Motivation
The gap between the underprivileged and privileged starts at the cradle, according to researchers, and seems to only be widening in the Netherlands. The way education is designed in our country reinforces this. What role could teachers play in closing that gap?
The social duty of closing the gap in the inequality of opportunity contains an important task for teachers. At the moment, teachers in training are interested in the topic of inequality of opportunity, but do not yet master the knowledge or skills required to start a substantial discussion with students or within a school. Gaining and sharing an understanding of the issue and the mechanisms behind it is key in this.
Desired solution
That is why Marloes Hülsken and Harm Kaal have students of the educational master's programme Human & Social Sciences work together with pupils to gain insight into the mechanisms behinds and perceptions of opportunity inequality. This is done through oral history, a method which makes history education more inclusive for pupils.
Action plan
Students of the educational master's programme Human & Social Sciences at Radboud University and students of the second-degree programme History at the HAN University of Applied Sciences are going to teach their internship pupils according to the oral history method (interviews about the past). Upper secondary pupils will then start interviewing local residents under the guidance of students with the guiding question: 'where was your cradle located? - To what extent have your origins and life history determined your opportunities and position in society?'
Results
Marloes and Harm's project uses the critical oral history method to give students more insight into the current and complex theme of (in)equality of opportunity in relation to education. Critical oral history is a historical research method that focuses on interviewing people about the past with a view to achieving greater justice in the present.
Within a course for students of the two-year university teacher training programme in Human and Social Sciences, which has already been given several times and will start again in the coming academic year, students undertook internships at secondary schools in the Southeast Netherlands. There, they guided students in interviewing local residents about their experiences with equal opportunities and inequality. These personal stories help pupils - and indirectly also the students - to better understand the abstract concept of opportunity (dis)equality in insights that cause and sustain mechanisms of inequality.
Students documented their learning in an ongoing portfolio and received feedback every three weeks. The course ended with a final presentation in the form of a poster presentation. Based on previous evaluations, the course has now been extended from one teaching period (eight weeks) to a semester course. This longer duration gives students more space to explore the subject in depth.
Student engagement grew strongly throughout the project. Whereas some students initially reacted reluctantly to the critical literature on opportunity inequality, the experiential and hands-on approach led to a clear change. Moreover, the method reverses roles once: secondary school students temporarily become the 'expert' and stand in a different relationship to their teacher. This role reversal is perceived as valuable. Harm Kaal:
We train teachers. It is important for them to realise that there is inequality of opportunity, and to ask themselves: what do I do with that?
Thanks to the use of a TLC voucher, Marloes and Harm were able to design their education and establish and develop contacts with partner schools in the region. The project provides concrete tools for pupils, students and schools to have the conversation about opportunity inequality and make the concept of opportunity inequality more understandable.
