroom assessments predominantly focused on grammar knowledge and vocabulary out of context and, to a lesser extent, on reading skills. External factors, such as teaching and testing materials available, and conceptual factors, such as teachers' conceptions of language learning, were identified to contribute to the observed lack of alignment. Assessments in particular seem to exert a negative washback effect on CLT implementation.

“Global citizenship means different things to different people”: Visions and implementation of global citizenship education in Dutch secondary education

“Global citizenship means different things to different people”: Visions and implementation of global citizenship education in Dutch secondary education

Galenus van Pergamum – arts, filosoof, retoricus

This article discusses a new course on Galen and ancient medicine (Galen: Physician, Philosopher, Rhetorician) developed by the Classics department of the Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum and the Galen research group of Utrecht University in the period of 2017-2021. First, the motivation behind this joint venture is explained in terms of the neglect so far suffered by Galen in Dutch secondary education, the suitability of his writings for students of Greek, particularly those of the fifth form, and its potential as a vehicle for interdisciplinary teaching. Next, the contents and structure of the course, in combination with some suggestions for its use are expounded. Finally, the course is evaluated in light of the experiences of and evaluations by teachers and students who have worked with the course.

Peer education on sexual diversity in Dutch secondary education: Peer educators’ perceptions of activities and perceived outcomes

Process evaluations of peer education on the topic of sexuality and relationships pay little attention to the activities implemented by peer educators. Process evaluation with other target groups indicate clusters of activities that refer to educator skills, offering a safe place to learn, and efforts to change attitudes. An overarching factor named life experiences influences how peer educators implement activities. In this study, a peer education for social acceptance of LGBT was created and implemented in pre-vocational secondary schools. Students trained as peer educators implemented peer education, and after the implementation, they were interviewed about their activities. Sharing the coming-out story appeared to play a central role in the peer education intervention and its perceived outcomes.

French as a foreign language in the Netherlands

Abstract Exposure to English is more extensive in today’s society than to French. In this study we investigated crosslinguistic influences from Dutch and/or English to language performances in French as a foreign language, while controlling for language proficiency in French, English and Dutch, and exposure to English. We tested Dutch learners of French (n = 65) with respect to the acceptability of reduced relative clauses and attachment preferences in full relative clauses. The results showed crosslinguistic influence in the acceptability task and the preference task from English and Dutch respectively. Furthermore, language proficiency in English seems to affect attachment preferences in French. We concluded that these findings support the Linguistic Proximity Model (Westergaard et al. 2017) and that French in Dutch secondary education might be a third language, instead of a second language.

Lockdown Learning: Changes in Online Foreign-Language Study Activity and Performance of Dutch Secondary School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused lockdowns and sudden school closures around the world in spring 2020, significantly impacting the education of students. Here, we investigate how the switch to distance learning affected study activity and performance in an online retrieval practice tool used for language learning in Dutch secondary education. We report insights from a rich data set consisting of over 115 million retrieval practice trials completed by more than 133 thousand students over the course of two consecutive school years. Our findings show that usage of the tool increased substantially at the start of lockdown, with the bulk of study activity occurring on weekday mornings. In general, students’ progress through the material was largely unaffected by lockdown, although students from the highest educational track were somewhat more likely to be on or ahead of schedule than students from lower tracks, compared to the previous year. Performance on individual study trials was generally stable, but accuracy and response time on open answer questions went up, perhaps as a result of students being more focused at home. These encouraging findings contribute to a growing literature on the educational ramifications of distance learning during lockdown.