What are we actually teaching our students? What is of value, and what really belongs in our subject? These are questions that took center stage during the national vo-day of Economy Education Week. Relevant questions that should and may be asked.
During this national vo-day on Thursday, November 21, teachers of general economics, business economics and entrepreneurship came together at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, the Vaksteunpunt Economie and Tilburg University. An important message resonated at the venues: innovations in education often need to be well-founded, while many existing components have never passed that test.
The day offered teachers valuable exchanges of experiences.In addition, there was plenty of room for practical inspiration during workshops on a variety of topics. How do you make sustainability tangible? How do you work across subjects? And how can you make economics playful and challenging, for example with escape rooms or the Merry Economists?
This mix of depth and practice is what made this day so special. It was not only about what should be in the curriculum, but also about how you can make a difference in the classroom tomorrow already.
Article: In search of another economics lesson
More than 100 inspired economics teachers came together during the vo-day of Economy Education Week. All of them shared great stories about how they enrich their economics education with new economic insights and current social developments. Marloes de Koning (NRC) chronicled four of these stories. A worth reading piece, because as one of the interviewees states, "There are many developments where the method is lagging behind. But who puts the book aside if the exam stays the same? I also have to force myself. Then I take examples from the news'
Read the article here.
Below is a review of the vo-day that took place at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, the VU/UvA Department of Economics and Tilburg University.
Windesheim University of Applied Sciences
In cooperation with the teacher training program of Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen, the Vecon and schools from the region, Hogeschool Windesheim organized a rich afternoon on future-oriented economics education in secondary education. The afternoon started with a plenary opening by Evelien Hoekman on how to plant seeds for a more sustainable view of the world in economics lessons. 'I have never come across the 17 SDGs in a textbook, especially in economics education', said Evelien. 'Why aren't we talking about this? We can't force students to like something, but we can plant seeds. We can train them to make the world a little more beautiful.' She gave suggestions for engaging students in discussion. For example, using current news, with actual assignments or with a quiz. Here you can watch her presentation back.
Afterwards, visitors could choose from as many as nine different workshops in two rounds of workshops. You can find the presentation of some of these workshops below:
- World Square Workshop On cross-curricular projects (geography, history and economics) for vmbo. By Koos Sikkema and Hans Blaauw, Wessel Gansfort college, Groningen.
- Workshop True Pricing On the application of true pricing as a new topic for the 2027 Business Economics Central Exam. By Evert Helfferich, teacher training program at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences.
A more extensive review of the afternoon at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences comes from one of the participants and can be found here reading.
Subject Support Center Economics
The afternoon at the Vaksteunpunt Economie in Amsterdam began with an online lecture by economist Kate Raworth on "Doughnut design for business. Then Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann took the participants into the world of regenerative Economics. In this keynote, she answered the question of how we can redesign economics courses in the direction of human and ecological well-being?
Tilburg University
The afternoon at Tilburg University consisted of three different workshop rounds in which different education professionals showed how they enrich and renew their economics education. With participants, they shared experiences on approaches, challenges and lessons learned. Below is a brief review of the different sessions.
- Financial self-sufficiency
Marleen Spooren shared practical ideas for lessons including materials on investing. How can you assess a company before buying shares in that company? The intention is to make students understand that they should not rely on the finfluencers on social media but should do their own research. The content of the session was linked to the havo and vwo business economics exam curriculum. View her presentation here. - Test and item analyses of economics havo and vwo 2013-2024
Henri van den Hout presented a spreadsheet with statistical information from the 2013-2024 central economics exams (havo and vwo), which gives participants a quick overview of P values and Rir values per item and per task, and the distribution of items across domains, gender and profiles. You can request a copy of the spreadsheet from Henri van den Hout. - Climate conscious behavior
Francine Linssen (Climate Talks Foundation) gave an interactive lecture on improving climate-aware behavior. She talked about behavior change, influence, the social tipping point and footprints. Drawing from the methodology of Klimaatgesprekken, she shared tips for having better conversations about climate change with students and colleagues. - AI revolution in education
Theo Roos looked with participants at opportunities for integrating AI into everyday educational practice. View his presentation here. - Preparing Havo/vwo students for heo continuation courses
In this session, economics teachers (vo) and college economics teachers engaged in a conversation about what they can learn from each other. - Subject renewal in economics and business economics
The Man and Society subject renewal committee started work in September 2024. The request to the committee is to update the examination programs for (among others) economics and business economics in upper secondary education. During this session, participants - leading up to the official advisory moments - were already thinking about the question: what should we keep and what can be dropped?
Economics Olympiad
The three locations concluded together. During this national closing, the preliminary rounds of the Economics Olympiad were completed and the best performing schools were put in the spotlight. The three best performing schools in the preliminary round were The British School of the Netherlands, International School of Amsterdam and Gymnasium Novum. The Carolus Borromeus College and Augustinianum received an honorable mention.
View photos from the vo day of Economy Education Week below.
