PhD Purpose of schooling and its meaning for the teaching profession

at  Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

The Department of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences (GION) and the Department of Teacher Education jointly seek a Ph.D. candidate for a research project that focuses on the multiple enactments of the purpose of schooling in today’s Dutch society and the implications these have for the teaching profession and its future.
Until the late 20th century, the “Western school” was characterized by clear roles for teachers and students in line with the institutional program of nations. However, several educational sociologists argue that this system has eroded over the past 20 years, and the contemporary school has lost its normative references and can be characterized in many contexts as being in a permanent state of crisis. Schools as institutions are struggling not only to fulfill their fundamental mission, but also to define it.
This interdisciplinary project aims to combine the fields of sociology, educational philosophy, and educational sciences to shed light on the complex enactments of the purpose of schooling and the implications this has for society and the teaching profession - as teachers are at the core of schooling.
The project will integrate multiple analytical perspectives (both qualitative and quantitative data collection) and involve collaborating with Dutch schools and educators. Within the research topic, the Ph.D. candidate will be able to emphasize their own interests in their research design, in close collaboration with the supervisory team. The Ph.D. candidate will become a member of the research school ICO (http://www.ico-education.nl/).
The project will be supervised by Prof. Hanke Korpershoek, Dr. Thibault Coppe, and Dr. Irene Poort.

The tasks of the PhD candidate are:

• conduct research that results in a dissertation and is in line with the objectives and requirements of the project
• organize and execute the data collection for the different studies
• publish the results of the research in international scientific journals
• present the research findings to fellow scientists, teachers and other stakeholders, and collaborate with them
• contribute to teaching and other educational activities at the Department of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, such as tutoring and guest lectures, in agreement with the supervisors.

Organisation
The University of Groningen is a research university with a global outlook, deeply rooted in Groningen, City of Talent. Quality has had top priority for four hundred years, and with success: the University is currently in or around the top 100 on several influential ranking lists.
The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences excels in teaching and research in the fields of human behaviour, thinking, learning, and how people live together. We work on societal issues and problems that people experience in daily life. Central to this is individual and societal resilience and how to increase this. To this end, we focus on the topics of migration, the environment and climate, health, upbringing and education, the protection of vulnerable minorities, and sustainable partnerships. The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences employs over 650 staff members. For more information about the Faculty please check the link https://www.rug.nl/gmw/.
The Nieuwenhuis Institute for Educational Research encompasses all research of the Department of Pedagogical & Educational Sciences and the Department of Teacher Education. Researchers within the Nieuwenhuis Institute study a wide variety of subjects within pedagogical and educational sciences. The PhD student will specifically collaborate with GION as well as the Department of Teacher Education. GION contributes to better education by conducting academic research. Its goal is to expand the body of knowledge about education and to improve educational practice. The Department of Teacher Education trains teachers for secondary education and has a long tradition of research into educational effectiveness: what really works in the classroom and in training teachers?

QUALIFICATIONS

For this position you are expected to

• have a (research) master’s degree in Educational Sciences or a related Social Science discipline with experience in educational research
• have experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods
• be enthusiastic about scientific research, and writing international publications and a dissertation
• have good verbal and writing skills in English and Dutch (equivalent of level C1)
• have good social and communication skills and be willing to collaborate with other team members
• be enthusiastic about translating scientific insights into practical guidelines and recommendations for educational policy and practice
• have good organizational skills and the motivation to organize and realize data collection
• have demonstrable competences as conceptual thinking, presenting, planning and organizing and monitoring.

• conduct research that results in a dissertation and is in line with the objectives and requirements of the project
• organize and execute the data collection for the different studies
• publish the results of the research in international scientific journals
• present the research findings to fellow scientists, teachers and other stakeholders, and collaborate with them
• contribute to teaching and other educational activities at the Department of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, such as tutoring and guest lectures, in agreement with the supervisors