Experiment extended: teacher in six months
A new weapon in the fight against the teacher shortage is the 'educational module', with which bachelors are prepared to become second-degree teachers in six months. The universities and the minister would like to extend the experiment.
Picture: National government
The launch of the 'experiment' educational module' was one of the initiatives in 2016 with which the ministry tried to get more academics in the classroom. Three years later, it appears that the trial still attracts too few participants to be able to evaluate it properly. Education minister Ingrid van Engelshoven thinks the experiment is important and would like to extend it by three years.
A good idea, thinks Remko van der Vos, policy officer for teacher training at VU University Amsterdam. “With this educational module, we are attracting a completely new target group that would otherwise not end up in education.” Utrecht University is also very satisfied with the module. "It is very important that we continue to get more people in the classroom," said a spokesperson.
With this educational module, we are attracting a whole new target group that would otherwise not end up in education
Only graduated bachelors are eligible for the half-year curriculum (30 credits), provided that the study they followed sufficiently corresponds with school subjects such as geography, biology and Dutch. “Many participants obtained their bachelor's degree more than five years ago. The module therefore also appeals to lateral entrants who had not yet come up with the idea of becoming a teacher during their bachelor's, "says Van der Vos.
Flow through
The educational module is a different track than the existing educational minor, which students can follow during the bachelor's degree. The content and size do match. With the limited second-degree qualification in their pocket, successful students are allowed to teach in VMBO and the lower years of HAVO and VWO.
With the limited second-degree qualification in their pocket, successful students are allowed to teach in VMBO and the lower years of HAVO and VWO
Students can then continue their education for their first-degree teaching certificate. The experiment is still too short to conclude whether participants will actually progress to educational master's programmes, but Van der Vos is hopeful. “A large part of the students of the educational minor also transfers.”
In the first year, registration for the educational module did not go down well. In the 2016-2017 academic year, there were nineteen participants. It took universities more time to start up the module than originally planned, according to Van Engelshoven in her proposal, which can be answered via the internet. In the 2018-2019 academic year, 93 students registered for the module, so there is an upward trend.
Boarded up
“That number could easily double if a larger group were eligible for the experiment. Admission has now been boarded up,” says Van der Vos, who admits students to the module. He regularly has to disappoint people because they have not taken the right bachelor's degree. “We are missing out on new teachers as a result.” Subject-specific testing, as is also the case with first-degree teacher training courses, could be a solution. According to Van der Vos, if students lack subject knowledge, they can make up for it with extra courses on top of the educational module.
If it is up to the minister, the evaluation of the experiment will take place by 2023 at the latest. It is then examined whether the educational module has led to more teachers or transfer students to educational master's programmes. If that is the case, then the module is officially laid down in law, as happened with the educational minor.
