GeoCapabilities offers an approach for unlocking powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) for children. In phase three of the project, we are exploring how far GeoCapabilities 'works' for teachers serving communities in challenging socio-economic circumstances. We connect GeoCapabilities to social justice in education, theoretically. Then, using the…

Background: Primary teachers' pedagogical practices (TPP) are strongly focused on supporting pupils' psychological needs, creating a safe learning climate, and encouraging pupils' developmental and learning processes. As a core motivation for teachers is the desire to interact constructively with children, pedagogical practices can be understood…

The present study investigated outreach activities, developed by STEM-based companies or universities in co-creation with secondary education with the aim to inform students about and motivate them for a career in STEM by connecting the work-context with school-science. Although many of such activities are being offered, little is known about…

In this study, dynamic testing principles were applied to examine progression of analogy problem solving, the roles that cognitive flexibility and metacognition play in children's progression as well as training benefits, and instructional needs of 7- to 8-year-old gifted and average-ability children. Utilizing a pretest training posttest control…

Foreign language education at early ages involves a broad spectrum of communication skills using communication, culture, connections, comparisons and community. The aim of this study is to compare the primary foreign language curricula of Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands in terms of objectives, content, teaching processes and evaluation…

This study focused on the differentiation practices of second- and third-grade teachers in mathematics and reading comprehension lessons. Preconditions for differentiation, classroom organization, and how teachers dealt with students of different ability levels were investigated through observations, using a time-sampling instrument. Data of 43…

The diversity of students' achievement levels within classrooms has made it essential for teachers to adapt their lessons to the varying educational needs of their students ('differentiation'). However, the term differentiation has been interpreted in diverse ways and there is a need to specify what effective differentiation entails. Previous…

Teaching quality has been observed in large representative samples from Flanders (Belgium), Lower Saxony (Germany), the Slovak Republic, and The Netherlands. This study reveals that measures of "creating a safe and stimulating climate", "clear and activating instruction", and "teaching learning strategies" were…

Adapting support contingently to student needs by first diagnosing their current understanding, that is, scaffolding, is considered a key aspect of excellent teaching. The use of classroom scaffolding is rare, however. We therefore investigated the benefits to teachers of a professional development program that was based upon a model of contingent…

Children with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) vary in many respects. In school, specific conditions have to be fulfilled in order to deal adequately with EBD. This study addresses the question how mainstream primary schools design different instructional situations to support pupils with EBD in practice, and how this design could be…

In the Netherlands, as in many European countries, classrooms display a growing cultural diversity. There are only very limited empirically supported data on the interpersonal competence teachers need in Dutch classrooms and studies from other countries cannot be generalized because of differences in the composition of the student population. This…