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In general, teacher educators are considered to be educational specialists whose main task is to communicate content-based concepts to prospective teachers. However, unfortunately, most studies on teacher professional development overlook this specific language-oriented aspect of content-based teaching. Therefore, we address the aforementioned research gap and argue that teacher educators' evaluation of their language-oriented performance in educational communication enhances the quality of their content-based teaching. Accordingly, we examine how the language-oriented performance of teacher educators is evaluated by both individual teacher educators (sample size N=3) and their students (N=32) in a small-scale intervention study. The findings of the study reveal that there is a relationship between the order of application of five language focus areas (i.e., language awareness, active listening, formalizing interaction, language support, and language and learning development, as noticed by the students), and teacher educators' ability to apply these areas in accordance with their objectives related to content-based teaching.

Many studies have suggested that personal practical knowledge is essential for professional development. Recently, there has been growing recognition of the importance of teacher educators' personal practical knowledge of 'language' for student learning development. However, the need for teacher educators to first understand their own language-oriented development in content-based classroom interaction has not received as much emphasis. The current intervention study investigates how eleven experienced teacher educators understand their language-oriented development through the control of task difficulty, small-group instruction and directed response questioning. Data were examined by conducting content and constant comparison analyses. The results showed that the intervention affected the educators' language-oriented development, which in turn affected their awareness and decisions made to improve their methods of initiation and response during classroom interaction. The results call for more concrete ways to expend teacher educators' practical knowledge of language to further develop and enhance their language-oriented teaching performance in content-based classroom interaction.

Organisations that support employees to take responsibility and ownership for their lifelong learning can reinforce the return on investment in human resources development (HRD). In this way, learning is a process driven by a dialogue on personal development and steered by HRD. The result of this dialogue is mutually beneficial to employers and employees. Based on the reflection of employees in three Dutch cases, an answer was sought to the questions of how the Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning (VNIL) system fits into the operationalisation of dialogues on personal development within a labour-oriented perspective and what this means for the application of Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning (VNIL) in the HRD of public and private organisations. The aim is gaining insight into the linkage of personal qualities and development opportunities within public and private organisations. The extent to which organisations are able to activate dialogues using VNIL not only colours HRD strategies but also results in an open dialogue on and shared ownership of lifelong learning. Both dialogue and shared ownership reinforce the organisation's mission. Lessons learned from Dutch cases highlight available approaches and opportunities for employers and employees when activating the labour-oriented perspective of the VNIL.

Philosophy for Democracy is a research project which aims to examine whether and how Philosophy with Children contributes to the development of democratic skills and attitudes. Philosophy with Children seeks to develop children's critical thinking, their ability to judge, enhance their dialogical skills and attitudes and to contribute to their dealing with differences. These are important competencies for a citizen in a democratic society. In this study we enquire these aims in four primary schools. We have used Goodlad's curriculum model. In this model, a curriculum is divided into six levels: the underlying view or rationale; manuals and other resources; the interpretation by the teacher; the operationalisation in classroom; the experiences of the children and the results of the curriculum. At each of these levels we have enquired Philosophy with Children in relation to democratic education.

Sociocultural and dialogic theories of education have identified the need to integrate both pedagogical content and language knowledge into teachers' professional development to promote effective interaction with students about subject content. In this intervention study, a meta-perspective on language was developed to understand how experienced teacher educators (N = 29) conceptualize ongoing language development in professional learning and teaching (referred to as language-developing learning in this study) as part of their pedagogical content knowledge. The data were analysed using content analysis. Language-developing learning was mainly conceived as teacher-oriented professional development. In this process, the language aspect was regarded not only as a tool that applies regulatory and explanatory language but also as a target that connects academic knowledge and interpersonally oriented language. The results increase our awareness of teacher educators' practical knowledge of academic and interpersonal language in specific disciplinary contexts of teacher professional development in higher education.

This paper describes teacher educators' understanding of language for classroom communication in higher education. We argue that teacher educators who are aware of their personal practical knowledge of language have a better understanding of their students' language use and provide better support for knowledge construction. Personal practical knowledge originates from teachers' professional practice and is based on their past experience, current awareness and future expectation. Data from focus group interviews with teacher educators (N = 35) were used for content analysis. Findings demonstrate an emerging conceptualization resulting in two language modalities of personal practical knowledge, specified as: "language-sensitive and interpersonally oriented" and "language-focused and pedagogically oriented." The insights contribute to building a professional practical knowledge base of language and communication-oriented teaching.

Philosophy for Democracy is a research project that aims to examine whether and how Philosophy with Children contributes to the development of democratic skills and attitudes. In the Netherlands, as in almost all Western countries, Philosophy with Children is linked with the movement for citizenship education. This article reports the research on the practice of Philosophy with Children. Sixteen philosophical inquiries by children in the classroom were recorded, transcribed and analysed. The analyses show that children develop relevant reasoning skills and advanced dialogical skills. The study shows that embedding Philosophy with Children in a democratic practice is necessary for contributing to a critical-democratic citizenship development. The study also shows that Dutch children often give their opinion, but are not often involved in inquiring their own opinions. From a pedagogical point of view, we think that in Dutch culture and in Dutch schools it would be important to stress more a dialogical--community-based--inquiring attitude.

This article describes experiences with a qualitative research project into teachers' learning from innovating their own educational practices. Decades of New Public Management (NPM) in the Netherlands, with its top-down and businesslike approach to areas of public interest, obscured the learning and innovating capacity of teachers, teams, and schools. Merely studying the learning processes which take place at a teacher level would present insufficient insight into the deeper mechanisms which hinder or stimulate learning from innovation in a bottom-up manner. We, therefore, focused on the relations between different layers (individual, systemic) within schools. A high-quality design was required for answering the research question: How and what do teachers learn from innovating their own educational practices? This article elaborates upon this design and discusses the methodological findings and complications of this type of research.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to show that The Netherlands offers an interesting case of apprenticeship as part of an elaborated system of vocational education, combining school and workplace learning. For reaching objectives of vocational education with regard to effective problem solving on the job and work process knowledge the quality of workplace learning is essential. Design/methodology/approach: The research in this paper is explorative. It is based on policy analysis, literature review and meta-analysis of recent research on workplace learning, done by the authors and some colleagues. New theoretical approaches on workplace learning are used to throw new light on developments in Dutch apprenticeships. Findings: The paper finds that governments as well as schools and companies are attempting to uphold the quality of learning in apprenticeships. More intensive interaction between workplaces and vocational schools are developed. Still, there are two main issues in dispute: the quality of workplace learning (content, guidance, assessment) and the quality of the connection between workplace and school-based learning, despite attempts to make VET more practice oriented and to improve connections between school and work. Practical implications: The paper shows that VET innovation should pay more attention to quality improvement and connectivity of work-based learning by establishing quality criteria for work-based learning places, by enriching workplace learning and by designing curricula, which integrate learning places as well as learning experiences. Originality/value: The value of the paper is delivering new insights on apprenticeships by confronting new theories with the Dutch case. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Reports on a research project on entrepreneurship competencies in higher and vocational education commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands. Concept of entrepreneurship; Way in which innovations in higher and vocational education develop competencies for entrepreneurship, enterprising behavior and employability; Views of students and teachers on entrepreneurship-oriented education.