ENHANCE Brings International Experience to Classrooms in the Brainport Region
Trainee teachers from England who spent three weeks shadowing in Dutch classrooms, and the coordinators who mentored them. At the end of the programme, they all gathered at Brainport Development in Eindhoven to reflect on their experiences, share their insights and learn about the region they had been part of over the past few weeks.
The ENHANCE programme links international students with Dutch schools. Not just for a day’s observation, but for three weeks of full participation. Coordinators from Jan van Brabant, Pius X College, Sondervick College, Varendonck College and SintLucas took part in the programme. Together, they represent seventeen trainees from British universities. Before the trainee teachers engaged in discussion with one another during the closing session, they were given a glimpse of the Brainport region: Eindhoven’s innovative strength, technological developments and the role that education plays in this. After that, it was time to look back.
Among those who did so was Sam (30). He is studying at Sheffield University. Three weeks in a foreign city, a school with a different culture, lessons in a language that isn’t your own. Yet he soon felt at home at SintLucas in Eindhoven. ‘All the teachers welcomed us with open arms. Every time I asked if I could sit in on a lesson, they said yes. Sometimes they even invited me before I’d asked.’
Among those present was Bas van den Hout, internationalisation coordinator at SintLucas, which took part with four trainees. He describes the essence of the programme simply: ‘Normally, you send pupils, students or teachers abroad to gain international experience. But not everyone can or wants to do that. By bringing British students to the school, you create an international experience, but in the classroom. The pupils (and colleagues) hear a different accent, speak English with a native speaker, ask questions about life in England and are thus exposed to a different culture and way of working.'
Surprisingly different
Around the table, it becomes clear that the trainee teachers have all encountered something similar. What strikes them most is how different it is here. Sam: ‘In England, you have to motivate pupils to do anything at all. Here, it feels as though they want to learn and figure things out for themselves.’ Jack (29), who is studying software development and has been shadowing a bilingual vocational course over the past few weeks, adds: ‘They’re eighteen years old and producing professional work. Truly independent. You only see that at university level back home.’ The students’ behaviour is just as surprising. In England, Sam sends at least one student out of the classroom every day. Here? Hardly ever. ‘They just want to be there.’
Curiosity on both sides
The Dutch students, in turn, are curious. They ask about British food, life in Sheffield and why these people are actually here. And they speak English (sometimes for the first time properly). Abby, who is studying for a master’s in illustration and has spent the past few weeks at SintLucas studying textiles and painting, deliberately chose subjects she isn’t familiar with for the final week.
‘We want to give them that space deliberately,’ says Bas. ‘So they can develop themselves too.’
