Based on a review of recent studies and reports, this research investigates attrition among beginning teachers in the Netherlands as well as reasons for teacher attrition, and compares the finding with studies on this topic conducted elsewhere in the world. The findings suggest that attrition among beginning teachers in the Netherlands with a…

This article reports on results of a study on pupils' perceptions on teacher quality in primary education. Pupils' perceptions of desired characteristics of good teachers in primary education were compared to results of research into teacher quality from different perspectives: (1) perception studies of ideal teaching-and-learning environments;…

Teaching is undoubtedly complex and the complexity of classroom practice implies that the structure of lessons making up teaching may differ and subject to change over time. The aims of this study were to investigate changes in observed lesson structure, and explore the effects of several teacher and contextual characteristics on differences in…

This study reports on interviews with 24 beginning teachers about tensions they experienced regarding their professional identity. The interviewees reported a total of 59 tensions of tension that fell into three themes: (1) the change in role from student to teacher; (2) conflicts between desired and actual support given to students; and (3)…

This article reports on the way teachers assess their own coaching competencies regarding the development of vocational education students' reflection skills. The participating teachers used a self-assessment procedure in which they had to judge themselves with the help of criteria and standards, received feedback from a colleague based on the…

Dealing with ethnic and linguistic diversity is one of the major challenges in today's education. Therefore, the formulation of competencies for teachers and teacher training should take into account the specific requirements of teaching in multicultural schools. In 2002, a series of small-scale studies were conducted to identify and formulate…

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…