NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences

The NHL Stenden teacher training program is part of the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in the North Netherlands and covers lower secondary education (bachelor), upper secondary education (master) and vocational education for 17 school subjects (Dutch, English, French, German, Frisian, geography, history, social studies, economics, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, care and welfare, interpersonal skills, drama, design), and International Teacher Education for Secondary Schools (ITESS) with a total of approximately 220 FTE staff and 3500 students.

The teacher training program has a research group “Professorship of Subject Matter and Vocational Pedagogy”. They work from the view that all pupils/students experience success in their learning and that teachers excel in organising and supporting this learning. Therefore, (subject) didactics is considered the core competence of future teachers. The research group aims to initiate and support a lively and powerful movement in the field of subject didactics and vocationally oriented didactics & lifelong learning in a northern collaboration between training schools for secondary and vocational education and teacher training. In the research group, didactic questions focusing on the subject and profession from educational practice are central. Lesson Study, as a structured and inquiring way of working on didactic questions, has an important place in this.

The influence of the Professorship of Subject Matter and Vocational Pedagogy is reflected in training schools in the region where teachers, future teachers and researchers collaborate in connecting theory and practice through Lesson Study.

The NHL Stenden teacher training program has embedded lesson study in various subjects and years of teacher training in collaboration with the training schools. NHL Stenden is a partner in the Dutch LessonStudyNL consortium and has participated in the organisation of national Lesson Study conferences and the international conference of WALS, the World Association of Lesson Study, in 2019.

Key persons in LIFT project

Dr Siebrich de Vries is involved in Work Package 2 of the LIFT project and will be hosting the LEAP immersion week in March 2025. She is a professor in subject pedagogics and has more than 30 years of experience in teaching and more than 10 years of experience in research. Her research concerns the professional development of teachers and Lesson Study for in-service and student teachers. She initiated and implemented Lesson Study in initial teacher education in the North Netherlands and wrote a Lesson Study handbook for experienced teachers in schools in collaboration with Dr Sui Lin Goei, Windesheim University, and Dr Nellie Verhoef, University of Twente. Her main drive behind Lesson study is that it bridges the gap between research and practice. Her work on Lesson Study in research and teacher education has resulted in several publications in national and international journals.

Floortje Goettsch, a very experienced teacher educator and trainer in the northern lesson study supervisor training, will lead a group of highly experienced teacher educators with a great deal of experience with lesson study in teacher training in supporting the LEAP week.

Contact information

Dr Siebrich de Vries siebrich.de.vries[at]nhlstenden.com

NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences https://www.nhlstenden.com/en