Department of Secondary Education

• Teacher education
• In-service training and school development
• Bridging the gap between secondary and higher education

Teacher education

Training for teaching qualifications for the upper levels of secondary education is provided for the following subjects:

• Dutch, German, English, French, Spanish, Turkish, and the Classics (Greek and Latin);
• Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics;
• History, Art History, Humanities, Religious Studies, and Philosophy;
• Economy and Business Administration.

An important goal of the ICLON programme is to build bridges between practice and theory. Prospective teachers spend about half their time acquiring teaching practice at schools. ICLON educators, in close co-operation with trained mentors working at the practice schools, supervise the process of learning to teach. Recently, ICLON and some 40 schools in the Leiden region signed agreements to strengthen this co-operation. Teacher shortage is currently an acute problem in the Netherlands. Against this background, ICLON has developed a variety of course formats covering a range of full-time and part-time options. These include master's and post-graduate programmes as well as concurrent degree courses that combine the study of a particular university subject with the field of education. In addition, tailor-made programmes are designed for prospective teachers entering the profession from other fields. In total, each year some 250 participants enroll in the teacher training courses.

In-service training and school development

In-service training activities are aimed at both staff and school development. Staff development entails the growth of professionalism among teachers. In this context, attention is focused on reflection on one’s own practice through, for example, reciprocal classroom observation and group discussion. Specific themes include the guided supervision of students, the stimulation of active and independent learning, and the use of ICT in the classroom. Subject-specific themes are also addressed, in particular during so-called Good Practice Days. In recent years, such days have been organised both for language teachers and science teachers. The numbers of participants varied from 150 to 200 per event.
School development, on the other hand, relates to an entire school. In this case, educational support is aimed at the entire organisation, focusing on such themes as personnel policy, quality management, and internationalisation. As has already been mentioned, ICLON maintains close relationships with dozens of schools in the Leiden region. Within many of these schools, working groups have been formed which prepare and implement innovations, such as educational applications of ICT. Such groups can be supported by ICLON consultants and trainers. As the need arises, ICLON provides short tailor-made courses or conferences to support specific innovations.

Bridging the gap between secondary and higher education

ICLON supports the efforts of secondary schools (students, counsellors, teachers) in making the transition from secondary education to higher education as smooth as possible for their students. ICLON has developed a programme specifically for this purpose that has been available since 1998. All departments of Leiden University participate in the programme, together with more than 70 secondary schools in the Netherlands. A special ‘orientation programme’ has been developed in which university faculty staff and master’s students visit schools to explain how higher education is organised. They give information and discuss topics in which the class is interested. In addition, an ‘intensive programme’ has been set up to acquaint prospective students with (Leiden) University and university life. These students are allowed to enroll in short-term university courses, using the Internet and distance-learning tools.
Since 2000, the Leiden Advanced Pre-University Program for Top Students (LAPP-Top) has developed a number of short-term courses for students who are looking for an additional challenge and who are very talented and highly motivated. In addition, Leiden University has since 2004 offered a Pre-University College: a two-year programme for talented and motivated students in the 5th and 6th grades (the two final years) of Dutch secondary school. The main goal of Pre-University College is to offer academically gifted students an extra challenge during their secondary school studies and an introduction to the world of science. Only a selection of those students who apply will be admitted to the programme.

Please note:Not all information about ICLON activities is available in English, as most of our  activities are carried out for Dutch target groups. If you have any questions concerning our work, please contact us.