Good quality

teachers
for
good quality
education

Association for the Professional Quality of Teachers, SBL

 Competent teachers

A teacher’s competence can be displayed by looking at the four

roles he or she fulfils while being at work, and also at the four
contexts he or she works in.

Thus we can distinguish the following teachers’ competences:

Survey of with with with the with

competences students colleagues working him/herself
environment

interpersonal
1
pedagogical
2
expert in 5 6 7
subject matter and
teaching methods 3
organizational
4

On the following pages we shall give a summary of the content of the

seven competences. The full text of the required competences can be
found on www.lerarenweb.nl. In principle these requirements apply to all
teachers. In some respects, however, differences can be found? For
teachers in primary education, secondary and vocational education and in
upper secondary education. These differences, however, will not be
addressed on the following pages.

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 1. Interpersonal competence

An interpersonally competent teacher displays good leadership. He/she

creates a friendly and cooperative atmosphere and stimulates and
achieves open communication. He/she encourages the students’
autonomy, and in his/her interaction seeks the right balance between

• guidance and counselling

• steering and following
• confrontation and reconciliation
• corrective measures and stimulation

2. Pedagogical competence

A pedagogically competent teacher offers the students a safe learning-

and working environment, where they find their hold and a structure for
social, emotional and moral development. He/she makes sure that the
students

• know that they belong, that they are welcome and appreciated
• treat each other in a respectful manner and are challenged to take
responsibility for one another
• can take initiatives and can work autonomously
• learn to discover their affinities and ambitions, and from there
make their choices for study and career.

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 3. Knowledge of subject matter & methodological
competence

A methodologically competent teacher with a thorough knowledge of

subject matter helps his/her students to acquire the necessary cultural
baggage knowledge every citizen needs to function as a full member in
our society. He/she

• gears the curriculum content as well as all his/her doings to the

students and is considerate of individual differences
• determines, together with the student, an (individual) learning
route with for instance possibilities for extra-curricular activities,
and learning in the context of professional practice
• motivates the students for their learning and working tasks,
challenges them to do their best, and helps them accomplish
their tasks successfully
• teaches the students how to learn and to work, both from and
with each other, in order to enhance their learning autonomy.

4. Organizational competence

An organizationally competent teacher makes sure that his/her students

can work in an orderly and task oriented environment. He/she sees to it
that they

• know where they stand and how much play they have for
initiatives of their own
• know what they must (or can) do, as well as how and with what
aim in mind they must (or can) do it.

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 5. Competence to cooperate with colleagues

A teacher who is competent in collaborating with his/her colleagues makes

a contribution to a good pedagogical learning climate in the school, to a
good mutual cooperation and to a good school organization, which means
that he/she

• communicates and cooperates effectively with his/her colleagues

• makes constructive contributions to meetings and other types of
consultations within the school, as well as to activities that have
to be performed to run the school well
• makes a contribution to the development and improvement of
his/her school.

6. Competence to cooperate with the school’s working

environment

A teacher who is competent in cooperating with people in his/her working

environment realizes a good communication, involving the students’
parents or guardians, as well as the companies or institutions the students
have dealings with as part of their education or training.
He/she makes effective use of the school’s professional network where the
student’s education, training or other concerns are at issue. He/she
handles the contacts he/she keeps on behalf of the school with
responsibility and care.

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 7. Competence for reflection and development

A teacher who is competent in terms of reflection and development gives

regular thought to his/her professional views and competence. He/she
keeps his/her professional practice up to date and improves it. He/she

• knows what is important in his/her professional practice and what

the underlying standards, values and educational views are
• has a pretty good idea of his/her own competences, strengths
and weaknesses
• works on his/her professional development in a systematic way
• gears his/her personal development to the school policy and
avails him-/herself of the opportunities the school offers for
his/her personal development.

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 Competence requirements and the Professions in
Education Act (BIO)

Halfway 2004 the Dutch parliament passed the Professions in Education Act
(BIO Act). The two most important elements of this act are:
1. The competence requirements teachers must fulfil. These
requirements are laid down in a separate document. The competence
requirements are updated every six years.
2. The school must enable the teachers to comply with these
requirements and to keep their competences up to date. Agreements
to that effect are laid down in a competence dossier the school keeps
of every teacher.

WHY ARE THERE COMPETENCE REQUIREMENTS?

The government has the constitutional duty to take care of the quality of education.
Whatever we understand by good quality education is highly dependent on the
quality of teachers. This means that the government has to formulate quality
standards for the educational staff and for the training of this staff. This is the reason
why teachers have to comply with certain requirements concerning their
competences. The teacher training colleges have to base their training programme
on these requirements. And the requirements will play a role in the professional
development policy of the school. : the school will only appoint competent staff and
see to it that the staff (can) keep their competences up to date.

HOW WERE THE COMPETENCE REQUIREMENTS DEVELOPED?

The competence requirements are about the professional quality of teachers. They
define what being a good teacher means in these times. And there is nobody to
define this professional quality better than the teachers themselves. This is why the
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science commissioned the teachers as a
professional group, under the supervision of the Association for the Professional
Quality of Teachers (SBL), to formulate professional quality standards in terms of
competence requirements.

Under SBL’s supervision teachers’ working groups have worked out a proposal for
competence requirements. Since September 2000 they have compiled an inventory
of characteristic professional situations, actions and responsibilities. This inventory
resulted in the descriptive model of the seven teachers’ competences. This model
has then been tried out in several portfolio projects. During this phase teachers in
primary, secondary and vocational education put together a portfolio of their
competences. Meanwhile working groups have continued developing and formulating
competence requirements.

Since September 2002 the working groups have been turned into regional quality
panels under the supervision of a regional coordinator; fifteen to start with, later the
number was extended to twenty-five. These regional quality panels discussed and
commented on the proposal for competence requirements in a thorough and
systematic way. At the same time the proposal was brought up for discussion on the
website. SBL’s advisory council also dealt with it. It was also discussed with the
department concerned in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. In all these
ways the professional group of teachers has been involved in the process and invited
to comment on the proposal, and so have other stakeholders such as employers’
organizations, school management, parents’ associations, students, training colleges,
school advisory services and other educational advisory centres.

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All reactions have resulted in a number of modifications in the proposal. The
description of the competences has become more practical and the competence
requirements less detailed. The teacher’s professional knowledge and his/her
knowledge of the subject matter have been more explicitly formulated. Eventually
the difference between being a teacher in primary, secondary and vocational, and in
preparatory higher education has been clarified, which resulted in three different sets
of competence requirements.

LET’S GET GOING!

The whole process of the development and formulation of competence requirements
for teachers was a complicated one, but has eventually resulted in three sets of
competence requirements, which can easily be transferred to specific situations. With
these competence requirements teachers can demonstrate that the quality of
education is in good hands. Now it is important to work with these competences and
to apply them. Let’s work together on good quality teachers for good quality
education!

The Association for the Professional Quality of Teachers, SBL,

promotes the quality of education by formulating competence

requirements for teachers, and by focusing attention on professionalism.
SBL works together with teachers.
In brief, what SBL stands for is: Good quality teachers for good quality
education.

SBL’s task consists of two parts, which are closely connected to each other:
1. the formulation of competence requirements for teachers and other
educational staff
2. an interactive process with the professional group, with the emphasis on the
fact that the professional group is the proprietor of the competence
requirements.
In this way the quality standards that are developed can be recognized and
acknowledged by teachers and other educational staff as relevant for their
profession.

In the last few years (1998-2003) the development of competence requirements

was the long-term goal, and the involvement of the professional group was the
means to achieve it. Since 2004 this has changed. From that moment the usability
of the terms competence and professionalization became the long-term goal. The
competence requirements, and above all the instruments related to them, such as
the digital teacher portfolio and the Quick Scan, were the means to achieve this
goal. Next to the consolidation of the competence requirements for teachers, the
development of competence requirements for other educational staff can now be
initiated.

For more detailed information please consult our website www.lerarenweb.nl.

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