The effect of environmental transformations on organizational identity in universities has been addressed from different perspectives, yet considering micro-dynamics and impact on actual practices of academic work has been neglected. This article addresses this gap by analyzing how institutional field prescriptions relative to an environmental…

Students' learning environments often change during school career, due to school transitions and the introduction of educational innovations, causing discontinuity in teaching and learning. Success of students entering a new learning environment depends in part on their prior expectations of education, as these influence later perceptions.…

Between 1902 and 1913 two acclaimed educational reformers wrote several series of children's primers in the Netherlands. Jan Ligthart and Hindericus Scheepstra collaborated closely with the painter Cornelis Jetses who provided the illustrations. The series would become classics in both text and image. In this article the symbolic educational…

Purpose: School leadership is fundamental in efforts to successfully implement school reform and improve student and teacher learning. Although there is an abundant amount of research on school leaders' formal training, assessment, and practice, little is known about their informal professional learning. In other words, how do school leaders learn…

In present-day society students are no longer expected to learn for stable employment, but for lifelong employability. This implies a major shift in educational approach. Previous research has shown which characteristics of learning environments correlate with students' competences to self-direct their careers, but until now this had not inspired…

This article is based on our own experiences and that of several of our colleagues teaching social and cultural anthropology in different Dutch institutions for higher learning. We focus in particular on teaching and learning in two small liberal arts and science (LAS) colleges, where anthropology makes up part of the social science curriculum…

Background: Students' perspective on education is of crucial importance for its effectivity, but students' opinions are seldom acknowledged by teachers and designers. Student participation in the educational design process could be a suitable tool to better take students' preferences into account. However, for effective participatory design, it is…

The universities in Europe are finding themselves in a turbulent environment. They are exposed to global and European developments. This article links changes in the structure, culture, and policy of universities to these developments and changes in the broader-than-national environment. The central question is, in short: what is globalisation…

This book samples recent and emerging trust research in education including an array of conceptual approaches, measurement innovations, and explored determinants and outcomes of trust. The collection of pathways explores the phenomenon of trust and establishes the significance of trust relationships in school life. It emboldens the claim that…

This policy profile on education in the Netherlands is part of the new Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Building on the substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge base available…

Although there is a tendency to develop policy plans on adult education at a European level, there are still large differences between the various EU countries. These national policy contexts depend on historical, cultural, economic and political factors and can have a profound impact on the way adult education is shaped and developed within a…

The general goal of research into LGBT issues among youth is, of course, to improve the situation of young people. Research on its own cannot attain such an objective; it is a tool in a chain of interventions. Implementation of the recommendations of research is essential for effective use of research. But, implementation is often difficult. To…

In modern Western society, traditional structures and organizations from the first modernity, with its hierarchical models and well-structured and distinct components, are currently confronted by the individualization trends of the second modernity. This need for new structures is particularly apparent in present-day education. Education, in the…

In 1997 a new governance act, based on the principles of New Public Management (NPM) was introduced at Dutch universities. The aims were to realise integrated management, to strengthen the position of executives at the central (executive board) and faculty (dean) levels, to introduce a Supervisory Board at the institution's central level, and to…

This paper assesses how three schools' change capacity influenced the implementation of school reform, specifically Basic education, a renewed curriculum in the first phase of secondary education. It reports on a study that examined the relationship between the characteristics of Dutch schools and their staff, the actual use of change capacity…