International Teacher Education for Primary Schools (ITEPS)

The ITEPS degree at NHL Stenden teaches you how to think and work in a multicultural environment and from a cross-cultural perspective. You will become a creative professional able to teach in privately funded international primary schools or in another position in the field of international education.
The programme offers a diverse range of subjects and has a strong practical focus. You will gain extensive experience teaching at international primary schools in the Netherlands and abroad. There you will work on developing educational, pedagogical and teaching skills in the context of a multicultural classroom.
With our teacher training degree, International Teacher Education for Primary Schools you get to explore the field of education and combine it with your passion for different cultures and countries. You'll become part of a vibrant, international community in a small-town setting with opportunities that can take you across the globe.
ITEPS has a strong practical focus and enables you to gain extensive teaching experience at international primary 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.
Specialisations
You can take these minors on the Meppel campus or at one of the NHL Stenden Grand Tour locations in South Africa, Bali or Thailand. You can also choose from minors offered by other courses and universities of applied sciences – this is all part of broadening your academic skills.
- Arts and Culture(Meppel, the Netherlands). Give practical meaning to art & culture lessons and activities with this minor. You develop your own art & culture skills as well as your pedagogical skills and your understanding of why the arts are important in child development.
- Inclusive Education (Meppel, the Netherlands). With this minor, you learn about the history of special education and inclusive education in different countries, and gain experience in planning and implementing education that fosters inclusion and accounts for different learning needs.
- Intercultural Understanding and Religion(Meppel, the Netherlands). Offering a combination of theories on religion and philosophical approaches, this minor helps you to not only analyse current problems and events, but also understand the role intercultural understanding and religion plays in our globalised world.
- Science & Technology (Meppel, the Netherlands). The minor in Science & Technology provides a basis for planning and developing science teaching in an international primary environment. You'll be able to explain phenomena scientifically and make links to the world around us.
- Education in South Africa(South Africa). This minor gives you exposure to a different cultural environment in which teachers are operating, helping you to develop your people skills, and giving you a firmer knowledge of others.
All prospective ITEPS students need to go through the admissions procedure, which means you:
- Send us your CV and a motivation letter (up to 1 A4 page of text) describing your background, explaining why you want to become a teacher at an international primary school, and outlining your expectations of the programme
- Fill in a questionnaire and complete the online diagnostic mathematics test
- Take part in an assessment, including an intake interview. Students living abroad and/or more than 300 km away from the NHL Stenden campus may opt to do the assessment online
- Apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG)
Careers open to you after graduation include:
- International Primary School Teacher
- Educational Assistant
- Special Education Teacher
- Principal or Deputy Principal