The Department of Teacher Education of the University of Groningen is looking for a temporal postdoctoral researcher to investigate interventions/initiatives that enhance preservice teachers’ well-being and resilience (18 months for 0.8 FTE).
We are looking for a recent PhD researcher in the Educational sciences, Psychology or related sciences with affinity for and experience with the topic of well-being and resilience focused on (prospective) teachers.
The postdoc will work at the Department of Teacher Education in a project within NRO program ‘Collaborative Research on National Program Education Themes MBO-HO (https://www.nro.nl/(…)erwijs-themas-mbo-ho). The project is titled ‘Preservice teachers’ well-being and resilience’.
Resilience and well-being are important for teachers in general and for future teachers in particular because of the increasing teacher shortage. However, how do you ensure greater well-being and resilience already during training? As part of the NPO funds, teacher education programs have developed several initiatives to promote well-being and resilience. Starting from this background, this project has the following aims: a) to map out the NPO initiatives, b) to identify effective components, and c) to identify the future needs of students and teacher educators with regard to strengthening resilience and well-being.
The research consists of both desk research (document analysis) and fieldwork (interviews, focus groups and/or questionnaires) and will take place with students, teachers and policy experts from HBO and WO teacher training programmes. The initiatives and the effective components will be described from different perspectives: theoretical (self-determination and sources/strategies of resilience), policy-related (from documents and policy experts), and practical (teacher educators and preservice teachers).
The postdoc will work closely with the research team and consortium members during the project and will be co-responsible for conducting the research, knowledge dissemination, and for supervising the junior researcher.
Qualifications
We are looking for a passionate early-career scholar with a PhD in the Educational Sciences, Teacher Education or Psychology (or a closely related discipline), who has a strong research record, and who is interested in the topics of well-being and resilience in teacher education. We are looking for candidates who meet the following requirements:
• affinity and experience with the target groups in this project
• affinity/experience with scientific research on well-being and resilience
• excellent communication, planning and organizational skills
• ability to work independently and function well in a team
• preferably experience with developing and/or evaluating interventions
• good verbal and written skills in Dutch and English
• demonstrable capacities in the following competences: conceptual ability, environment orientation, presenting and result orientation.
Organisation
The University of Groningen ranks among the top European research universities and is internationally oriented. The university is socially active and feels involved with its environment. In a wide range of fields, researchers and teachers practice their profession with scientific passion. Everyone is enabled to get the best out of themselves. Talent, ambition and performance of the 36,000 students and 7,500 staff are recognized as much as possible.
The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences is a center of knowledge focusing on individuals and society. The faculty studies issues relating to human behaviour, and the relationships between people and society. This includes the study of how people function under normal circumstances, and of the problems encountered by individuals or groups, and how these can be resolved or prevented. Approximately 650 staff members work at the faculty.
The Department of Teacher Education is part of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences and educates students to become Grade 1 level (master’s) and Grade 2 level (minor) teachers in secondary education; conducts research, and supports teachers in the region in ongoing professional development. The curriculum and professional development courses are empirically driven, practical in nature, with strong curricular and pedagogical components. The research program helps enhance the quality of the teacher education programme and contributes to an understanding of teacher learning in secondary and higher education (at the national and international level). This includes research on interventions and implementation strategies as well as on the organization of student learning.
Conditions of employment
We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:
• a salary of € 2,960 to a maximum of € 4,670 (salary scale 10) gross per month for a full-time position
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end bonus on the annual gross income
• attractive secondary and market terms of employment
• a temporary position of 0.8 FTE for a period of 1.5 years.
Intended starting date: as soon as possible
Application
Applicants are requested to submit a motivation letter stating your motivation to apply for the position and your key qualities relevant for this position.
You may apply for this position until the 5 September 11:59pm / before 6 September 2022 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on “Apply” below on the advertisement on the university website).
Interviews for the first round will be held on September 14, 15 or 16. Candidates who are invited to these will be notified no later than September 10.
The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/(…)rsity-and-inclusion/
Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/sollicitatiecode/ and European Commission’s European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code
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Information
For information you can contact:
- Dr Marjon Fokkens-Bruinsma (na 24 augustus), marjon.bruinsma@rug.nl
Please do not use the e-mail address(es) above for applications.