Growth of university teachers with didactic training is leveling off
More and more university teachers have followed didactic training, but the growth is leveling off. There is still much to be gained, especially among teachers with a temporary appointment.
Picture: Type tank
In 2008, the universities agreed that from now on, teachers would have to follow didactic training leading to the basic teaching qualification (bko). In the following years the number of teachers with a bko certificate grew enormously.
At the end of 2012, the bko emerged as a theme in the performance agreements that the universities made with the ministry at the time. Each university chose its own target, but promised in any case that by 2015 the percentage of teachers with a bko would have been increased considerably. On average, the universities aimed for a share of 64 percent.
Now the performance agreements are a closed book and the urgency seems to have disappeared. The share of teachers with a bko is only growing slowly, from 58 percent in 2015 to 62 percent in 2018, according to the latest numbers from the VSNU university association. The pressure seems off the kettle.
The share of teachers with a bko is still growing slowly
Especially with teachers with a temporary appointment, almost a quarter of the total number, there is still a lot to be gained. Only 26 percent of them had a bko in 2018, against 77 percent of teachers with a permanent appointment.
Priority
The VSNU sees no connection with the performance agreements. “It is logical that the great growth of the first years will level off at some point, but we see that in 2018 some progress was made again,” says spokesman Bart Pierik. "The bko will remain a real priority for the universities in the coming years."
Source: WOPI, VSNU. Without PhD students and student assistants. NB: Wageningen University does use a BKO, but does not supply any data for this to the source file WOPI.
Leader
In the context of 'where there is a will, there is a way': an exception in the graphs is Tilburg University. In 2016, then Rector Magnificus Emile Aarts decided that all his teachers should have a bko within a thousand days. At the time, only 36 percent of them had completed didactic training. Policy has been set in motion to expand the bko percentage. Tilburg became the leader in 2018 with 90 percent.
Source: WOPI, VSNU. Without PhD students and student assistants. NB: Wageningen University does use a BKO, but does not supply any data for this to the source file WOPI.
The number of bko certificates obtained also differs per type of teaching position. 84 percent of all associate professors have the paper in their pocket. Professors followed with 71 percent and university lecturers with 65 percent. 39 percent of all employees with an 'other' teaching position have completed the course.
Pivotal figure
The Intercity Student Consultation does not think it is enough. “For a student, the teacher is the pivotal figure during the study,” says chairman Kees Gillesse. “Everyone who teaches must therefore have a bko. This also applies to temporary teachers, student assistants and PhD students. ”
According to Gillesse, the fact that not all teachers have been trained didactically yet shows that not enough efforts are being made to professionalise teachers. “We also realize, of course, that the workload in higher education does not contribute to this. A bko trajectory provides a teacher with extra work, so there must be room for that, both in hours and in payment. ”
A bko trajectory provides a lecturer with extra work, so there must be room for this, both in hours and in terms of payment
VSNU spokesperson Pierik recognizes this. “Quality of education matters very much, but lack of time is a real bottleneck. You know that taking a bko course is good for the quality of the education, but at the same time a teacher is less available to teach at that time. ”
Pierik calls the increasing number of students a curse and a blessing in one. "Of course it is great that more and more students are able to find the Dutch universities, but in the end you run up against the limits of your capacity and quality."
Differences
In a bko course, teachers work on skills in areas such as educational development, teaching implementation and student testing and assessment. But the universities are free to determine themselves what the trajectory will look like.
The result is that the bko programs differ greatly from one university to another. At Erasmus University, the process consists of an online module and three meetings and the total study load is estimated at 80 hours. At VU University Amsterdam, lecturers participate in fourteen meetings and the study load is estimated at 150 hours. Maastricht University organizes the bko program per faculty in order to ensure that the meetings are in line with educational practice.
A teacher's educational experience can play a role. Those who teach for less than five years follow an extensive program at the University of Groningen with a study load of 120 to 160 hours, while more experienced teachers can obtain their bko within 10 to 30 hours. Leader Tilburg University provides an intensive two-day BKO program for experienced lecturers.
