{"id":2703,"date":"2016-09-05T12:44:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-05T10:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/09\/05\/stel-diploma-verplicht-bij-lesgeven-op-universiteit\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:09","slug":"stel-diploma-verplicht-bij-lesgeven-op-universiteit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/09\/05\/stel-diploma-verplicht-bij-lesgeven-op-universiteit\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Require university lecturers to obtain teaching qualifications’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thirty percent of university lecturers are teaching students without having undergone teacher training. Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg (Intercity Students\u2019 Association, abbreviated ISO) wishes lecturers to be required to undergo such training.<\/p>\n

In 2008, Dutch universities agreed that where possible, lecturers should undergo teacher training and obtain a so-called basic teaching qualification (\u201cBKO\u201d in Dutch). However, judging from a survey<\/a>\u00a0carried out by ISO, three in ten university lecturers are still teaching without having obtained the requisite diploma.<\/p>\n

'Teaching without training'<\/h3>\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018Teaching primary school children takes four years\u2019 training, but university lecturers are allowed to start teaching without any training.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJan Sinnige, voorzitter ISO\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cStudents must be able to rely on their lecturers being certified teachers,\u201d says ISO President Jan Sinnige in a press release. \u201cTeaching primary school children takes four years\u2019 training, but university lecturers are allowed to start teaching without any training.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2013 the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) conducted a similar\u00a0survey<\/a>. Since then, the number of properly certified lecturers has risen spectacularly, but ISO is not yet satisfied. There is room for improvement, particularly among PhD students and student assistants.<\/p>\n

Not satisfied<\/h3>

The PhD students themselves agree that they should be better prepared for their teaching duties. Half of PhD students are dissatisfied with the level of support they receive with regard to teaching, and only 11 percent attend BKO courses, or parts thereof, a study carried out by ISO (among other parties) showed half a year ago. Yet most PhD students would like to attend such courses; over 90\u00a0percent feel they should be enabled to obtain their basic teaching qualification.<\/p>\n

'No correlation with student satisfaction rate'<\/h3>

It should be noted that NRC Handelsblad<\/a>\u00a0recently found that there is no strong correlation between universities\u2019 percentage of qualified lecturers and their student satisfaction rate. For instance, at Groningen University, 85 percent of lecturers have obtained their basic teaching qualification, but the university\u2019s student satisfaction rate vis-\u00e0-vis its lecturers is about average.<\/p>\n

Eindhoven University of Technology\u2019s students are a little happier with their often unqualified lecturers, while Wageningen University\u2019s students are extremely satisfied with their lecturers, the majority of whom (52 percent) are not certified teachers.<\/p>\n

read more about teachers<\/h2>