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Teachers Contributions to Learning Communities in Higher Education in the Netherlands

Received: 9 January 2023     Accepted: 4 February 2023     Published: 14 February 2023
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Abstract

Background and aims: The research reported in this article is about the involvement of teachers in Learning Communities at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, in the Social work department. The present study builds on two previous studies. Firstly, a theoretical study on belonging and COVID-19. Secondly, an empirical study of the views of students at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Department of Social Work on": do they feel they belong to this University of Applied Sciences and Social Work in particular? Methods: Central to the study are the results of an OECD questionnaire focusing on teachers' pedagogical skills during, among other things, their work in learning communities and other student-related activities. Secondly, a COVID-19 questionnaire from the Municipal Health service (GGD) was used. Data were collected from 41% of teachers during a workshop on 12 April 2022. Results: First of all, this study shows that teachers suffered substantially from COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns. This affected their work substantially (59% negative) and also their private lives (47%). Second, this study demonstrates that teachers should be more concerned countering disruptive student behavior. Moreover, this study shows that teachers should focus more on the pedagogical skills that form the pillars of a learning community. These outcomes were achieved with Two-Factor Anova without Replication. Conclusions: Windesheim, University of Applied Science, Social Work, has taken the first step by introducing the concept of Learning Communities. To ensure that students actually feel at home in this department of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, theoretical and practical efforts will have to be made to ensure that students and possibly teachers feel that belonging is seamlessly connected to Learning Communities. This research shows that this can only be done if there is rock-solid work on the pedagogical skills with which the Learning Communities are propped up. Excelling in this will increase the chances of students completing the Social Work program and possibly even a decrease in the dropout rate of students enrolled in this program.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20231101.14
Page(s) 24-34
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

University, Learning Community, COVID-19, Belonging, Pedagogical Skills, Teachers

References
[1] Forsyth, Donelson R. "The Psychology of Groups." In Psychology, edited by R. Biswas-Diener and E. Diener. Noba Textbook Series. Champaign, IL: DEF Publishers, 2014. http://nobaproject.com/textbooks/introduction-to-psychology-the-full-noba-collection.
[2] Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz, and Dliman Salim (2022). Belonging a Key Concept to Explain Success in Higher Education in the Netherlands. Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol. 10, No. 2, 2022, pp. 48-52, pp. 48-52. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20221002.11.
[3] Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz, and Dliman Salim (2022). Belonging, Attachment and COVID-19 in Higher Education in the Netherlands: Results and Recommendations. Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol. 10, No. 5, 2022, pp. 281-286. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20221005.11.
[4] Zee, van der, Karin (2015). Expending horizons Intercultural competency of individuals and organizations. Inaugural Speech. Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
[5] Jaarverantwoording 2021. Link: https://ap.lc/ZWq1U
[6] West, R. E., Williams, G. S. “I don’t think that word means what you think it means”: A proposed framework for defining learning communities. Education Tech Research Dev 65, 1569–1582 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-017-9535-0
[7] Stoll, L. & Louis, K. S. (Eds.). (2007). Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas. London/ New York: Open University Press/McGraw Hill. Mitton Keynes; United Kingdom. ISBN13: 9780335220304.
[8] Stoll, L. (2015) Using evidence, learning and the role of professional learning communities. In: Brown, C, (ed.) Leading the Use of Research & Evidence in Schools. UCL IOE Press: London, UK. Link: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10043776/
[9] Schleicher, A. (2012), Ed., Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century: Lessons from around the World, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264xxxxxx-en
[10] Watkins, Chris (2005). Classrooms as learning communities: A review of research. London Review of Education. Vol. 3, No. 1, March 2005, pp. 47–64. DOI: 10.1080/14748460500036276.
[11] Thomas, Liz (2012). Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention & Success programme. Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
[12] De Staat van het Onderwijs (2022). Inspectie van het Onderwijs. Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap. https://www.onderwijsinspectie.nl/documenten/rapporten/2022/04/13/de-staat-van-het-onderwijs-2022
[13] Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of the Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, Mass.: The Harvard University Press.
[14] Mohamedhoesein, Nasser (2022). The Basis of Moving Students from Surviving to Thriving in College. The (missing) link between students’ daily interactions and academic success. PHD dissertation Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
[15] Zhao, Chun-Mei & Kuh, George D. (2004). Adding Value: Learning Communities and Student Engagement. Springer. Doi: 10.1023/B:RIHE.0000015692.88534.de.
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  • APA Style

    Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz, Dliman Salim. (2023). Teachers Contributions to Learning Communities in Higher Education in the Netherlands. Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(1), 24-34. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231101.14

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    ACS Style

    Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz; Dliman Salim. Teachers Contributions to Learning Communities in Higher Education in the Netherlands. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2023, 11(1), 24-34. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231101.14

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    AMA Style

    Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz, Dliman Salim. Teachers Contributions to Learning Communities in Higher Education in the Netherlands. Humanit Soc Sci. 2023;11(1):24-34. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231101.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20231101.14,
      author = {Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz and Dliman Salim},
      title = {Teachers Contributions to Learning Communities in Higher Education in the Netherlands},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {11},
      number = {1},
      pages = {24-34},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20231101.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231101.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20231101.14},
      abstract = {Background and aims: The research reported in this article is about the involvement of teachers in Learning Communities at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, in the Social work department. The present study builds on two previous studies. Firstly, a theoretical study on belonging and COVID-19. Secondly, an empirical study of the views of students at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Department of Social Work on": do they feel they belong to this University of Applied Sciences and Social Work in particular? Methods: Central to the study are the results of an OECD questionnaire focusing on teachers' pedagogical skills during, among other things, their work in learning communities and other student-related activities. Secondly, a COVID-19 questionnaire from the Municipal Health service (GGD) was used. Data were collected from 41% of teachers during a workshop on 12 April 2022. Results: First of all, this study shows that teachers suffered substantially from COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns. This affected their work substantially (59% negative) and also their private lives (47%). Second, this study demonstrates that teachers should be more concerned countering disruptive student behavior. Moreover, this study shows that teachers should focus more on the pedagogical skills that form the pillars of a learning community. These outcomes were achieved with Two-Factor Anova without Replication. Conclusions: Windesheim, University of Applied Science, Social Work, has taken the first step by introducing the concept of Learning Communities. To ensure that students actually feel at home in this department of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, theoretical and practical efforts will have to be made to ensure that students and possibly teachers feel that belonging is seamlessly connected to Learning Communities. This research shows that this can only be done if there is rock-solid work on the pedagogical skills with which the Learning Communities are propped up. Excelling in this will increase the chances of students completing the Social Work program and possibly even a decrease in the dropout rate of students enrolled in this program.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Teachers Contributions to Learning Communities in Higher Education in the Netherlands
    AU  - Carl Hermann Dino Steinmetz
    AU  - Dliman Salim
    Y1  - 2023/02/14
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    AB  - Background and aims: The research reported in this article is about the involvement of teachers in Learning Communities at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, in the Social work department. The present study builds on two previous studies. Firstly, a theoretical study on belonging and COVID-19. Secondly, an empirical study of the views of students at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Department of Social Work on": do they feel they belong to this University of Applied Sciences and Social Work in particular? Methods: Central to the study are the results of an OECD questionnaire focusing on teachers' pedagogical skills during, among other things, their work in learning communities and other student-related activities. Secondly, a COVID-19 questionnaire from the Municipal Health service (GGD) was used. Data were collected from 41% of teachers during a workshop on 12 April 2022. Results: First of all, this study shows that teachers suffered substantially from COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns. This affected their work substantially (59% negative) and also their private lives (47%). Second, this study demonstrates that teachers should be more concerned countering disruptive student behavior. Moreover, this study shows that teachers should focus more on the pedagogical skills that form the pillars of a learning community. These outcomes were achieved with Two-Factor Anova without Replication. Conclusions: Windesheim, University of Applied Science, Social Work, has taken the first step by introducing the concept of Learning Communities. To ensure that students actually feel at home in this department of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, theoretical and practical efforts will have to be made to ensure that students and possibly teachers feel that belonging is seamlessly connected to Learning Communities. This research shows that this can only be done if there is rock-solid work on the pedagogical skills with which the Learning Communities are propped up. Excelling in this will increase the chances of students completing the Social Work program and possibly even a decrease in the dropout rate of students enrolled in this program.
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Author Information
  • Expats & Immigrants, Besloten Vennootschap, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

  • Social Work, University of Applied Sciences Windesheim, Almere, the Netherlands

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