C.A.C. Klaassen

Selection processes in a Delphi study about key qualifications in Senior Secondary Vocational Education

The focus of this study is the Delphi method. First, a short history of the Delphi method is given. Then, different types of the Delphi method are described, and the validity and reliability of the Delphi method are discussed. Finally, this study reports on the selection processes and assessments faced when a policy Delphi was conducted into qualification issues in Senior Secondary Vocational Education in the Netherlands.

Professional orientations of secondary school teachers towards their work

Against a background of current reforms which involve a diversity of strong expectations with regard to how teachers should work, this study explores how teachers themselves view their professionality. Four hundred and fifty two secondary school teachers were asked about their professional orientations. Teachers were found to differ in their orientations and in the combinations of their orientations towards instruction, educational goals, and their role in the school organization. These findings are relevant to consider in the light of successful reform of schools and education. The article ends with a reflection on those combinations of orientations, and suggestions for future research into professional orientations are made.

Teacher pedagogical competence and sensibility

Abstract In Western European countries, an erosion of teachers’ pedagogical sensibilities is occurring. Teachers are no longer accustomed to talking about pedagogical aspects of their work: how to deal with students on relational, personal, and moral grounds. They have difficulties discussing pedagogical issues with parents due to the emotionally charged nature of the topic and due to the lack of a clear pedagogical vision. Our data reveal how many teachers are fearful of moral issues that can arise in their classes, and how they avoid situations wherein they must settle disputes, deal with inappropriate behavior, decide moral dilemmas, and judge what merits study.

Just a Teacher or also a Moral Example

In recent years, in the political and educational debate the idea teachers should fulfill the role of moral example to their students, and also to others, is heard with increasing frequency. It is stated repeatedly that schools and other institutions must put more emphasis on cultivating respect, decency and social etiquette. With this ‘common decency’ orientation in the field of ‘moral’ and ‘citizenship education’ the emphasis is on ‘virtuous’ behavior and how this can be encouraged. One of the time-honoured answers is that the teacher should provide a ‘good example’ and inspire students to emulate this behavior.

A sense of belonging of teachers of catholic schools for secondary education. A research into the relation between personal and collective identity

A sense of belonging is conceptualized with the help of some theoretical notions of J. Searle. According to Searle institutional facts are created by constitutive rules. Through these rules people coordinate their actions within institutions. Institutional facts need collective acceptance or agreement. Activities of Catholic schools by which they express their identity, can be seen as institutional facts. These facts can vary from religious meetings (school mass) to study meetings on school identity by teachers. Teachers differ in the type of involvement with these collective actions. This empirical study shows that the difference in involvement in activities that are an expression of the collective identity of the school, is related to the religious profile of teachers. This interaction between personal and collective identity gives insight into the dynamics of the construction of identity of religiously affiliated schools.