International Teacher Education for Secondary Schools (ITESS)

What International Teacher Education for Secondary Schools offers

ITESS is a unique, four-year programme aimed specifically at international secondary education. The strong practical focus enables you to gain extensive teaching experience at international secondary schools in the Netherlands and abroad. You will develop your educational, pedagogical and teaching skills at a pace that suits you and in a way that enables you to demonstrate your personal skills and potential. This teaching degree has a holistic approach so students learn to integrate the academic, social, emotional and ethical needs of their pupils into their lessons. The programme offers five main subject fields, namely Mathematics, Science, English, Social Studies: History, and Social Studies: Geography. 

Outside the classroom, ITESS offers an international, open-minded community to students and staff, with students taking an active role in organising extracurricular activities. From book clubs and pub quizzes, to a football team and mindfulness club, the activities give the students a sense of belonging.  

International Teacher Education in practice   

You work on assignments covering real-life challenges from the classroom in each year of the course, collaborating in small groups and drawing on the skills and experience of lecturers and professionals in the field. You could be designing lessons, integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals into learning, or developing lessons to maximise student participation. This method of working (Design-Based Education) means you learn to draw on feedback to adapt your ideas and become more flexible, while also developing your teamwork and leadership skills. It means you get hands-on experience of what it’s like to research and understand a problem or situation, develop solutions based on educational insights and revise your ideas and prototypes through testing and feedback.

Gain international experience  

Studying International Teacher Education for Secondary Schools at NHL Stenden means combining intercultural skills, didactics, developmental psychology and world citizenship. You spend part of your degree doing teaching practice in an international secondary school that is part of NHL Stenden's global network. And you get the chance to study abroad by taking a minor subject at the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences Grand Tour location in South Africa or go on an exchange to a partner institution and delve into a totally new way of studying. With over 100 different minors on offer through NHL Stenden and held at locations all over the world, you're sure to find the perfect specialisation, whether it's Inclusive Education, Social Studies or Education in South Africa.  

Shorter programmes abroad are offered through RUN-EU, giving you the chance to delve into a subject for a short period of time working with students from different disciplines and different countries. 

The reasons to study at NHL Stenden 

The things that make a difference in the world often start as ideas from people daring to question what others assume. At NHL Stenden, you work in mixed groups so you can use each other's perspectives to unravel unobvious choices. Through real-life projects you learn by doing and this, combined with your internship, truly gives you a head start on your career. With our international opportunities and study environment, you develop a global network while the extracurricular activities you can pick up mean you develop talents that help you explore beyond your studies. While this is all great for your future, we know you also need to focus on your time as a student. Which is why we aim to make NHL Stenden your home away from home, a community where you’re known by your name, so you can be the person you truly are. For us, that makes you original. And it makes NHL Stenden, home of the originals.