by Nynke Kruiderink, Npuls, The Netherlands.
In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, empowering educational professionals is essential to fostering innovation and improving teaching quality. This is the driving force behind Npuls, a Dutch program designed to modernise and digitalise education across all sectors. Within this initiative, Centres for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) play a pivotal role, offering educational professionals resources, expertise, and networks to transform their teaching practices. Although rooted in the Netherlands, the principles guiding this initiative provide valuable insights for educational professionals worldwide.
What are Centres for Teaching and Learning (CTLs)?
Centres for Teaching and Learning serve as hubs of educational innovation, professional development, and knowledge sharing. They are designed to empower educational professionals with tools, research, and collaborative spaces to refine their teaching methods. CTLs bridge the gap between educational theory and practice, driving innovation by fostering collaboration among educational professionals, researchers, and technologists.
An evidence-informed approach underpins the development of CTLs within Npuls. Research into educational innovation is actively encouraged, with the CTLs serving as both practitioners of innovation and contributors to the broader body of knowledge. This dual role ensures that CTLs are not only responsive to immediate institutional needs but also contribute to long-term advancements in education.
The Npuls CTL Framework
The Npuls program has established a clear framework for CTLs, centered around five objectives:
1. Professional development – Supporting educational professionals in continuously enhancing their skills.
2. Knowledge sharing – Creating spaces where best practices and research insights are widely accessible.
3. Educational innovation – Driving experimentation and implementation of new teaching methodologies.
4. Support – Offering structured guidance for educational professionals, including technological and pedagogical expertise.
5. Research – Encouraging scholarly inquiry into educational practices and innovations.
Research and experience have shown that a CTL must align with the unique context of its institution. Using models developed by Dr. Andrea Kottmann, Npuls advocates for CTLs that combine top-down alignment with institutional goals and bottom-up ownership within the organisation. This approach ensures that CTLs are relevant and impactful, fostering both institutional buy-in and grassroots engagement.
The Npuls subsidy programme
To achieve its ambitious goals, Npuls has launched a subsidy program available to all 107 tertiary educational institutions in the Netherlands. The funding, ranging from €250,000 to €500,000 per institution, supports the establishment or enhancement of CTLs. Importantly, participation in this programme includes joining a national knowledge infrastructure, a collaborative network designed to promote cross-sector learning and the dissemination of best practices.
Institutions participating in the programme are encouraged to adapt the CTL framework to their specific needs while contributing insights back to the national community. This reciprocal relationship strengthens the overall ecosystem for educational innovation in the Netherlands.
Impact and future directions
Npuls envisions that by 2030, every Dutch tertiary institution will host a CTL that is deeply integrated into its organisational structure and connected to the national knowledge infrastructure. This vision reflects a commitment to fostering innovation, not just in individual institutions but across the entire educational sector.
Conclusion
For CTLs, Npuls offers an evidence-informed, context-sensitive framework for empowering educational professionals and driving innovation. By combining local relevance with national collaboration, it creates a robust model for other countries or institutions to consider.
For educational professionals interested in fostering similar initiatives, the Npuls CTL framework demonstrates how thoughtful alignment of institutional goals and grassroots ownership can lead to meaningful change. Whether you are looking to establish your own CTL or collaborate internationally, the insights from Npuls provide a valuable starting point.
Interested in more information? then contact the Npuls team: CTL@npuls.nl.
Author
Ms. Nynke Kruiderink, MSc, Projectleader Centers for Teaching & Learning, @Npuls, The Netherlands
