NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
speciality: Education

I am about to finish my bachelor’s at ITEps (at the Meppel campus!), the International Teacher Education for Primary Schools. The degree is collaborative and innovative. It has left me with a strong motivation to study and think more critically about my approaches to education and how I see myself as a teacher.
The degree also doesn’t just help you become a teacher, but with its design-based approach, it gives you many other skills that can be used in various areas of the education world, whether it be curriculum development, special needs education or material development (like writing books, creating fun activities etc.).
The atmosphere amongst students and staff oozes intrinsic motivation to learn, and lifelong learning skills are strongly embedded in the programme.

The only unfortunate downside of the programme, which is a work in progress, is that it does not fully certify me to teach in all schools as it currently still is a bachelor of education and not a certified teaching programme. This means I cannot work at publicly funded schools, but mainly private ones. However, a certification can be achieved through a one-year online course, so it does not mean there aren’t job opportunities in the future, and many schools still hire ITEps students as teaching assistants and then support them in becoming certified.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the campus is in Meppel, which is a smaller Dutch city. There are no other study programmes there apart from the ITE programmes (ITEps and ITEss), which means your student life depends on the students who study the same course as you. That makes accommodation very affordable – and – there’s no housing issue! The community on campus is great and social, with students organising events for everyone (parties, painting events, sports etc.).

I am a Canadian student, studying the International Teaching for Secondary Schools program at the NHL Stenden campus in Meppel. Each year, I go abroad for a Teaching Practice where I intern at a school ranging from 3 to 12 weeks, depending on the of study. Nothing compares to the experience you gain from teaching abroad at international schools all over the world! The number of opportunities this course has is unlike anything I have ever seen. However, it is important to note that each time you go abroad, you must finance these internships yourself. This means paying for flights, visas, police clearances and accommodation. A lot of the time, you will be paying double rent as well – rent in the Netherlands and rent in the country of your internship. There are scholarships and certain grants you can apply for; however, there is no guarantee that you receive these.
Being a non-EU student in the Netherlands is a lot trickier than I had anticipated and at times, I wish I had an EU passport! For example, your work hours are limited to 16 hours a week and you need a work visa. This makes finding a job relatively difficult because the employer needs to pay for the visa, and they are not cheap. Through DUO, students can apply for free travel and a grant from the government if they work more than 32 hours a month. I work roughly 50 – 60 hours a month and still do NOT qualify because I do not have an EU passport, or an EU ID. NHL Stenden offers various job opportunities to students such as working on the promo team and completing various tasks that EU students can declare as working hours and get paid for. Non-EU students cannot be paid despite it being the exact same work. Don’t get me wrong, finding a job is not impossible! I was fortunate enough to find a job at the Jumbo grocery store, 200 meters away from my place. My colleagues are amazing. They help teach me Dutch and are always willing to help me when I don’t understand. So as a non-EU student looking for a job, be patient. There is an employer out there willing to help, you just need to find them.

I am a current student at the University of NHL Stenden within the Program of International Teaching for Secondary Schools (ITESS). It is the first of it’s kind – a teaching program focused for International Schools. The course is new and always developing with student input. Having to complete teaching practice every study year sets it apart from other teaching programs. On the one side a lot of experience is gained but on the other you are putting yourself at the Mercy of your mentor teacher and TP School. You pay to work for free for those months and may still have a bad experience. This is not always the case as I had a great experience so far but it’s something to keep in mind, personally and financially. The course is a family; this entails usually studying and living together as Meppel is small and most the student housing is made up from ITE students. The class size is personal, with having classes all together, 20 people or just a small class of 8 – everything occurs. The schedule is always changing which usually means 3 days of class to 2 days off but this is not always possible. I had classes like that but also classes everyday of the week. Overall the course is a good foundation and prepares students at the highest level to work in International Schools. This though means that we are not usually allowed to teach in local systems as we don’t get a Dutch teaching license. If your looking to work internationally for a long time and want to become a teacher then come and join us in Meppel.

I am really happy I chose this University. It was a pure coincidence that I came across this study, which, for a long time, wasn’t my first option. However, when I joined the open days and did my intake interview, I decided this was where I wanted to spend my college years. I’ve just finished my second year at the International Teacher Education for Primary Schools in Meppel. It was a hard adjustment to start a new life alone, but I was surrounded by many supportive teachers and peers. It’s great to see that our teachers actively try to seek what we as students have to say and our feedback and do try to change things accordingly. 
Overall, I would really suggest this University to whomever wants to have a holistic approach to education, where you get a great education with many hands-on projects included and your mental health is also accounted for. 

I’m an ITESS student and, as my programme is relatively new, it is still a work in progress in terms of organisation and content. I chose NHL Stenden and ITESS in particular because it gives students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in countless different countries, thanks to the yearly internships and the semester abroad that are part of the programmes. Unfortunately, after graduating, NHL Stenden does not support students in finding a job, even for those who would like to apply for a Master’s degree that requires one. Moreover, some subjects -I have to be honest- could be removed from the programme or completely revisited, while others, such as Dutch and other languages, could be implemented. Furthermore, peer-learning is overly utilised at the expense of instruction by lecturers, who actually know the topic, and this often makes students perceive classes as useless. What I really appreciated this year was the increased commitment to invite inspiring experts for seminars and workshops, such as the National Geographic educator and the drama workshop related to teacher presence. Overall I am satisfied with my journey at ITESS, but there is surely room for improvement.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend NHL Stenden. The communication is abysmal, assessments seem arbitrary, and teachers are nowhere to be found – students end up teaching themselves without any feedback. Waiting months for portfolio feedback is common, and when you finally receive it, it’s so vague that it’s useless. Asking for help is pointless as you’re left to figure everything out on your own. There’s no communication between teachers, leaving students to fend for themselves without support. Course material is scarcely provided, and the full-time program is crammed into a part-time schedule without any consideration for students with jobs or families. It appears that teachers are only there for the paycheck. My advice: steer clear of this school and opt for an institution where your efforts and energy are truly valued.

NHL Stenden Emmen has the PABO with uninspiring teachers that are supposed to be teaching students how to teach. Teachers gossip to students about other students, and sometimes refuse to provide feedback on assignments (instead of rubrics with information on where you could improve, you will just receive a grade without any information as to why that grade was given). Assignments are unclear, the online environment is a HUGE mess. Internships have to be provided by the school, although they regularly fail to do so. A lot of internship schools complain about the organization as well. The assignments are sometimes like you are back at primary school (who gets EC for claying a shoe-figure, writing in cursive or doing PE-sessions for toddlers?) Along with that, while the teachers all claim we should be mindful of children who have different educational needs, Stenden will do no such thing with their own students. Those who require more clarity are basically told they are out of luck as the ‘old program’ was just designed that way.

If at any point you are thinking, wow. It can’t actually be that bad as they score quite high in the ‘national student survey’. Keep in mind that Stenden teachers actively tell students they HAVE to fill this in positively, and negative feedback should only be given in internal feedback forms. As they claim it looks bad to have a degree from a college that was rated negatively. So if you want to do the PABO, you’re way better off at KPZ in Zwolle.