“Get teachers more involved in renewing education”

29 September 2009 

Teachers must be given a central role in designing the curriculum, says educationalist Adam Handelzalts in his doctoral research. As part of his research, he followed twelve teams of teachers in two schools which had been given the task of developing a new teaching programme. The findings of the research suggest that it is beneficial to involve teachers in designing a new teaching programme. Teachers also need a range of support during this process. Handelzalts was recently awarded his PhD by the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences of the University of Twente.

In recent years, the government has given schools greater freedom to develop their own curriculum. Teachers play an important role in this process. Adam Handelzalts from the University of Twente has examined what role is played by teacher design teams in developing a curriculum. Teachers play a key role in the learning process, meaning that it is particularly important to involve them in redesigning teaching programmes. "Using teacher design teams is a good way of overhauling the curriculum and bridging the divide between the ambitions of the school as a whole and what actually happens in classrooms. But to make teacher design teams function more effectively, a few changes need to be made," Handelzalts concludes. He has produced a list of recommendations for teams and for school managers. 

Handelzalts analysed twelve teacher design teams for his research, working in two schools. He concludes that involving teachers in renewing school curricula has the potential to bring about sustainable improvements, but it is a process that requires a great deal of support. To support the work of teacher design teams, school managers first need to make space and resources available.
Handelzalts' first recommendation was aimed at the Teacher Design Teams and their involvement in school management. Formal and informal involvement motivates teams to continue working on renewing the curriculum. In this respect, school managers will have to take on a different role to the one they are accustomed to. Rather than simply acting as managers, they will need to recognize and support the needs of the teams.
Handelzalts also makes a number of recommendations in the area of policy. These focus primarily on making different teaching methods and practical examples available. The Teacher Design Teams which had no access to examples and stuck to their old teaching methods made little progress.

Teacher Design Teams are thus an effective way of renewing the school curriculum, but this is dependent on school managers providing enough support. "The teacher is, after all, the most important factor in the learning process both for the students and in terms of how the teaching is carried out. Teachers need to have an input into the process of change," Handelzalts concludes.

Note to the press:
Adam Handelzalts was awarded his PhD on 17 September by the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Department of Curriculum Design and Educational Innovation. His PhD supervisors were Prof. J J H van der Akker and Dr N M Nieveen. His thesis, Collaborative Curriculum Development in Teacher Design Teams is available in digital format on request.
Interested persons from the press may contact Rianne Wanders, 053-4892721.