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Where in the World is Kagan

Kagan Training Throughout the Netherlands

Carola Riemens and Jill Headon

In the heart of Europe, Kagan is thriving in the Netherlands. Established in 1999, our partnership with RPCZ/Bazalt is the oldest of the Kagan franchises. Kagan is spreading like wildfire throughout the country, and has even reached Dutch schools in Singapore!

It all started with a collaboration between Dr. Spencer Kagan and Dr. Dook Kopmels to bring Cooperative Learning and Multiple Intelligences to the Dutch schools. Dr. Kopmels was the Director of RPCZ/Bazalt, an organization for professional development and publishing in the Netherlands. Over the past eleven years, a true friendship and flourishing partnership has grown between the directors and trainers of Kagan and RPCZ/Bazalt. Each year the Dutch trainers attend the Kagan Summer Academy in Orlando, FL for training updates and to discuss new developments. And the Kagan trainers travel annually to the Netherlands for conferences with the Dutch trainers.

Last October, Dr. Kagan was privileged to spend a week in the Netherlands. The week was packed with press interviews, Keynote power lunches, master class workshops, the launch of the Dutch version of the new Kagan Cooperative Learning book, and updating the trainers at the Annual Kagan Trainers Conference in the Netherlands. What a success! Dr. Kagan was very impressed with the Dutch trainers and, more importantly, how they have been able to transform teaching in their country and across the globe. Students and teachers alike are reaping the benefits of Kagan Structures.

"My favorite structure is Find Someone Who…, because I can learn about my classmate's personality and what their favorite things are." – Selina Mae, 4th grade student

"Cooperative learning provides me with a powerful tool to let my pupils learn in pairs and teams in a safe and structured environment." – Frederiek, Kindergarten teacher

RPCZ/Bazalt works together in a network of several partner organizations to bring the Kagan Structures to schools throughout the Netherlands. They now have 120 trainers, and so far, they have trained over 120,000 participants. They train several Kagan courses including Cooperative Learning, Multiple Intelligences, Win-Win Discipline, and Classbuilding and Teambuiling. After the trainings, they go into schools to do "MomentCoaching," where teachers receive coaching in their own classroom, in the moment. Administrators and teachers have been thrilled about the impact the trainings have had. A few of the reported outcomes include:

• Students achieve a higher level of thinking through cooperative interaction with their peers.
  
• Learning climate in classrooms, and entire schools, is energized and positive.
  
• All students actively participate in the learning process.
  
• Students naturally acquire social skills, since they are an integral part of the structures.
  
• Students learn to appreciate each other's strengths and backgrounds creating a climate of mutual acceptance.
  
• Students take great pleasure in learning.
  
• Teachers thoroughly enjoy facilitating student's learning process.

The Netherlands trainers aren't stopping! They are now busy developing a one day Accelerating Achievement course. It is their goal to inspire schools and teachers, and teach them to use the Kagan Structures in their education. They have even reached out to Dutch Schools in Singapore. Almost every year, one of the Dutch trainers goes to the Hollandse School Limited in Singapore to train and coach teachers. Now the Singapore teachers are equipped with tools and have experience with cooperative classroom management and using structures in their International Primary Curriculum.

Here is what the Hollandse School says about Kagan: Kagan Cooperative Learning is fully implemented in our curriculum. Through offering cooperative learning, in which students develop higher level thinking, communication and social skills, we seek to prepare our children for a fast changing world. Most importantly, Kagan Cooperative Learning facilitates our curriculum in providing cooperative classroom management techniques that help our teachers to build structure in their classrooms. Our children benefit from this upon returning to the Netherlands and in moving on to other countries. In HSL, we are confident that cooperative learning works! -Liane Bom, Coordinator, Structural Cooperative Learning (SCL)

Along with their professional development counterpart, the publishing side of RPCZ/Bazalt is working hard to provide quality books and materials to Dutch teachers. In addition to the translation of the new Kagan Cooperative Learning book, RPCZ/Bazalt has translated seven books into Dutch including Win-Win Discipline, Multiple Intelligences, Silly Sports & Goofy Games, Classbuilding, Teambuilding and Cooperative Meetings. They have also developed another 10 books in Dutch using Kagan Structures and methods to deliver specific topics such as Math, Languages, classroom management, and social skills. They have translated 25 SmartCards, several structure posters, spinners, TimerTools and Student Selectors. Their wide array of products has greatly enhanced their trainings as well as teacher implementation of cooperative learning in the classroom.

We are all excited about the continued cooperation between Kagan and RPCZ/Bazalt. Kagan Netherlands has excelled and mapped a very exciting future: They are well on their way to establishing Kagan Structures in all Dutch schools and classrooms!