The Excellence and Innovation in Education (LEIE) research group has a new name. From now on, the research group led by Professor Patrick van Schaik and coordinator Hilde Kooiker will be known as ‘Learning and Developing Together’.
“We were due for a fresh start,” says Patrick. “The old name hadn’t really covered what we do for quite some time.” He started as an ‘education professor’ at HZ over five years ago. His research group and its name already existed at the time. He wanted to move away from the English name anyway, not least because the researchers’ main area of work is Zeeland. “I wasn’t particularly keen on the word ‘excellence’ either, because it actually clashes with what we do. Take the example of a school calling itself ‘excellent’ – that implies that schools in the surrounding area are performing less well. We want to play a unifying role in education in Zeeland and believe we have a shared responsibility for this.”
Learning culture
Furthermore, the old name no longer reflected the work being carried out. The research group continues to collaborate on educational quality in the region, paying particular attention to a learning culture within (educational) organisations, the key role that (school) leaders play in this, and the connection with the wider community.