Proud to be tvmbo - Kortlopend Onderwijsonderzoek

stream. Others choose the school because it has a bilingual vmbo. Still other teachers
say that students do not choose tvmbo: at two of the partner schools, all of the vmbo is
a bilingual vmbo, working with projects. At another school, classes needed to be filled,
so those with high English marks were also put into tvmbo classes to complete them.
Another reason to choose tvmbo is parental pressure or a suggestion from the primary
school teacher, or the fact that students realise that their parents use English in their
jobs. A smaller number of students, according to the teachers, want to be different and
to stand out. Some also see tvmbo as a challenge. Some students were convinced by
the open days at the tvmbo schools. Teachers believe that some parents encourage
their sons and daughters to join the bilingual stream and the coordinators also believed
that the open day and marketing had an influence on student choice.
Students’ opinions about the choice of tvmbo are different. One main reason mentioned
was that students choose tvmbo for the future – for job prospects (e.g. professional
footballer!). Another reason to choose tvmbo is that they want to study a future
course in higher vocational education which is in English, or because they want to
communicate with their peers on holiday. Yet other students are interested in an internationally-recognised
certificate (e.g. Anglia) and in trips abroad and exchanges.
One coordinator mentioned that tvmbo students are clearly very much more motivated
than regular vmbo students. For example, fifteen out of the seventeen students in one
class helped during the open day, even on a Saturday. All of the tmavo students came
on a trip to an English pantomime. The coordinator compared this anecdotally with the
regular vmbo students who were apparently not so motivated to participate in their free
time.
5.2.5 Teachers’ English / affective side
A question asked in the interviews with the teachers was How does your own level of
English affect your teaching? There seem to be two main responses to this question:
some teachers are happy with their level of English, despite it not being perfect; and
others are concerned that their English disturbs their relationship with the students.
The first group talks about their English being no problem, even though they feel that
their level is not good enough. One said, “It doesn’t affect my relationship with the
children,” despite him feeling that it was more difficult to teach in English. Teachers in
this group also say that having to design lessons in English makes them more creative
and that they feel that their own English is improving. They mention that the pace is
slower in the bilingual classroom than in the ‘normal’ vmbo classes. The most enthu-
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