About the professor
Didactics is about promoting learning through the systematic actions of teachers in the classroom. Teachers stimulate learning through 'activating interaction'. A teacher does this firstly by asking questions that make learners think and by giving feedback, for example, about the strategy used by the learner. And at the same time by allowing them to think for themselves as much as possible and not giving too many instructions. In this way, the interaction between instructors and learners is conducive to learning. It is therefore about the dialogue between teacher and learner.
Lia Voerman obtained her doctorate at Utrecht University in 2014. Her thesis is called "Teacher feedback in the classroom. Analysing and developing teachers' feedback behaviour in secondary education." It involves research into how you can give feedback to students in such a way that really benefits them. And subsequently, how to teach these didactics to teachers.
She described the knowledge gained during this promotion with Frans Faber in: "Didactic Coaching", published in 2016. In that year the book won the public prize of the NRO-VOR practice award for translating scientific research into practice.
Other activities
- Lia works from her own company on the implementation of Didactic Coaching in schools.
- She also has an appointment as an advisor at Utrecht University.
- She is chair of the Didactic Coaching Foundation.