Two years ago Bart Steenman started in education as a lateral entrant. He has now logged quite a few flying hours in front of the class and looks back on recent times with satisfaction. ‘I like teaching very much,’ he says. ‘I have a great job and the combination of studying and being in front of the classroom works fine for me. I also get the opportunity to study at school, which of course helps enormously to combine this route with my family with three young children. Of course, sometimes I also study on a Friday evening or a Saturday morning, but that's part of the job.’
Bart is studying at the HvA. His route -teaching mathematics- takes the full four years, partly because his previous higher education -Sport, Management and Entrepreneurship- is not a match for his current course. ‘That would have been different if I had wanted to teach economics, then I could have counted on exemptions. Incidentally, I do get those for the compulsory minor, because I have already completed it, of course. It gives me space to work ahead so that I have a bit more air in year four.’
From day one at Regius College, Bart was treated as a teacher in his own right. ‘I was in front of the class in no time and was fully assimilated into the school culture and ethos. Do students see me as a trainee? Absolutely not. The fact that my workplace supervisor is occasionally present in class is also not perceived as strange. It happens so often that a second teacher briefly watches. For the students, that's quite normal.’Bart is very positive about his lateral entry course, but also acknowledges that it sometimes demands quite a lot from him. ‘You really have to set your priorities. In the first two years, I stopped playing indoor football to combine everything properly. Working four days, going to school one day and also studying is no mean feat. So fortunately I can regularly use a gap hour, but planning is essential.”
Bart finds studying himself challenging, mainly because of the nature of his studies. ‘Mathematics is a special kind of sport. In history or Dutch there is sometimes some room for your own interpretation, in maths everything just has to be right. That mainly means a lot of practice. I do piles of homework and the level is higher than what you teach, so it is quite intensive.’ With a year and a half to go, Bart looks ahead positively. ‘The first two years went fine. I notice that in this third year I am plodding a bit more, but I also know I will make it. I will finish the maths subjects after these six months and then I will focus on the professional assignments for teaching methodology and pedagogy. On to the finish line!’