{"id":3316,"date":"2026-08-11T15:44:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T13:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/?post_type=verhalen_vlogs&p=3316"},"modified":"2026-08-19T14:57:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T12:57:01","slug":"from-gym-to-computer-suite-i-just-want-to-stay-a-teacher","status":"publish","type":"verhalen_vlogs","link":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/verhalen-vlogs\/van-gymzaal-naar-computerlokaal-ik-wil-gewoon-docent-blijven\/","title":{"rendered":"From gym to computer suite. \u2018I just want to remain a teacher.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Idse Bruil had to choose a course of study after secondary school, he initially envisioned a career in the armed forces. That plan did not last. \u2018I used to want to join the army, and because I wanted to become a non-commissioned officer, I also did havo after vmbo. But along the way I realised that I didn't want to hurt people at all or work with weapons. Sport had always been my big hobby, so choosing the ALO was actually a very logical one.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He graduated from the Academy for Physical Education \u2013 with some delay due to knee injuries \u2013 and entered the job market right in the middle of the COVID-19 period. Because of the pandemic and \u2013 at the time \u2013 a surplus of sports teachers, it took a while before he found a permanent job. \u2018After three years of temporary contracts, I found a permanent job. By now I've been happily working at the Jan Arentsz for another three years.\u2019 He gets that enjoyment partly from contact with pupils. \u2018I live and work in Alkmaar, so I regularly run into pupils. Then you suddenly hear in the middle of the shopping street: \u201cHey Mr Bruil!\u201d I like that. Pupils can sometimes surprise you with the most diverse stories. And I find it special to see how quickly they pick up new things, both in the gym and in my computer room. That gives me energy every single day.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing to do what he loves most best
<\/strong>After a few years, Idse notices that teaching in the gymnasium is demanding more and more of his hearing. Hearing damage in his right ear, caused by a fireworks accident in his youth, is flaring up more and more often. \u2019Because of the noise in the gymnasium, my hearing loss got worse. Hearing protection seemed like a logical solution, but that actually made it harder for me to hear my pupils. That obviously doesn't work when you're teaching.\u2019 However, leaving education has never been a serious option. \u2018I didn't want to stop teaching at all. Instead, I started thinking about a different subject and that actually wasn't such a difficult choice. I've always been interested in computers, technology and AI. Computing therefore felt like a very logical step.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bumpy route
<\/strong>The first step towards becoming a qualified computer science teacher is an online course. \u2018I\u2019d received a budget for that from my employer. Unfortunately, that course wasn\u2019t very well organised \u2013 for example, I had to wait two months for a textbook \u2013 and partly because of that, I realised that online learning isn\u2019t really my thing. But I did discover that I found the content incredibly interesting. That\u2019s when I knew for sure that I wanted to pursue this further.\u2019 Through the Inf4All programme, he then followed a preparatory track for career switchers. For a year, he travelled to the training every Friday and also spent virtually all his evenings and weekends studying. \u2019It was a real slog of a year. I gave up a lot of other things for it. That\u2019s why it was so disappointing that I couldn't progress straight on to the UvA career-switcher track.\u2019 The reason turned out to be formal in nature. Because Idse only holds a bachelor\u2019s degree from a university of applied sciences (HBO) and has not completed a master\u2019s degree, he doesn't meet the admission requirements for the university course. This was extra galling because a colleague had previously successfully completed almost the exact same track. \u2018But in the meantime, the rules had changed. What\u2019s more, every situation is different, so it sometimes takes a while before you know where you stand.\u2019 Idse understands that universities need to be thorough. \u2018These are personal pathways and certain requirements simply apply.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally underway
<\/strong>After a year in which his plans seem to be on hold, Bruil tries his luck at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. There he gets the green light. \u2019I\u2019m really looking forward to it. After the summer I\u2019ll be going to Amsterdam one day a week and continuing to work four days alongside that. It\u2019s going to be a busy period, although I honestly think the preparation was harder than the Master\u2019s itself.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Jan Arentsz, he now teaches information science in the lower years and computer science in the upper years. With his Master's degree, he will soon also obtain his Category 1 teaching qualification. \u2018It might sound strange, but at its core, not all that much really changes. I remain a teacher. The gymnasium has made way for the computer room, but ultimately it's still about the same thing: helping pupils grow.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What has always fascinated me is how the right guidance can enable pupils to rise above themselves. In the gymnasium, I used to see pupils who, at the start of the lesson, would make a vault with hesitation and by the end would dare to do a handspring over the vaulting box. That experience of success visibly gave them self-confidence. I now see the exact same thing in computing. With the right motivation and tools, pupils can make huge strides in a short space of time. Sometimes they come back a week later with a project that you wouldn't have expected them to be able to make beforehand. It is precisely those moments that make teaching so wonderful to me.\u2019<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Idse Bruil had to choose a course of study after secondary school, he initially envisioned a career in the armed forces. That plan did not last. \u2018I used to want to go into the army, and because I wanted to become a non-commissioned officer, I also did the havo after vmbo. But gradually I realised that I didn't want to people at all... Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3317,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[8],"class_list":["post-3316","verhalen_vlogs","type-verhalen_vlogs","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verhalen_vlogs\/3316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verhalen_vlogs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/verhalen_vlogs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verhalen_vlogs\/3316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3318,"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verhalen_vlogs\/3316\/revisions\/3318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onderwijsregiohollandsnoorden.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}