Walter Geerts & René van Kralingen - The Teachers' Handbook

Introduction

your potential and contribute to a school which enables you to do so, where you can provide each other with critical and constructive feedback to be able to flour ish as a teacher. Students deserve a top-notch teacher. We hope this handbook provides you with some of the necessary tools to become one. PART E  How do I teach in preparatory (VMBO) and secondary (MBO) vocational education and training? The fifth part of this handbook discusses preparatory (VMBO) and senior sec ondary vocational education (VET, or MBO). As a teacher you can opt to spe cialise in vocational education. In your final year you can choose between grad uating in vocational education or a more general form of secondary education. ‘Vocational education’ refers to both VMBO and MBO education. Teachers in both school types have a lot in common. Their students aim to acquire knowl edge which specifically relates to their professional needs. Over half of the Dutch secondary school population pursues education in VMBO. Upon completion, almost 90% of these students will continue their training inMBO (ADEF, 2013). Inherently, the majority of MBO students come from a VMBO background. If you opt for a major in vocational education, the probability is you will do both an internship and research in the field of VMBO and MBO education. In Part E we examine various themes that characterize this type of education. Teachers encounter a range of different students in VMBO. Often they suffer from a lack of confidence. Teachers attempt to customise their didactic and ped agogical approach in order to build their students’ self-confidence. In Chapter 12 we go in detail into motivational theories, based on the basic needs as described in Chapter 1. Eventually we provide you – as a future VMBO teacher – with ideas on how to stimulate VMBO students’ motivational levels. Chapter 13 describes MBO students. This category consists of both younger and older students. Younger MBO students are at a different stage of life fromVMBO students (or apprentices). They focus on their peer group as opposed to their parents. They meet fellow students and peers of the same age at their regional training centre (ROC). 5 Both younger and older students pursue an MBO edu cation while they work in the field as employees or apprentices. A relatively high number of students who attend ROCs fall into the so-called ‘high-risk category’. Teachers put a lot of time and effort into maintaining a good relationship with these students since they have a greater chance of dropping out. Due to the fact that lessons at an ROC are different from VMBO lessons, Part E is devoted to the quality of support in this particular area. MBO students spend a fair amount of time doing internships as part of their studies. Therefore,

5 ROC stands for Regionaal opleidingencentrum , or regional training centre. It is an institution that provides vocational education, often for both VMBO and MBO levels.

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