WILLEMSTAD - This week, all teachers in secondary education, including VSBO, SBO, HAVO, and VWO, will undergo professionalization as part of the Improvement Program for Education Curaçao 2023/2028.
Throughout this week, various workshops will be offered on key educational areas such as language didactics, Story Circle focusing on diversity competencies, mathematics didactics, classroom management, and more.
The sessions will be presented by a total of seven teachers from Fontys University of Applied Sciences. The opening lecture will be delivered by Dr. Kennedy Tielman, a professional in multiculturalism in education in the Netherlands and America.
Tielman, born in Curaçao and moved to the Netherlands at the age of 18 for his studies, has worked as a chemistry teacher in secondary education and after obtaining his PhD in chemistry, he became a teacher at Fontys University of Applied Sciences.
In his role, he has visited many European countries, including Portugal, Poland, Morocco, Turkey, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, and Spain, to collaborate with other universities that train teachers. He is also involved in a three-year professionalization program in Mozambique, Africa.
Tielman holds a doctorate in education and is considered one of the experts in the Netherlands in the field of education for multicultural groups. One of his scientific articles won an award in 2021 for the most downloaded article from an international journal.
His scholarly work is used in legislation by the Dutch House of Representatives in The Hague regarding diversity in education. He is also regularly consulted by the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science for advice on educational issues.
Currently, he gives presentations at various organizations throughout the Netherlands and was recently appointed as a researcher at the prestigious New York University, conducting scientific research for the United States.