IPABO University of Applied Sciences introduces first lectureship in Chance Equality in the Netherlands

A Social Justice perspective for teacher education

As of this year, IPABO University of Applied Sciences introduces the first lectureship of Chances Equality in Education in the Netherlands. The lecturer of this special professorship is Dr. Monique Leijgraaf. With this special professorship IPABO wants to structurally draw attention and offer perspectives for action on equity within its own educational system and primary education in North Holland. Leading in the lectureship is the Social Justice approach which is already widely used abroad.

Partly due to the corona pandemic, attention to equality of opportunity in education has increased. But participants in the public debate speak from different points of view about equality of opportunity. Dr Monique Leijgraaf: “Looking for solutions is urgent now that inequality is rising faster than our well-intentioned actions to turn the tide. One danger, however, is that we start believing in “quick fixes” for inequalities without looking at their causes or knowing what we mean by (un)equal opportunities. What is seen as a good solution from one perspective may be seen as part of the problem from another.”

The Social Justice approach

The starting point of the professorship is therefore the structural Social Justice approach: the recognition that unequal power relations and social inequalities exist within society and therefore also between those involved in education. This approach is concerned with the fact that (educational) education can both maintain and actively combat structural inequalities. With the research group ‘Equal Opportunities’ IPABO University of Applied Sciences aims to focus on the question of how teachers and educators can increase their awareness and scope for action with regard to equal opportunities.

Little attention in the Netherlands

Abroad there has been a lot of attention for the Social Justice approach for quite some time. In America, promoting Social Justice in teacher education is explicitly seen as a task of teacher educators. In Scotland, Social Justice is the first mentioned professional core value within professional standards for teachers. In the competence requirements for the Dutch teacher of primary education and the Dutch professional standard for teacher educators this is not the case. Partly for this reason, there is little expertise in this area among Dutch educators and teachers. Themes such as inequality, power relations and general stereotyping receive little attention here. Leijgraaf: “With the professorship we want to contribute to raising awareness of inequality and thereby promote real change in education.”