‘My advice for people considering the switch? Walk with us for a day.’
After havo, Pjotr Bestenbreur was done with going to school full-time. Partly inspired by his experience in the professional kitchen, he opted for a BBL training programme to become a chef. ‘Because I wanted to keep developing and have always been a tinkerer, I started working as an electrician with my father in yacht building six years later. Of course, I did the necessary training here too and got my welding qualifications, among other things. I learnt an incredible amount during this 11-year tenure, both in school and in practice. When I had pretty much absorbed all the expert knowledge and judged that I was still young enough for retraining, I started looking around me again.’
‘Since my wife is a teacher, I decided to explore my opportunities in teaching. I went to an open day for future history teachers, but that field is still too far from my expertise in my opinion. So I came up with the idea of looking closer. I already had a workshop myself, occasionally gave my friends an insight into various techniques, so why not spread that knowledge further? And so it happened. I started my training after the summer of 2022 at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and started in parallel as an intern. A choice that to this day makes me happy and gives me tons of energy.’
‘At the HvA, I mainly learn a lot about how to convey the subject matter in the best possible way, which is nice, because in terms of subject matter I am on the right level. I teach first and second grades and of course there are pupils who have a far-reaching interest in engineering, but there are also children who already know that they don't want to continue in that field. Both types of pupils deserve good guidance and I can offer them this because of the room for differentiation. As far as guidance is concerned, I have hit the mark myself. Thanks to the intensive cooperation between the HvA and Pontis I get all the help I need during the intervision moments. I am extremely happy about that, because working and studying is an intense combination that takes up a lot of time. My advice for people considering the switch? Join us for a day. It has convinced me to take the step!’