Becoming teachers again: Migrant teacher’s experiences of inclusion and belonging in Dutch education
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2025-11-06
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en
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This thesis explores how migrant teachers navigate their integration and sense of belonging within Dutch education, and how schools and training programmes shape that journey. Drawing on mixed-methods research – including interviews, surveys, and observations of participants in the Wereldburgers voor de Klas programme – the study reveals that returning to the classroom is not a simple reinstatement of a career, but a profound act of rebuilding meaning and identity. Their stories tell of frustration and perseverance, of finding one’s voice again in a new language and culture. While policy often frames integration as a ‘two-way process,’ in practice it remains largely one-sided: institutions define the terms of inclusion, while teachers shoulder the weight of adaptation. Yet belonging, as the findings show, is not produced by policy or procedure, but through everyday acts of recognition, trust, and dialogue. The thesis argues that genuine integration requires reciprocity – shared responsibility, mentorship, and cultural openness – through which migrant teachers are not merely accommodated but recognised as full professionals. When these conditions are met, belonging ceases to be an endpoint and becomes a living, relational practice that enriches education for everyone involved.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen