Jef Verhoeven | KU Leuven (original) (raw)

Papers by Jef Verhoeven

International Journal of African Higher Education, 2023

In the wake of the Bologna Process, West Africa implemented the 'Licence, Maîtrise, Doctorat' (LM... more In the wake of the Bologna Process, West Africa implemented the 'Licence, Maîtrise, Doctorat' (LMD) system. What views of LMD are held by West African scholars who studied the stakeholders of this process? This article analyses the relevant literature available on Google Scholar and Web of Science from a perspective of policy borrowing or appropriation. The analysis shows that all the authors report the transition to the formal LMD structure, but that not all expectations of this process (e.g., improvements in teaching or management) have been realised. Further research is suggested, including a longitudinal study involving different countries and universities to obtain a clearer picture of the level of adaptation/adoption and outcomes of LMD in West Africa.

Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 2009

Schools are increasingly expected to take responsibility for aspects of educational quality assur... more Schools are increasingly expected to take responsibility for aspects of educational quality assurance. The fact that the Flemish government requires its schools to conduct self-evaluations of their equal opportunities policies is an example of this. This article reports on the findings of a study that investigated the quality of these school self-evaluations and the impact of key factors of policy effectiveness on quality aspects of these self-evaluations. The headteachers of a representative sample of schools ( N = 580) that pursue equal opportunities for all pupils were questioned by means of a written survey. The results indicate that most headteachers take the view that their school performed well on the quality aspects of the school self-evaluation. However, there are considerable differences between schools. School scores with regard to the quality indicators of school self-evaluations show a correlation with aspects of schools’ policy-making capacities. On this basis, the con...

Onderzoeksverslag van de Afdeling …, 2001

Computers & Education, 2010

The passage from secondary school to university puts students in an environment with different ex... more The passage from secondary school to university puts students in an environment with different expectations. Not only the expectations towards learning might change, but also towards ICT competences and computer use. The purpose of this article is to find out whether freshmen, after 6months at the university, changed their self-perception of ICT competences and computer use in comparison with their

Higher Education Research & Development, Oct 26, 2022

The Bologna Process (BP) was used as an instrument to construct a European Higher Education Area ... more The Bologna Process (BP) was used as an instrument to construct a European Higher Education Area that would be competitive in the world and to attract foreign students and academics to Europe. For a country such as Australia, this higher education innovation process constituted a possible challenge, especially since Australian HE is a marketized system relying on the influx of overseas students. The BP was, therefore, topic of a discussion spurred on by the Australian government. In this article, the results are presented of a literature review of Australian scholarly papers addressing the discussion on the BP in Australia. An overview is given of the scholars and their publications, of the reasons why they studied the BP, and of their stance regarding the BP. Neo-institutional theory is used to explain the findings.

HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, 2018

Many higher education (HE) system reforms in the past decades have been built on the paradigm of ... more Many higher education (HE) system reforms in the past decades have been built on the paradigm of New Public Management (NPM). However, these reforms have not allowed HE to fully take its value for society into account. In recent years a growing call can be heard to orient the HE sector towards more collaboration,
a focus on a larger set of socio-economic objectives instead of on performance alone, less pressure, more trust and legitimacy. In this article, it is stated that NPM has not sufficiently enabled the creation of public value (PV) by the HE sector. This article provides (1) insight into the flaws of NPM, (2) an understanding of PV for
HE and (3) a new model to study HE reforms built on the concept of PV.

The career opportunities of university bachelor students are multiple. Some bachelor students mig... more The career opportunities of university bachelor students are multiple. Some bachelor students might consider a career in research. In this article, we explore, first, the degree to which bachelor students in a research intensive university intend to enter a research-oriented career, and second, the factors influencing this intention. 1,232 students of a research-intensive university answered an on line questionnaire. 4.08% scored 4 or higher out of 5 on a scale that measures the intention to become a researcher. A regression model (R² = .47) showed that among a set of 13 variables, the attitude towards research proved to have the strongest influence on the intention to enter a research-oriented career, next to gender, and study major. The occupational focus, frequency of use of ICT (information and communication technologies) instruments, and the opinion that scientific research needs ICT have a negative influence.

-Verhoeven Jef C., Heerwegh Dirk & De Wit Kurt (2016) "ICT learning experience and research orientation as predictors of ICT skills and the ICT use of university students", Education and Information Technologies. 21 (1) 71-103. doi: 10.1007/s10639-014-9310-3 , 2016

Since our first studies of information and communications technology (ICT) skills and ICT use at ... more Since our first studies of information and communications technology (ICT) skills and ICT use at universities in 2004, ICT and its use by students has changed greatly. In order to obtain a more detailed picture of ICT skills, we first construct a new
instrument to measure the self-perception of ICT skills (49 items) and of ICT use (53 items) by students. This allows us to find some patterns for ICT skills and ICT use. In order to explain these patterns, two basic hypotheses are formulated. The first
suggests that positive ICT learning experiences at home, in school, and with peers could contribute to mastering a higher level of ICT skills and more frequent use of ICT among bachelor’s students, a hypothesis that aligns with Dewey’s learning theory. The second hypothesis suggests that there is a similarity between the characteristics of information systems and scientific research, and that students who identify more with scientific research would be more likely to have greater ICT skills and a higher frequency of ICT use. Both hypotheses are tested among bachelor’s students, using
some important contextual variables (gender, domain of study, ICT course in secondary school or at university, and education level of parents). It can be concluded that there is a relationship between the ICT learning experience and the research-oriented identity
commitment of bachelor’s students on the one hand, and their command of ICT skills and the frequency of use of computers, ICT instruments, and ICT programs on the other.

Heerwegh Dirk, De Wit Kurt, & Verhoeven Jef C. (2016) "Exploring the reported ICT skill levels of undergraduate science students." Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 15, 19-47. ISSN: online 1539 - 3585; print 1547 - 9714 , Jan 2016

Computers have taken an important place in the training of science students and in the profes-sio... more Computers have taken an important place in the training of science students and in the profes-sional life of scientists. It is often taken for granted that most students have mastered basic Infor-mation and Communication Technologies (ICT) skills; however, it has been shown that not all students are equally proficient in this regard. Starting from theories of socialization and technolo-gy acceptance we report how we constructed a structural equation model (SEM) to explore the variance in the basic ICT skill levels of science students. We also present the results of a test of this model with university bachelor’s science students. Basic ICT skills were measured using a new, elaborate instrument allowing students to rate their skills in detail. Our results show that science students score high on basic ICT skills and that our SEM explains a large part of the vari-ation in the ICT skill levels of these students. The most explanatory power is coming from four variables: the perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness of a personal computer, the anx-iety for using a personal computer, and students’ belief that ICT is necessary for scientific re-search.

- De Wit Kurt, Heerwegh Dirk & Verhoeven Jef C. (2014) "Can openness for ICT and scientific research predict ICT skills and ICT use of bachelor students?", Computers & Education, 78 (September), 397-413. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2014.07.003, Sep 2014

In this article, we focus on the question of why some bachelor's students have more proficiency i... more In this article, we focus on the question of why some bachelor's students have more proficiency in ICT skills and use computers and the Internet more frequently than other students do. To answer this
question, we rely on the core variables of the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model), on the orientation of students toward scientific research, and on contextual factors. TAM has been applied successfully in research before, but in this article, the model is expanded with variables regarding the orientation of students toward scientific research, and is geared towards the relationship to basic ICT skills and the sustained use of these skills. In order to attain a more reliable instrument to measure proficiency in ICT
skills and the frequency of ICT use, several new instruments are constructed. The results show that this model, a combination of four basic TAM variables, together with the identity commitment of students focused on the appreciation of scientific research and some context variables, can explain a substantial proportion of the variance in different ICT skills, but considerably less of the frequency of ICT use.

- Lipnicka Magdalena & Verhoeven Jef C. (2014) "The application of new institutionalism and the resource dependence theory for studying changes in universities within Europe " Roczniki Nauk Spolecznych (Annals of Social Sciences), 6 (42) (4) pp. 7-30, ISSN 0137-4176, 2014

This article offers the application of new institutionalism and the Resource Dependence Theory i... more This article offers the application of new institutionalism and the Resource
Dependence Theory in order to study the transformation of higher education in Europe in
accordance with the principles of the Bologna Process. At the start of this article, the most
important assumptions of both theories are presented. In the next section, the similarities and
differences between both theories are discussed. In the concluding part, some observations are
made regarding the application of these theories for the study of changes in universities.
Universities are understood here as organizations that respond differently to changes in the
institutional environment. The combination of these theories allows us to focus on many different
factors that determine the responses to change. It is shown that external factors (for
instance, government policy and the economic situation) as well as internal factors (for the
same university) may have an effect on the processes of change in universities.

Zhang, Jianxin & Verhoeven Jef C. (2012) "Equal Access of Ethnic Minority Students to Different Types of Higher Education Institutions?" Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education. Vol. 6 (4): 197-213. DOI: 10.1080/15595692.2012.711392 , 2012

In this article we focus on answering the question “Is there equal access to different types of h... more In this article we focus on answering the question “Is there equal access to different types of higher education institutions (HEIs) for ethnic minority (EM) students in Yunnan Province (China), and what explanation might be found for any differences?” In order to answer this question, we rely on the education attainment theory, and a sample of 600 EM students provides the data for the analysis. The analysis shows that these students have differing preferences for private, key, public, or vocational universities. It is also demonstrated that this might be influenced by the occupation and education of the parents, family income, etc. Further, using 10 possible determinants in a multinomial
logistic regression analysis, we determined whether it is possible to predict with greater
accuracy the educational attainment of EM students and found that the entrance exam score is the best predictor.

Verhoeven, Jef C., Heerwegh, Dirk. & De Wit, Kurt (2012) "First year university students' self-perception of ICT skills: Do learning styles matter?" Education and Information Technologies. Vol. 17 (1): 109-133. DOI: 10.1007/s10639-010-9149-1 , 2012

Do ICT skills of freshmen change in 6 months at the university? What is the contribution of learn... more Do ICT skills of freshmen change in 6 months at the university? What is the contribution of learning styles (or patterns) to the explanation of the variance in self-perceived ICT skills and the possible change in these skills? And what is the contribution of learning styles and of gender, social class, and ICT course attendance to the explanation of the variance in these skills? To answer these questions, data were collected in a panel research project that recruited 714 freshmen at a large Belgian university. The data show that the ability of the students to maintain a computer and to develop a website improves at the university but not the ability to use the Internet or to apply basic ICT skills. The analyses show that there is a link, albeit weak, between learning styles and self-perceived ICT skills. Learning styles can partially explain differences between groups of students with different characteristics. The data show that having a certain learning style might influence the perception of students of their ICT skill, but learning styles do not allow one to predict the change in the self-perceived ICT skills of the students.

International Journal of African Higher Education, 2023

Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 2009

Onderzoeksverslag van de Afdeling …, 2001

Computers & Education, 2010

Higher Education Research & Development, Oct 26, 2022

HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, 2018

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2020

For many years, the concept “backstage” referred to the part of the theater behind the stage, and... more For many years, the concept “backstage” referred to the part of the theater behind the stage, and then gained a place in sociology and other social sciences. Erving Goffman uses the concept to describe a social environment where people, after leaving a situation involving visible and audible communication, can act free of the standards regulating that situation. What Goffman presents as a frame to describe some sections of societal life has been used by other researchers to elucidate the specific behavior of actors in backstage situations.

Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies,, 2020

One need not be an expert in information and communications technology (ICT) to realize the ever-... more One need not be an expert in information and communications technology (ICT) to realize the ever-increasing inﬂuence on and omnipresence of ICT applications in the society. It is therefore easily assumed that everyone possesses basic ICT skills and can use simple ICT applications. Especially university students, who are considered to be “digital natives” and who have had ample exposure to a variety of ICT applications and training, are often thought to be a homogenous group with near-perfect basic ICT skills and highly frequent ICT use. This, however, is contradicted by research, and the current paper aims to provide some answers to the question why university students differ in their basic ICT skills and use.

De Wit Kurt and Verhoeven Jef C. Merger of university colleges in Flanders (Belgium). In L. Cremonini, S. Paivandi, & K.M. Joshi (Eds.). Mergers in Higher Education. Practices and Policies. 57-77. 2019. New Delhi, Studera Press. , 2019

In the course of last 25 years, the sector of the university colleges in Flanders has seen a sign... more In the course of last 25 years, the sector of the university colleges in Flanders has seen a significant number of mergers. The result of these mergers has been that the
number of university colleges in Flanders has dropped from 164 (in 1994) to 13 (in 2018), and that the profile of the course programmes they offer has become focused
on vocational higher education. We discern three separate waves of mergers. First, in the period from 1995 to 2002, mergers were induced by a change in the legislation, which created favourable conditions for the (often very small) university colleges to create larger organisations. Second, the number of university colleges further decreased in a second wave, starting in 2003, with further voluntary mergers. Last, a third wave of mergers took place in parallel, in which a number of course programmes was transferred from the university colleges to the universities.

Higher Education System Reform. An International Comparison after Twenty Years of Bologna. pp. 221-238., 2019

The previous twelve case studies have analysed and discussed the way the higher education systems... more The previous twelve case studies have analysed and discussed the way the higher education systems positioned themselves over the years, in relation to the stipulated Bologna goals. Light has been shed on the reform path, on the rationale behind the reform, and on the battle between triggering and impeding forces. In this concluding chapter we bring together what can be witnessed from those case studies, we highlight divergences and convergences, and we critically analyse the Bologna Process until now. We try to demonstrate the practices across Europe, the patterns (and whether there are patterns), and the pathways of the higher education systems.

Higher Education System Reform. An International Comparison after Twenty Years of Bologna, 2019

The most recent system reform in Flanders, which will be the focus of this chapter, was induced b... more The most recent system reform in Flanders, which will be the focus of this chapter, was induced by the Bologna Process. As one of the signatories of the Bologna Declaration, Flanders started a reform that would transform the higher education system in many aspects. Again this was embodied in new legislation, starting in 2003 with the act on the structure of higher education that introduced the Bachelor- Master structure, and followed-up by acts relating to flexible higher education, the social position of students, teacher training, and funding, symbolically capped by introducing a unified codex of higher education legislation in 2013 applicable to both universities and colleges of higher education (or universities of applied sciences, UAS, as they are by now more commonly called). In the next paragraphs, we will first look into the dynamics of the reform ensuing from the implementation of Bologna (the stakeholders, the rationale behind the reform, and the process of reform), then we will give an overview of the current state of the implementation, and finally we will evaluate and discuss the reform and its results.

Higher Education System Reform. An International Comparison after Twenty Years of Bologna, 2019

The book offers a description and an analysis of HE policy reforms on the system level of 12 Euro... more The book offers a description and an analysis of HE policy reforms on the system level of 12 European Higher Education Systems and takes as its starting point the Bologna Process that was initiated in 1999, as this process has been an important impetus for HE reform in many European HE systems. In this introduction we outline the research questions that delineate the contours of the analysis in each country chapter. These research questions are, in short: First, what is currently the situation in HE in the selected European countries with regard to the six original goals put forward by the Bologna Declaration? Second, what system reforms were introduced to get to the current situation? Third, what are the driving factors behind these system reforms? And fourth, what is the rationale behind the reforms?

Broucker Bruno, Huisman Jeroen, Verhoeven Jef C. & De Wit Kurt (2019) The state of the art of higher education research on Flanders. In Jeroen Huisman & Malcolm Tight (Eds.). Theory and Method in Higher Education Research. Volume 4: 225-241. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited , 2019

Higher education systems of small(er) countries may be less attractive to investigate, and it is ... more Higher education systems of small(er) countries may be less attractive to investigate, and it is likely that only a small indigenous research community is interested in and capable of researching such small systems. In this chapter, we map which studies have been carried out at the meso- and macro-levels of the Flemish higher education system since the early 2000s. It allows us to discover gaps in our understanding of that particular system. We conclude that it would be beneﬁcial for all stakeholders involved (researchers, policymakers,
institutional management) to try to align their research and practical interests and develop a research agenda that ﬁts these interests.

Broucker Bruno, De Wit Kurt, & Verhoeven Jef C. (2017) Higher education research: looking beyond New Public Management. In J. Huisman & M. Tight (eds.) Theory and method in Higher Education Research. Vol. 3, Bingley: Emerald: 21-38., 2017

This chapter discusses the implications of New Public Management (NPM) and of alternative theorie... more This chapter discusses the implications of New Public Management (NPM) and of alternative theories on the higher education sector. Three clusters of alternative concepts and theories are identified, positioned in relation to NPM, and discussed. The chapter concludes that the different theoretica approaches: (1) cannot always be distinguished easily, (2) entail a risk of
normativity due to the position of higher education in society, and (3) demonstrate that higher education policy and research are in need of a multitheoretical
approach that is able to put higher education back into its social, political, and economic context. By formulating research questions on the role of higher education and on the impact of former reforms, it is suggested that policy and research look further than the current concepts and theoretical approaches to build a new agenda for future

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1989) 'Sociologie.' in: DE MEESTER, P., R., DILLEMANS, G., FAUCONNIER, H., ROELANTS & H., VANDENBERGHE eds. Wetenschap Nu en Morgen. Leuven : Leuvense Universitaire Pers pp. 277-287, 1989

In this paper some basic answers are offered concerning the subject matter of sociology, the diff... more In this paper some basic answers are offered concerning the subject matter of sociology, the different scientific standpoints of sociologists, some domains of sociological research, and the limitations of sociological research.

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1985) 'Goffman's frame analysis and modern micro-sociological paradigms.' in: HELLE, H. J. & S.N. EISENSTADT Micro-Sociological Theory. London, Beverly Hills, New Delhi : Sage Publications pp. 71-100, 1985

Few contemporary sociologists are as creative as Erving Goffman. One product of this creativity... more Few contemporary sociologists are as creative as Erving Goffman. One product of this creativity is frame analysis (Goffman, 1974), a method that is both admired and neglected. Comparing Goffman's approach to other paradigms seems not only to be a negation of the creativity of this writer, but is strongly disliked by Goffman (1981b) when such comparisons have nothing but labelling as their purpose.
It is not the function of this paper to place frame analysis in one or another theoretical pigeon-hole. Frame analysis is a sociological approach in its own right. Nevertheless, Goffman accepts different standpoints of symbolic interaction (G.H. Mead), ethnomethodology and phenomenological sociology (A. Schutz) even when he denies others. I intend here to present the differences and similarities between Goffman's frame analysis on the one hand, and Blumer's symbolic interaction, Schutz's phenomenological sociology,
and Garfinkel' s ethnomethodology on the other hand in
function of three questions. (1) What are the presuppositions in relation to reality, knowledge, man and society used in the four paradigms? (2) What is the object of sociology? (3) What are the methodological principles? Moreover, I want to show that in spite of different accents, the frame-analysis approach can already be found in the earlier work of Goffman.

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1993) 'Overgangsproblematiek secundair onderwijs - universiteit; enkele sociologische overwegingen.' in: NFWO Contactgroep Academisch Onderwijs Van secundair naar hoger onderwijs; is er een einde aan die jaarlijkse hecatombe? Leuven/Apeldoorn : Garant pp. 49-67, 1993

It is not my intention to give an overview of all sociological findings and statements which have... more It is not my intention to give an overview of all sociological findings and statements which have been accepted today studying the transition from secondary education to university. They will be addressed, but as an illustration rather than with the intention to give a rounded synthesis of the contemporary findings. What do we discuss in this paper? Problems associated with the transition from secondary school to university have been in our country mainly addressed from a structural perspective. This has certainly helped forward the understanding of the transition issues and undoubtedly has delivered an important contribution to the knowledge of the democratization process of the student population at the universities. However, this approach has many limitations. One even gets the impression that further research from this angle offers little new information. Therefore, in this paper I will argue for another approach that very broadly will be called an interpretative approach. Information delivered by the interpretative sociology should allow to gain new insights into the transition issues.

Het is niet mijn bedoeling een overzicht te geven van alle sociologische bevindingen en verklaringen die op dc huidige dag gangbaar zijn hij de studie van dc overgangsproblematiek secundair onderwijs naar universiteit. Zij komen wel aan bod, doch veeleer als illustratie dan met de bedoeling een afgeronde synthese te geven van de hedendaagse bevindingen. Wat wordt dan wel behandeld? Problemen in verband met de overgang van secundair onderwijs naar universiteit werden in ons land voornamelij vanuit een structurele invalshoek aangepakt. Dit heeft zeer zeker het inzicht in de overgangsproblematiek vooruit geholpen en heeft ongetwijfeld een belangrijke bijdrage geleverd voor de kennis van het democratiseringsproces van de studentenpopulatie
aan de universiteiten. Nochtans heeft deze benadering tal van beperkingen.
Men krijgt zelfs de indruk dat vervolgonderzoek vanuit deze hoek weinig nieuwe informatie oplevert. Daarom wil ik in dit stuk pleiten voor een andere benadering, die ik hier zeer globaal de interpretatieve benadering zal noemen. Een aanvulling vanuit de interpretatieve sociologie moet toelaten nieuwe inzichten te verwerven in de overgangsproblematiek. De structurele en de interpretatieve benadering hebben elk hun eigen vraagstelling en hun eigen onderzoekstechnieken. Een aanpak die op beide benaderingen steunt zal de meeste vruchten afwerpen

Verhoeven Jef C. & Zhang Jianxin (2016) "The pathways to higher education for ethnic minorities in China are not easy;" In J. C.K. Lee, Z. Yu, X. Huang, & E.H. Law (Eds). Educational Development in Western China. Towards quality and equity. Leiden/Boston: Brill/Sense Publishers: 121-135, 2016

Equal rights for all citizens, whatever ethnic group they belong to, is one of the basic principl... more Equal rights for all citizens, whatever ethnic group they belong to, is one of the basic principles of the Constitution of the PRC. This principle was laid down in different laws from the beginning of the establishment of the PRC. However, in spite of all these laws, are the economic and cultural positions in a mainly Han society still experienced as more advantageous for the Han than for the EMs.
Indeed, EM children start in the educational system with a serious shortfall and the provided help can hardly compensate for these arrears. Many EM children do not have the necessary cultural, social, and economic capital to develop equally in Han society.
Research among students in Yunnan Province shows that Han students have more chance of entering HE and have more access to better HE institutes than EMs do. Final year secondary school students, both Han and EMs, dream equally of having access to the best universities, but many are aware that this is a dream. Han believe more than EMs that they will be accepted in the best universities, but both have stronger expectations than the best universities allow.
There is not only inequality between Han and EMs, but also among the EMs. Data has shown that some EM groups have greater access to HE than others. Moreover, there is also inequality of access to the different university types depending on the cultural, social, and economic capital of a student’s family.

VAN HEFFEN, O., J.C. VERHOEVEN & K. DE WIT (1999) 'Higher education policies and institutional response in Flanders: instrumental analysis and cultural theory.' in: JONGBLOED, B., MAASSEN, P. & G. NEAVE. From the eye of the storm: Higher education's changing institution. pp. 263-293, 1999

The central research problem is formulated as follows: What are the effects of changes in steer... more The central research problem is formulated as follows:

What are the effects of changes in steering strategies of the Flemish government and governmental policies with respect to higher education on the policy plans of Flemish universities?

This central question is elaborated in the following questions:

1 What is the steering strategy of the Flemish government in the field of higher educa-tion?
2 What is the content of the Flemish governmental policies on higher education?
3 How are governmental policies and policy plans of Flemish universities related?
4 How can this relationship be explained, taking into account the characteristics of the policy instruments and the institutional culture?

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1988) 'De Wording van Sociale Problemen. Het Constructivisme Bevraagd.' in: BORGHARDT, M. B., C.J.M. CORVER & E. LISSENBERG Sociale Problemen in België en Nederland, 1988

De laatste decennia heeft onder invloed van de ontwikkeling van het symbolisch interactionisme de... more De laatste decennia heeft onder invloed van de ontwikkeling van het symbolisch interactionisme de constructivistische benadering van sociale problemen aan betekenis gewonnen. Bijna 50 jaar geleden leg-den Richard C. Fuller en Richard R. Myers (1941) hiervoor de basis. Sedertdien is hun concept door vele constructivisten terug opgenomen en verder uitgewerkt. Ofschoon het niet gemakkelijk is om alle nuanceringen
die in de definities zijn opgenomen samen te vatten, kan de volgende formulering gebruikt worden: "Een sociaal probleem is een situatie die door een significant aantal personen als ongewenst wordt ervaren en waarvan zij menen dat collectieve actie er iets aan kan veranderen" (1). Alhoewel deze formulering niet impliceert dat de oorzaak van een sociaal probleem in de definitie ervan ligt wijst ze sterk in deze richting. Dit zal nu eerst onderzocht worden.Hierbij zal vooral aandacht worden besteed aan de wording van sociale
conflicten zoals het constructivisme dit ziet. Tegenover"dit constructivisme stellen wij echter dat de wording van
sociale problemen niet enkel het resultaat kan zijn van de definitie door actores. Structurele factoren moeten in de analyse worden opgenomen.Dit wordt in een tweede deel behandeld En in een derde deel tenslotte willen we het constructivisme corrigeren door een bijkomende analyse van structurele factoren

Bruneel, S., Elen, J., De Wit, K. & Verhoeven J.C. (2013) 'Study and non-study related technologies use of Flemish students in higher education' in: Management Association, I. (ed.) IT Policy and Ethics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. pp. 84-104, 2013

“Living technologies”, such as social networking sites and mobile phones are, nowadays, the subje... more “Living technologies”, such as social networking sites and mobile phones are, nowadays, the subject of educational research. In this chapter we attempt to shed light on the relationship between the reasons for the use of living technologies and learning technologies from students’ perspectives. In this exploratory research project, 15 students were interviewed several times throughout the academic year and 143 students, from various bachelor programs at a Flemish university (Flanders/Belgium) completed an online survey. Results demonstrate that these students make a clear distinction with regard to the frequency and
reasons for use of living technologies and learning technologies, with these students rarely use living technologies (for instance, Facebook or mobile phones) for educational purposes. Results are explained in terms of privacy and the reluctance to use particular applications for several non-educational reasons. We end with some possible suggestions for follow-up research.

DOMS, K. & J.C. VERHOEVEN (1999) 'Research on assessment in vocational education in Belgium (Flanders). An overview.' in: BECK, K. (ed) Evaluation and assessment of flexibility, mobility, and transferability in European countries. Proceedings of COST A 11, 1999

In this paper we like to accomplish two things. First, we present the education system in Flander... more In this paper we like to accomplish two things. First, we present the education system in Flanders. As a consequence of the federalization of Belgium in 1989, education issues became the responsibility of the Flemish community. However, certain subjects, like duration of compulsory education, minimal conditions for granting diplomas and pension plans, remain the authority of the Federal Parliament. Secondly, we like to give an overview of research in vocational and technical secondary education. Because this term has different meanings in Europe, we will provide research concerning assessment in technical and vocational secondary education, and tertiary education in general. The information for this overview is gathered in different databases concerning educationl and information received from several research groups in Flanders.

Verhoeven, J.C. (1982), De spanning tussen bureaucratisering en professionalisering: hinder of steun voor innovatie van leerkrachtengedrag, pp. 197-232 in Studiegroep voor Onderwijsbeleid en -begeleiding (ed.), VSO. Een confrontatie tussen onderzoek en praktijk 1970-1982. Leuven: Acco, 1982

These two spheres, namely bureaucracy and professionalism, are in the sociological literature qui... more These two spheres, namely bureaucracy and professionalism, are in the sociological literature quite easily presented as opposites. Indeed bureaucracy threatens the autonomy that comes to the fore in professionalism. For other authors, however, this is not necessary. Professionalization and bureaucratization can also support each other. A bureaucracy which operates based on a division of labor can be helped by a positive delineation of the professions. Both positions will apply in this article as a hypothesis: bureaucratisation and professionalism in schools are related to each other. This paper will examine whether this relationship was a hindrance or a support for the innovation of the teaching profession in the new comprehensive education structure (V.S.O. = Vernieuwd Secundair Onderwijs). To answer this question four issues will be examined: 1) To what extent is the school structure (V.S.O. and Type II (traditional structure) bureaucratized? 2) To what extent can teachers demarcate their professional domain from other actors (management, parents, other professions)? 3) To what extent is teachers' behavior in the classroom - the place where teachers can experience their autonomy par excellence – determined by the traditional bureaucratic structure. Did the new education structure (V.S.O.) change this behavior? 4) To what extent is the boundary of teacher’s professional domain determined by the collegiate experience of the teachers? The sample consisted of 396 randomly selected teachers from Catholic girls schools in Flanders. These teachers were chosen from all free girl schools located in communities where there were V.S.0. schools. Therefore, there were about as many teachers in V.S.O. questioned as in traditional schools. This research argues that bureaucracy keeps teachers' behavior rather bureaucratic. Therefor the change of teachers' behavior is very difficult. Only new steps were put in terms of collegial consultation.

Deze twee sferen, nl. de bureaucratische sfeer en de sfeer van de professionalisering, worden in de sociolo¬gische literatuur nogal gemakkelijk als tegenstellingen voorgesteld (Legatt, 1970:157; Perrow, 1979:53; Leune, 1981:499; Wesselingh, 1973:237; Watson, 1962:407). Bureaucratisering bedreigt immers de autonomie die in professionalisering op de voorgrond komt. Voor andere auteurs is dit echter niet noodzakelijk. Professionalisering en bureaucratisering kunnen elkaar ook ondersteunen (Mok, 1980:88; Perrow, 1979:52, 55; Bidwell, 1965:976-977). Een bureaucratie functioneert immers op basis van een taakverdeling die door een domeinafbakening van de beroepen positief kan worden geholpen. Beide standpunten zul¬len in dit artikel gelden als hypothese : bureaucratisering en professionalisering in scholen staan in relatie tot elkaar. In dit stuk zal worden onderzocht of deze samenhang een hinder of een steun vormde voor de innovatie van het leerkrachtenberoep in het V.S.O.
Om deze vraag te beantwoorden zullen achtereenvolgens vier problemen worden behandeld :

In welke mate is de schoolstructuur (in V.S.O. en Type II) gebureaucratiseerd ?
Tegenover welke categorieën (hiërarchie, cliënten, nieuwelingen, concurrerende beroepen) en in welke mate kunnen de leerkrachten hun beroepsdomein afgrenzen ?
In welke mate verloopt het leerkrachtengedrag in de klas - de plaats waar leerkrachten bij uitstek hun au-tonomie kunnen beleven - volgens de traditionele bureaucratische structuur Heeft de onderwijsvernieuwing (V.S.O.) daar enige verandering in gebracht ? 4) In welke mate wordt beroepsdomeinbegrenzing bepaald door de collegialiteitsbeleving van de leerkrachten ?
Om deze vragen te beantwoorden zal, tenzij anders vermeld, warden gesteund op het onderzoek dat in mei-juni 1977 door de Afdeling Onderwijssociologie van het Sociologisch Onderzoeksinstituut van de Katholieke Universiteit Leuven werd gedaan. De steekproef bestond uit 396 leerkrachten toevallig gekozen uit katholieke meisjesscholen in Vlaanderen. Deze leerkrachten waren gekozen uit alle vrije meisjesscholen gelegen in gemeenten waar V.S.0.-scholen waren. Er werden dan ook ongeveer evenveel leerkrachten in het V.S.O. als in type II ondervraagd (Verhoeven, Willems & Dobbelaere, 1979; Verhoeven, 1982).
Voorliggend onderzoek argumenteert dat bureaucratisering het leerkrachtengedrag in vaste banen leidt. Daardoor verloopt de vernieuwing van leerkrachtengedrag zeer moeizaam. Enkel op het vlak van collegiaal overleg zijn er nieuwe stappen gezet

Verhoeven, J.C. (1991), Federalization, decentralization, devolution and deregulation, pp. 381-404 in J.L. Vanderhoeven (ed.), Education in Belgium; the diverging paths. Brussel/Bruxelles/Eupen: Ministerie van Onderwijs

Three points will be considered in the following pages. To begin with, there will be a short sket... more Three points will be considered in the following pages. To begin with, there will be a short sketch of the political and socio-economic situation which helped to start the move towards decentralization and deregulation. Second, there will be a brief review of the main forms that decentralization and deregulation take in the different levels of education. The account will be confined to basic, secondary and higher non-uni-versity education. Third, by way of example there will be a review of the way principals of secondary schools are using their increased autonomy

![Research paper thumbnail of Dialectic and`Verstehen'](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/42793323/thumbnails/1.jpg)

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1971) 'Dialectic and Verstehen.' Sociological contributions from Flanders 1969-1970. Antwerpen : Nederlandsche Boekhandel pp. 141-165 , 1971

Sociology is sometimes reproached with the fact that it is still engaged in a search for its obje... more Sociology is sometimes reproached with the fact that it is still engaged in a search for its object so that as a science it has not achieved any coherent picture of society, nor can it achieve this In addition to this there is the quarrel over methods which was perhaps formerly more violent than it is now, but it has still not entirely disappeared from the scene. Attempts at reconciliation have been made but have not always found a sufficient following. It is, nevertheless, worthwhile continuing the dialogue if a more generally accepted picture of sociology is to be arrived at. In this discussion there is a confrontation between dialectic and « understanding » ("ver-stehen "). The necessity with which the sociologist is confronted of defining his object does not imply that he can do this completely independently of all social-scientific tradition. On the contrary, the sociologist must take the intersubjectivity of his science just as much into account as the researcher into any other scientific discipline. We shall thus begin this study with the confrontation of several recent investigations into the various definitions of the object and their methodological consequences in order, by so doing, not to break the link with the past. In fact the most recent discussions have been about a question which is very old and which already occupied a central position in social philosophy, namely « from which angle must the relationship of the individual to the community be approached » 2).In sociological writings various solutions have been put forward to this problem. One school considers the group as a reality which can be studied in se. Another tendency does not allow the group any existential value and considers that the individual is the only existing reality. Now there is a tendency to accept neither the first nor the second solution but to place both in a dialectical relationship. G. Gurvitch is one of the pioneers of this.

Verhoeven, J.C. (1969) "De sociologie als het begrijpen en verklaren van het sociale handelen", pp 107-155 inVERHOEVEN, J. C. (1969) De Sociologische verklaring van de sociale kontrole. Mechelen: Uitgeverij Sinfra, 1969

Dit is een hoofdstuk uit een boek van J. C. Verhoeven Schütz is een fenomenologisch georiëntee... more Dit is een hoofdstuk uit een boek van J. C. Verhoeven

Schütz is een fenomenologisch georiënteerd socioloog. Hij vertrekt vanuit de alledaagse kennis van het gewone leven naar een wetenschappelijke kennis. De waarnemer is slechts in de ,Umwelt' in staat om het handelen van de ander op een direkte manier te vatten. Voor de socioloog is de ,Mitwelt' echter het waarnemingskader. Tot een direkt beleven van de ander komt hij niet, tenzij hij zijn wetenschappelijkheid laat varen. Dit kan hij voorkomen door beroep te doen op ideaaltypes, die typische patronen v an het handelen vormen. Het postulaat van de subjektieve interpretatie blijft hierdoor behouden.
Bij Schütz werd de aandacht gevestigd op het begrijpen en verklaren van het sociale handelen, zoals hij dit bij Max Weber had ontleend. Het ,verstehen' is echter geen algemeen aanvaarde metode. Door verscheidene sociologen wordt zij als onwetenschappelijk verworpen of als een bepaalde wijze van
hypotesevorming naar het vóór-wetenschappelijke werk verwezen. Voor Schutz is het een op zichzelf staande, waardevolle metode.

The Bologna Declaration started the development of the European Higher Education Area. The ensuin... more The Bologna Declaration started the development of the European Higher Education Area. The ensuing Bologna Process has run for already 20 years now. In the meantime many higher education systems in Europe have been reformed – some more drastically than others; some quicker than others; some with more resistance than others. In the process of reform the initial (six) goals have sometimes been forgotten or sometimes been taken a step further. The context too has shifted: while the European Union in itself has expanded, the voice for exit has also been heard more frequently.

Higher Education System Reform: An international comparison after Twenty Years of Bologna critically describes and analyses 12 Higher Education Systems from the perspective of four major questions: What is currently the situation with regard to the six original goals of Bologna? What was the adopted path of reform? Which were the triggering (economic, social, political) factors for the reform in each specific country? What was the rationale/discourse used during the reform?

The book comparatively analyses the different systems, their paths of reforms and trajectories, and the similarities and the differences between them. At the same time it critically assesses the current situation on higher education in Europe, and hints towards a future policy agenda.

... De rol van schoolbesturen in het schoolmanagement Geert Devos Jef C. Verhoeven Ilse Beuselinc... more ... De rol van schoolbesturen in het schoolmanagement Geert Devos Jef C. Verhoeven Ilse Beuselinck Herman Van den Broeck Roland ... wordt verwezen naar de posities van de directie en het middenmanagement die uitsluitend door "professionals" worden bezet (Mahieu, 1992). ...

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1969) De Sociologische verklaring van de sociale kontrole. Mechelen: Uitgeverij Sinfra, 1969

The sociological explanation of social control adopts the following outline : the putting forward... more The sociological explanation of social control adopts the following outline : the putting forward of problems, the status quaestionis, the set of instruments concerning methodology, the sociological starting point, the scientific¬critic analysis of some explanatory models of social control and finally an attempt to explain social control in a sociological way.
The first chapter consists of a rather extensive survey of the questions dealt with in the investigation. This allows us afterwards, to compare the results of the investigation with the aim we had in mind. The main questions of the investigation are : 1) Which are the methodological implications resulting from the explanation of social control by a number of authors ? 2) Which are the conditions that are in our opinion the basis for the explanation of social control ?
The second chapter deals with a status quaestionis. Here we have asked for the present situation of the investigation concerning social control. At the same time we have introduced within this developmental sketch the hypo-thesis put forward by H.C. Brearley in 1962 viz. that there are three main tendencies in the investigation of social control : (i) "those who, like Ross, discuss the number and complexity of the means by which the agents of social control attain uniformity of behaviour" and (ii)"those who, like Cooley, devote their efforts to explaining the effects of social control upon the development of personality". The third tendency is the one that runs parallel to Sumner's, but which can be reduced to the first because of its intrumental tendency. The investigation indicates that Brearley's classifica¬tion doesn't hold. Gurvitch, Oppenheim, Hollingshead, Lemert, Nadel et.al. break through this frame. In the same investigation it has been established that the methodological approach has not yet been realised in studies on social control.
The next two chapters introduce the scientific-critic analysis. In the third chapter a number of concepts are described in the first place because they will be of use for the methodological analysis. This chapter describes what should be understood by the term `explain' and it also describes what laws and theories are. Brief summaries are given of induction, functional explanation, genetic explanation, conceptual and dispositional explanation, and the phenomenological method. Special attention is drawn to the restrictions of the methods. In the second place the selection criteria of the works to be analysed are indicated, because it is practically impossible and scienti¬fically insignificant to take all works into consideration. It has been decided to take six works which are integrally devoted to social control viz. the studies by E.A. Ross, P.H. Landis ; L.L. Bernard, G. Gurvitch, T.T. Segerstedt.
and R.T. LaPiere. The general sociological studies have been chosen on the basis of a historical survey by Don Martindale because he constructs his work by means of the philosophy of science. G. Simmel has been chosen as the representative of formal sociology, P.A. Sorokin has been studied as an organicist, T. Parsons as a functionalist and R.M. Maclver and Page as theorists of sodal behaviour and R. Dahrendorf as a sociologist of conflicts. The methodological analysis of the explanation of social control will be given with respect to the above mentioned works.
However, before an answer is given to the question as to the procedure with the explanation, a description will be given of the sociological starting point of this work and the methodological consequences which result from it. (Chapter 4).
The description of the sociological point of view is the result of the confrontation with the problem of whether to start from the person or society in order to explain social reality. According to G. Gurvitch, A.C. Zijderveld, A. Schiltz, and P.L. Berger both the persons and society are needed so as to explain social reality. Gurvitch and Zijderveld, talk in terms of a dialectic between persons and society. This dialectic opinion results in a number of difficulties. P.L. Berger does not give any methodological aspect of his sociological point of view. Schtz accepts the dialectic movement (used in the sense of Gurvitch) between persons and society in social reality but he does not draw any methodological conclusions from this. Methodologically he starts from the individual.
Schtz is a phenomenologically oriented sociologist. He proceeds from an evereyday knowledge of simpte life to a scientific knowledge. The observer is only in the "Umwelt" capable of grasping in a direct way the behaviour of the other. For a sociologist, however, the "Mitwelt" is the frame of observation. He does not reach the direct experience of the other unless he gets rid of his scientific character. This can be prevented by referring to "ideal types" which form typical patterns of behavior. The postulate of the subjective interpretation is preserved.
With Schtz the attention is drawn to the understanding and explana¬tion of social behaviour as he got it from Max Weber. The method referred to as "Verstehen" is, however, not generally accepted. It has been rejected by various sociologists as being unscientific on the one hand, or referred to the pre-scientific work as a sort of hypothesis formation on the other. For Schtz it is an important method which stands by itself.
After this rather comprehensive introduction, we ask for the methodological features of the explanation of social control in the eleven works mentioned above (Chapter 5).
Finally we reach the last question of this work : which conditions are to be considered as basic for our opinion of social control ? An attempt to answer this question is to be found in chapter six.

H. Van den Broecke, J.C. Verhoeven, A. Gheysen, & E. Van Assche (1997) Effectiviteit van lokale schoolorganisaties. Leuven: Departement Sociologie., 1997

We ask the question what is the ability of a school to both organizationally and pedagogically ev... more We ask the question what is the ability of a school to both organizationally and pedagogically evolve in a certain predetermined direction? The experience and the research literature give reasons to believe that depending on a complex interplay of factors within and outside the school, the change pattern of the different topics in the same school might be different. We want to understand the school as a learning organization. How do schools learn from its successes or failures? More specifically, we focus mainly on change within the school. The aim of the study is to gain insight into the processes of change taking place in the local school organization. Following questions are important here: how does change take place in individual schools? Which factors make it that a school succeeds in its intent and others not? Are differences in change in schools due to differences in the overall constellation of the school? We look for the characteristics of an innovative organization and its stakeholders.
The research was conducted using qualitative research methods. Four case studies were developed through in-depth interviews, observations and document analysis. We selected four secondary schools and in each school three change projects.

AELTERMAN, A., J.C. VERHOEVEN, I. BUVENS, I. ROTS, N. ENGELS & P. VAN PETEGEM (2002) Waar staat de leraar in onze samenleving? Een onderzoek naar opvattingen over professionaliteit en de maatschappelijke waardering van leerkrachten. Gent: Academia Press 219 pp, 2002

A survey of a representative sample of 982 adults shows that most respondents have a high appreci... more A survey of a representative sample of 982 adults shows that most respondents have a high appreciation of teachers. They also realize that during the last decades the teaching profession has changed a lot and that this job is very demanding for teachers. In spite of this positive message, some problems are brought to the fore. For instance, there is a discrepancy between the appreciation of teachers by the respondents and the appreciation of teachers perceived in society by these respondents. It is also shown that respondents do not have a clear picture of what teachers are doing.
In a second part of this book report is made of the answers of stakeholders in relation to what they thought that could help to improve the attraction of the teaching profession. Or what teachers could do to meet better the demands of society, or to deliver better information about the teaching job.

Met betrekking tot de toenemende maatschappelijke verwachtingen ten aanzien van leraren en de waardering die daartegenover staat is er de laatste jaren veel te doen geweest. “Leerkrachten hebben het gevoel dat ze zich moeten verdedigen tegen een maatschappij die de voordelen van hun beroep benijdt en de nadelen van hun taak onderschat” (Klasse, 125, 8-4-02). Het interuniversitair onderzoek naar de professionaliteit en de maatschappelijke waardering van leerkrachten basis- en secundair onderwijs leert dat dit gevoel onterecht is. Integendeel, bij de meeste Vlamingen roept de leerkracht een positief beeld op. In januari van dit jaar zijn reeds enkele tussentijdse resultaten publiek gemaakt. De analyses die de voorbije maanden zijn uitgevoerd, bevestigen de voorlopige resultaten van januari.

De resultaten van een bevraging bij een representatief staal van de volwassen Vlaamse bevolking (van 18 tot 70 jaar; er waren 982 respondenten) tonen aan dat de Vlaamse bevolking blijk geeft van een grote appreciatie voor (hun) leraren. Zowel de eigen schoolbeleving als de tevredenheid over de leraren van hun kinderen tonen dit aan. Wel is de tevredenheid en de waardering voor de leraren in het kleuter- en lager onderwijs iets groter dan voor de leraren in het secundair onderwijs.

VERHOEVEN, J. C. & A. GHEYSEN (1994) Scholen en nieuwe voorschriften. Een evaluatie door directies, leerkrachten en ouders. Leuven: Afdeling Theoretische en Onderwijssociologie, K.U.Leuven., 1994

Sedert een tiental jaren is er op het vlak van het onderwijsbeleid in verschillende westerse land... more Sedert een tiental jaren is er op het vlak van het onderwijsbeleid in verschillende westerse landen één en ander veranderd. De belangrijkste veranderingen kunnen we wellicht het beste samenvatten met de begrippen decentralisatie en deregulering. Inderdaad, in vele landen werd de verantwoordelijkheid voor een flink stuk verschoven naar de lokale beleidsvoerders in de scholen. Deze verruiming voor het schoolbeleid ging tevens gepaard met het creëren van een grotere ruimte voor beleidsdeelname voor leerkrachten, ouders en andere delen van de samenleving. In dezelfde periode was eveneens de aandacht van beleidsvoerders en onderzoekers gegroeid voor de effectiviteit van het onderwijsbeleid. Die twee bewegingen hebben ertoe bijgedragen dat de OESO in 1992 het plan opvatte om een vergelijkend onderzoek te doen in de OESO-landen naar de band die schooldirectie, leerkrachten en ouders zagen tussen het geheel aan nieuwe beleidsmiddelen dat hen door de overheid werd geboden en de effectiviteit van het onderwijs. Het is in het kader van het OESO-project 'The effectiveness of schooling and educational resource management', dat dit onderzoek in 1993 werd uitgevoerd. De resultaten van het comparatieve deel van dit onderzoek zullen op het einde van 1994 worden gepubliceerd. In deze bijdrage wordt vooreerst een overzicht gegeven van de belangrijkste onderwijshervormingen gericht op de verhoging van de onderwijs-effectiviteit en de onderwijsmiddelen en de invoering van nieuwe besluitvormingsstructuren. In de volgende hoofdstukken komen dan de onderzoeksresultaten aan bod. In hoofdstuk 2 wordt de participatie van de verschillende onderwijs-deelnemers aan het schoolbeleid besproken. Bijzondere aandacht wordt besteed aan de nieuwe besluitvormingsorganen m.n. de lokale schoolraden en de participatieraden. Hoofdstuk 3 behandelt de lokale autonomie inzake personeelsbeleid. Hier komen achtereenvolgens aan bod: de lokale mogelijkheden tot aanwerving, benoeming en ontslag van leerkrachten, de evaluatie van leerkrachten, nascholing, engagement en tenslotte samenwerking en overleg tussen de leerkrachten. In hoofdstuk 4 bekijken we de financiële en materiële beleidsruimte van de scholen, in een vol-gend hoofdstuk worden de leerplannen en de evaluatie van leerlingen besproken, met bijzondere aandacht voor de invoering van de eenheidsstructuur in de secundaire scholen en in hoofdstuk 6 tenslotte, wordt de ervaring met of de verwachtingen tegenover de nieuwe inspectie en de netgebonden pedagogische begeleidingsdiensten behandeld. : •

status: …, Jan 1, 1999

KULeuven. ...

VERHOEVEN, J. C. & I. BEUSELINCK (1996) Higher education in Flanders (Belgium). A report for the OECD. Brussels: Ministry of the Flemish Community, Education Department, Policy-directed Division XII + 165 pp, 1996

1. Mission and structure of higher education 2. Demand for higher education. 3. Study career 4. G... more 1. Mission and structure of higher education
2. Demand for higher education.
3. Study career
4. Graduate employment
5. Curriculum and quality assurance policy
6. Financing higher education
7. Personnel

DEVOS, G., VERHOEVEN, J., BEUSELINCK, I., VAN DEN BROECK, H. & R. VANDENBERGHE (1999) De rol van schoolbesturen in het schoolmanagement. Leuven: Garant., 1999

The increasing trend towards greater school autonomy and to enlarge schools made the role of scho... more The increasing trend towards greater school autonomy and to enlarge schools made the role of school boards important. However, the current input from school boards in school-based management in Flanders is very unclear. The following research questions are answered in this study: · What is the governing role of school boards with respect for the proper role of the headmaster? · What are the differences in the way school management is applied by the school council? · How are decisions made? · To what extent are the possible differences related to characteristics of the members of the school boards (age, gender, management experience, investment of time, expertise, ...) and the school boards (scale, establishing authority, education level, ...)?

Door de toenemende trend naar een grotere schoolautonomie en naar schaalvergroting, wordt de rol van schoolbesturen in Vlaanderen steeds belangrijker. De huidige inbreng van schoolbesturen in het schoolmanagement in Vlaanderen is evenwel zeer onduidelijk.
De volgende onderzoeksvragen komen aan bod:
· Wat is de beleidsrol van schoolbesturen met respect voor de eigen rol van directies?
· Welke verschillen zijn er in de beleidsbenutting van schoolbesturen?
· Hoe verloopt het besluitvormingsproces?
· In hoeverre hangen de mogelijke verschillen samen met kenmerken van de leden van schoolbesturen (leeftijd, geslacht, bestuurservaring, tijdsinvestering, deskundigheid,…) en van de besturen (schaalgrootte, net, onderwijsniveau,…)?

VERHOEVEN, J. C., VANDENBERGHE, R., VAN DAMME, J.,(1992) Schoolmanagement en kwaliteitsverbetering van het ondewijs; een empirisch onderzoek in secundaire scholen. Samenvatting. Leuven: Centrum voor Onderwijsbeleid en -vernieuwing, K.U.Leuven, 1992

De Studiegroep voor Onderwijsbeleid en begeleiding heeft de voorbije jaren (vanaf 1987) aan deze ... more De Studiegroep voor Onderwijsbeleid en begeleiding heeft de voorbije jaren (vanaf 1987) aan deze problematiek reeds veel aandacht besteed. Dit gebeurde in opdracht van het Fonds voor Collectief Fundamenteel Onderzoek op Ministerieel Initiatief (Gemeenschapsminister van Onderwijs). In deze onderzoekingen stond de vraag centraal hoe lokaal onderwijsbeleid in het secundair onderwijs functioneert en welke structurele en culturele factoren dit lokaal beleid bepalen. Hier werd op de eerste plaats onderzocht welke bewegingsvrijheid aan het lokaal onderwijs werd gegeven door het nationale beleid. Vervolgens werd bestudeerd op welke domeinen (beleidsinhoud) en hoe (besluitvorming) dit lokaal onderwijsbeleid wordt gevoerd. De aandacht ging daarbij vooral uit naar de aanwending van het urenpakket, het personeelsbeleid, de oriëntatie en evaluatie van leerlingen, de recrutering van de leerlingen en het financieeleconomisch beleid (Devos, Vandenberghe en Verhoeven, 1987 en 1989).

De onderzoeksvragen van dit project sluiten aan bij vorig onderzoek. Nu wordt vooral onderzocht hoe en onder invloed van welke factoren management in secundaire scholen bijdraagt tot kwaliteitsbehoud en/of kwaliteitsverbetering van het verstrekte onderwijs. Deze vraag kan ook op een andere wijze worden geformuleerd: is er een relatie tussen de opvattingen van de directie en de leerkrachten over het onderwijsmanagement in de secundaire school en de ontwikkeling van de studieresultaten en het welbevinden van de leerlingen in de school?

VERHOEVEN, J. C. & I. BEUSELINCK (1995) Towards mass teriary education in Flanders (Belgium). A report for the OECD. Leuven: Department of Sociology, K.U.Leuven, 81 pp, 1995

The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of recent developments in higher education and... more The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of recent developments in higher education and the various factors affecting this development. Questions raised thereby are: - What are the developments in participation in higher education? - What is the situation of graduates in the labor market and what is the impact of this on participation? - How autonomous functions the education system? – How is education appreciated and what is the impact of this on participation? The main finding is that higher education is developing into a mass-participation. This mass-participation has created some policy problems such as the problem of low success rates, oversupply on the labor market (unemployment, under employment level), increasing costs of higher education, the need for continuing education, etc

Verhoeven, J.C. & G. Ory (2001), The development of education. Brussel: International Bureau of Education en Ministry of the Flemish Community, Department of Education, 2001

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1986) Sociologie van Planmatige Sociale Verandering. Leuven/Amersfoort: Uitgeverij Acco, 1986

Sociologie van Planmatige Sociale Verandering is een sociologische bevraging van de algemeen vers... more Sociologie van Planmatige Sociale Verandering is een sociologische bevraging van de algemeen verspreide processen van planning, organisatieontwikkeling of opbouwwerk in verscheidene maatschappelijke organisaties. Vanuit een structuuranalyse van de deelnemers aan het veranderingsproces, de strategieën, de adoptie en de implementatie van de geplande sociale verandering wordt gezocht naar de mogelijkheden en grenzen van planmatige sociale verandering

VERHOEVEN, J. C., VANDENBERGHE, R., VAN DAMME, J. (1992) Schoolmanagement en kwaliteitsverbetering van het ondewijs; een empirisch onderzoek in secundaire scholen. Leuven: Centrum voor Onderwijsbeleid en -vernieuwing, Pedagogische Wetenschappen, Psychologie en Pedagogische Wetenschappen, K.U.Leuven, 1992

VAN HEFFEN, O., MAASSEN, P., VERHOEVEN, J. C., DE VIJLDER, F. & DE WIT, K. (1999) Overheid, hoger onderwijs en economie. Ontwikkelingen in Nederland en Vlaanderen. Utrecht: Lemma VI + 222, 1999

The central question is: In what way seek the Dutch and the Flemish government to influence highe... more The central question is: In what way seek the Dutch and the Flemish government to influence higher education institutions so that they can better meet the needs of society and especially of the economy? This question includes the following questions: 1. What is the role of government in relation to higher education? 2. What is the content of the government's policy regarding the connection of educational programs to the needs of the economy? 3. What is the meaning of the European programs for the Dutch and Flemish higher education (policy)? 4. In what sense do success and failure of the Dutch and Flemish government policy differ?

De centrale vraagstelling luidt als volgt:

Op welke wijze trachten het Nederlandse en het Vlaamse overheidsbeleid de instellingen voor hoger onderwijs te beïnvloeden opdat zij beter tegemoet kunnen komen aan de behoeften van de maatschappij en in het bijzonder van de economie?

Deze vraagstelling omvat de volgende deelvragen:
1. Wat is de rol van de overheid met betrekking tot het hoger onderwijs?

2. Wat is de inhoud van het beleid van de overheid inzake de aansluiting van onderwijsprogramma’s op de behoeften van de economie?

3. Wat is de betekenis van de Europese programma’s voor het Nederlandse en Vlaamse hoger onderwijs(beleid)?

4. Welk succes- en faalfactoren ten aanzien van het Nederlandse en Vlaamse overheidsbeleid kunnen worden onderscheiden?

VERHOEVEN, J. C. & T. KOCHUYT (1993) Ongelijke onderwijskansen: een literatuurstudie. Leuven: Afdeling Theoretische en Onderwijssociologie, Sociologie, Politieke en Sociale Wetenschappen, K.U.Leuven, 1993

(0n)gelijke onderwijskansen, het is niet gelijk welk thema in de onderwijssociologie, niet één na... more (0n)gelijke onderwijskansen, het is niet gelijk welk thema in de onderwijssociologie, niet één naast de zovele onderwerpen. De kansenproblematiek vormt immers de ruggegraat waarmee de onderwijssociologie zich heeft opgericht als zelfstandige discipline en waarmee ze zich lange tijd heeft rechtgehouden, van de naoorlogse jaren tot heden. Toch is het geenszins vanuit een vrijblijvende academische interesse geweest dat het onderwerp ten berde is gebracht, integendeel De discussie omtrent kansengelijkheid in het onderwijs -vindt zijn oorsprong niet zozeer in het sociaal-wetenschappelijk onderzoek dienaangaande maar wel in de sociale politiek die de westerse democratieÃ«n vorm heeft gegeven. Het kansenbegrip kan zelfs doctrinair genoemd worden voor onze open samenlevingsvorm die - naar haar ideologie pretendeert - steunt op de algemene participatie der burgers. Als maatschappelijk begrip is het dan ook een geladen term, meerzinnig door de inzet van tegengestelde ideologieën en zinledig zonder het begrip te situeren binnen zijn sociaal-economische context en zijn sociale geschiedenis. Het is dan ook symptomatisch dat iedereen het erover eens is dat een rechtvaardige samenleving steunt op kansengelijkheid, maar niemand het erover eens raakt wat er onder die kansengelijkheid moet worden verstaan. Daarom zullen in het volgende deel de genese en de groei van 'kansengelijkheid in. het onderwijs' in de loop van de geschiedenis gevolgd worden om gaandeweg ook de verschillende ideologische invullingen van het begrip tegenover elkaar scherp te stellen. Vervolgens worden verschillende sociologische theorieÃ«n ter verklaring van de kansenongelijkheid in het onderwijs beschreven en een overzicht gegeven over het beleid dat deze ongelijkheid wilde reduceren

VERHOEVEN, J. C. & M. ELCHARDUS (2000) Onderwijs: een decennium Vlaamse autonomie. Kapellen: Uitgeverij Pelckmans, 245 pp, 2000

In the 1980’s it became clear that the education policy in Flanders and in the French speaking Co... more In the 1980’s it became clear that the education policy in Flanders and in the French speaking Community of Belgium did not develop into the same direction. The new Constitution of 1988 offered to the different Communities autonomy to develop their own education policy. This was a strong impetus for Flemish education policy makers to develop their own educational structure, and the Flemish parliament made a lot of new laws. In this book this policy is extensively described. Moreover, the book also offers an overview of the many educational reforms that took place in this period, the daily life in schools, and , if possible, hints are given about possible developments.

In de jaren tachtig bleek duidelijk dat de Vlaamse en Franse Gemeenschap steeds moeilijker tot gemeenschappelijke opties en regelgeving inzake onderwijsbeleid konden komen. Inzake de orga-nisatie van het gemeenschapsonderwijs, de relatie van de overheid tot het onderwijsveld, de autonomie van scholen, de gelijkheid mits objectieve verschillen, de kwaliteitszorg en -bewaking en de organisatie van het secundair onderwijs (de "typenstrijd") waren de bena¬deringen grondig verschillend. Dat leidde in het unitaire onderwijs¬beleid tot een blokkering van de besluitvorming.
De nieuwe grondwet van 1988 schonk de gemeenschappen de lang verwachte autonomie. De onderwijsmaterie werd als één globaal geheel overgeheveld, wat een coherent eigen beleid mogelijk maa kte.
Vlaanderen werkte het eerste decennium sinds de autonomie hard en snel om een eigen beleid en regelgeving tot stand te brengen. De visie die aan de nieuwe decreten ten grondslag ligt, wordt uitvoerig in dit boek toegelicht. Bovendien biedt Onderwijs: een decennium Vlaamse autonomie een terugblik op de vele hervormingen van en het dagelijkse werk in het onderwijs sinds 1988, een beschrijving van de onderwijsstructuur vandaag en eveneens een vooruitzicht op wat komen moet.

Universiteiten en hogescholen voeren een beleid dat voor een deel is voorgeschreven door de wetg... more Universiteiten en hogescholen voeren een beleid dat voor een deel is voorgeschreven door de wetgever, maar binnen dit kader gaan zij hun eigen weg. Dit is niet enkel het voorrecht van de top van de universiteit en hogeschool (rector, raad van beheer en andere topleiders) maar ook van de beleidsvoerders op het middenniveau. Deze “academic middle managers”worden in dit onderzoek bevraagd naar de wijze waarop zij binnen de opgelegde grenzen een beleid voeren. Dit wordt achterhaald met behulp van een web survey. Het is echter niet de bedoeling om enkel een beeld van nu te schetsen, maar op basis van vroeger onderzoek ook iets te kunnen zeggen over mogelijke veranderingen in het beleid

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1982) Erving Goffman's Frame Analysis in relation to modern micro-sociological paradigms. Invited paper presented in the Symposium 'Revisions and Relations among modern micro-sociological paradigms' of the 10th World Congress of Sociology, Mexico City., 1982

Few contemporary sociologists are as creative as Erving Goffman. One product of this creativity i... more Few contemporary sociologists are as creative as Erving Goffman. One product of this creativity is frame analysis (Goffman, 1974), a method that is both admired and neglected. Comparing Goffman's approach to other paradigms seems not only to be a negation of the creativity of this writer, but is strongly disliked by Goffman (1981b)
when such comparisons have nothing but labelling as their purpose.
It is not the function of this paper to place frame analysis in one or another theoretical pigeon-hole. Frame analysis is a sociological approach in its own right. Nevertheless, Goffman accepts different standpoints of symbolic interaction (G.H. Mead), ethnomethodology
and phenomenological sociology (A. Schutz) even when he
denies others. I intend here to present the differences and similarities between Goffman's frame analysis on the one hand, and Blumer's symbolic interaction, Schutz's phenomenological sociology,and Garfinkel' s ethnomethodology on the other hand in function of three questions. (1) What are the presuppositions in
relation to reality, knowledge, man and society used in the four paradigms? (2) What is the object of sociology? (3) What are the methodological principles? Moreover, I want to show that in spite of different accents, the frame analysis approach can already be found in the earlier work of Goffman.

Verhoeven, J.C. (1994) The new participatory structure in Belgium (Flanders) secondary schools: an opportunity and a challenge for school policy. Warwick: CEDAR International Conference 'Changing educational structures: policy and practice' , 1994

The last three years Belgian (Flanders) education policy for secondary schools is characterized b... more The last three years Belgian (Flanders) education policy for secondary schools is characterized by devolution and a number of measures to improve the effectiveness of schooling. One of the major changes is the establishment of a new participatory structure in both private (participation council) and public schools (local school council). Although this new participatory structure was established, most of the other participatory councils are still operating. This means new possibilities for school leaders to develop a local school policy, but at the same time a new challenge. In the new participatory structure heads have to cope with new participants in school policy ( e.g. are parents, representatives of local economic and cultural organizations, puplils) and with a very complex participatory structure.

On the base of in-depth interviewing in 12 schools the strategies developed by schools to cope with these new challenge will be described. First, the analysis will be focused on the strategies from the standpoint of the heads and two other members of the local school council or participation council, namely parents and teachers. Second, the relationship between the new participatory structure and the old participatory councils will be analyzed. Third, an assessment of the improvement of the new participatory structure for local school policy in comparison with the old structure will be given as it is seen by the main policy makers.

Verhoeven, J.C. (1992) Problems of theorizing in interpretative research: the case of school administration in Belgium. University of Warwick, ESRC Field Seminar, 1992

Interpretative research has many faces and can develop along many lines (Denzin, 1989: 22), but a... more Interpretative research has many faces and can develop along many lines (Denzin, 1989: 22), but a fundamental starting point is that the researcher should approach social reality with as few a priori's as possible. He has to discover the problems as they are experienced by the participants of the social scene. This principle creates a particular problem if the researcher has to give answers on questions as they are seen by the sponsor of the project. This was the case with our project. The project was proposed by the project leaders and accepted by the Minister of Education (National Foundation of Scientific Research) to be financed after screening of the proposal by a board of academics and senior civil servants. To understand the methodology of the project it is important to know the circumstances influencing the options of the project leaders. First, there was the research experience in relation to educational planned change. Since 1969 a national program to make secondary schools comprehensive, was set up. Later the innovation of elementary schools was started as well as the experimental introduction of health education in primary and secondary schools. These experiences and the vast literature about a school approach of educational and management problems had convinced the researchers that school administration should be studied on the level of the school. Moreover it was clear that the survey approach could not give the answers on problems of school administration because of the importance of the context in which school administration is happening. To get an illuminating picture of this context techniques of qualitative research are more fruitful than others.

Verhoeven, J.C. (1994) Education and inter-group opposition in Belgium. ESRC Seminar "Education and affirmative action: schools and intergroup relations", University of Ulster (Northern Ireland), 1994

From its independence onward Belgium has been a polarized society and it still is. This is quite ... more From its independence onward Belgium has been a polarized society and it still is. This is quite common for many countries. Specifically Belgian is that the basis of this polarization is multiple and that when one of these different oppositions mobilized its opposed groups the conflict interfered with the interests of the participants as members of the other opposed groups. When these oppositions came to violent outbursts it was a very common scenario that a 'prudent elite' came to the fore and found a solution to the problems, often expressed in an Act. The main cleavages determining Belgian policy were defined correctly by the socialist chairman E. Vandervelde in 1912 'l'antagonisme des classes, de croyances, de nationalités'. These three oppositions, though organizationally not so outspokenly present in the begining of the 19th century, became more important at the end of that century. The first cleavage was the opposition between the working classes and the propertied classes. The second cleavage is religious: a split between the Roman Catholics and the anticlericals. The third is linguistic: between the French speaking Walloons and the Dutch speaking Flemish. There is a third language group, i.e. the German-speaking part, but this group is rather small and was mostly not involved in the linguistic oppositions. In this paper, first, I want to describe how these oppositions influenced educational policy in Belgium. Second, I intend to show that the public opinion had changed so much that legal solutions could be found or that different factions were not interested as strongly as before in a fierce opposition. Indeed, the legislatures have made Belgium a federal state where the opposition between the French-speaking group and the Dutch- speaking group in relation to education has only a side effect on education policy. The two other oppositions still influence education policy, but they do not mobilize people anymore to fight the other group. This contribution will discuss four periods of the educational development: 1) 1830-1920; 2) 1921-1964; 3) 1965-1988; and 4) 1989 and later.

Verhoeven, J.C. (1992) The meaning of teacher unions in school administration. The Belgian case. ESRC Field Research Seminar, University of Warwick (UK), 1992

Research has shown that national teacher unions (TUs) had influence on the national education pol... more Research has shown that national teacher unions (TUs) had influence on the national education policy. In this paper is investigated whether local TUs influence local school policy and what strategies are applied. On the base of field work in twelve Belgian secondary schools, three issues are analized: first, the position of the TUs; second, the duties of the union and their represen-tatives; and third, the union strategies to influence school policy. Three union strategies emerged: 1) the strategies of the hopeless or a non-strategy, 2) the strategies of mutual understanding, and 3) the strategies of formal union control. These strategies were countered by two strategies of the heads: 1) make all teachers policy makers, and 2) make the union your ally. The research also shows that schools with a strong participatory decision making structure do not always coincide with union participation in the decision making.

Verhoeven, J.C. (1999) Some reflections on cross-cultural interviewing. Guest Lecture location:ESRC Seminar at the University of Warwick (UK) date:28th February 1999, 1999

Based on three cases three problems will be discussed: 1) the preparation of the interview; 2) th... more Based on three cases three problems will be discussed: 1) the preparation of the interview; 2) the interviewing process: mainly problems of creating good rapport, and problems of understanding during the interview; and 3) problems of interpretation.
Moreover, I will discuss how these problems may be interpreted by taking into account the analysis of the understanding of everyday life as conceived by Schutz and Luckmann (1974) and by Thomas (1995).

KUL. Onderzoeksverslag van het …, 2001

status: …, 2005

In 2002 werd in Vlaanderen het gelijke onderwijskansenbeleid (GOK) ingevoerd. Hierdoor kregen hee... more In 2002 werd in Vlaanderen het gelijke onderwijskansenbeleid (GOK) ingevoerd. Hierdoor kregen heel wat scholen extra uren om aan gelijke onderwijskansen te werken. De manier waarop zij concreet met die GOK-uren omgingen, konden zij zelf invullen. Hiertoe kregen ...

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1985) "Het Vrijheidsbegrip in het Werk van George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)." Politica. 35 (4) pp. 315-341 , 1985

In the social theory of Mead is freedom an important concept. The question I intend to answer in ... more In the social theory of Mead is freedom an important concept. The question I intend to answer in this paper is how does Mead see freedom. Since society is no monolith, this freedom should also be differentiated according to different domains. Subsequently, the questions will be asked: 1) What does freedom in society in general mean according to Mead, 2) what does freedom mean in ethics, 3) how does freedom appears in political institutions and 4) what is the place of freedom in scientific research.

$Research paper thumbnail of Een wereld vol breuken (A world full of fractures)$

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1997) 'De samenleving: een wereld vol breuken.' in: VERBEEK, J. & G. WILLEMS (eds.) Levens Lijnen. Schoolloopbaanbegeleiding tijdens het secundair onderwijs en in de overgang naar de werkplek of naar het hoger onderwijs. Leuven : Garant pp. 13-26

In deze bijdrage wordt een beschrijving gegeven van wat men met enige waarschijnlijkheid kan verw... more In deze bijdrage wordt een beschrijving gegeven van wat men met enige waarschijnlijkheid kan verwachten op korte termijn, niet wat er te verwachten valt over een halve eeuw. Wat wij zullen geven, zijn niet meer dan redelijke hypothesen die door de toekomst kunnen gefalsifieerd worden. Vijf fenomenen zullen in deze analyse worden opgenomen en telkens zal de vraag worden gesteld naar hun relevantie voor de studie- en de beroepskeuze en voor het onderwijs. Op de eerste plaats zullen we deze samenleving beschrijven als een samenleving die op weg is naar een risicosamenleving. Ook al loopt de ganse samenleving deze risico's, zij blijft wellicht een opgedeelde samenleving, waarin het onderscheid naar sekse, klasse en leeftijd een rol blijft spelen en conflict niet zal ontbreken. Ten derde zal, spijts collectieve druk, wellicht de individualisering toenemen. En ten slotte zullen we toelichten hoe het gezin en de arbeid onder invloed van deze factoren mogelijks veranderen

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1977) Belgium: a pacification struggle and a new balance of power. New York: The International Council on the Future of the University, 1977

When, in 1968-1969, a wave of student revolts swept through the Western European universities, Be... more When, in 1968-1969, a wave of student revolts swept through the Western European universities, Belgium did not escape. Street fights with police and occupations of university buildings were a familiar sight at some universities. Although in Belgium these revolts had to a large extent the same objectives as in the neighboring countries, one element was different. The stress of most revolts was on the demand for a new, more democratic management structure of the universities. But previously, there had already been a fierce revolt of the Flemish university community at Louvain (professors, assistants and students together) against the presence of a French-speaking university in the Flemish town of Louvain, and against the lack of self-management of the Flemish and Walloon sections of the university at Louvain. These two problems were resolved politically. The problem of the internal democratization of the universities was regulated by the act of 24 March 1971; in the universities of Brussels and Louvain it was still done before this time. This, however, did not meet with the approval of all members of parliament. Some of them thought that the universities should solve their own problems. The second problem brought more convulsion to parliament and government, to such an extent, that a government was forced to resign. The problem of Louvain had become a symbol of the Flemish emancipation struggle. The act of 28 May 1970 gave a permanent solution to this problem. This chapter is concerned with the origin of these two problems and with the effect of the political solutions given to them. A first series of questions will deal with the social framework in which the revolts took place, and which were the basis of the proposed solutions.

MAETENS, D. & J. VERHOEVEN (1994) The problem of Social Order and Morality: Comparing the Views of Erving Goffman and Niklas Luhmann. paper presented at the XIIIth World Congress of Sociology, July 18-2, Bielefield, Germany, 1994

For theory-strategic reasons, we decided to observe how Erving Goffman and Niklas Luhmann are obs... more For theory-strategic reasons, we decided to observe how Erving Goffman and Niklas Luhmann are observed by several fellow sociologists as being overly conservative and ideological figures in an otherwise progressive and scientific discipline. We will try to indicate how this bears on the way Goffman and Luhmann conceptualize the problem of social order and especially their views on morality, and how this is misunderstood in the 'conservative-uncritical' reading of their work. On the contrary, our interpretation of both Goffman and Luhmann stresses the 'progressive-critical' character of their perspectives

BEUSELINCK, I. & VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1999) Postgraduate research training in Belgium. The case of engineering. Leuven: Onderzoeksverslag van het Departement Sociologie 18 pp., 1999

Access 2 1.1. Conditions 2 1.1.1. Diploma 2 1.1.2. Other necessary conditions 2 1.1.3. Informal ... more Access 2
1.1. Conditions 2
1.1.1. Diploma 2
1.1.2. Other necessary conditions 2
1.1.3. Informal conditions 2
1.2. Actual course of admission 3
1.2.1. Initiative and motivation 3
1.2.2. Contract flexibility 4
1.2.3. Choosing a PhD subject 5
1.2.4. Foreign students 6
2. The doctoral training programme 6
2.1. The training programme: formal directives at the Faculty of Engineering 7
2.2. Assessment of, and experiences with, the training programme 7
2.2.1. Assessment by the professors 7
2.2.2. Assessment by the students 8
2.3 Conclusion 9
3. The global task package and completion time 9
3.1. What has to be done by whom? 9
3.2. How do professors and students experience this situation? 10
3.3. Completion time 11
4. Supervising and evaluating the doctoral work 11
4.1. Supervision 12
4.1.1. Two supervising bodies 12
4.1.2. Evaluation of, and experience with, the supervising bodies 12
4.2. Evaluation 14
4.2.1. The evaluation moments 14
4.2.2. Problems

POSTEL, H. & VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1999) Postgraduate education and training in Belgium: The case of business studies. Leuven: Onderzoeksverslag van het Departement Sociologie 21 pp, 1999

1. Introduction 1 2. Access 2 2.1. Numbers of doctoral students 2 2.2. The selection process 4 3.... more 1. Introduction 1
2. Access 2
2.1. Numbers of doctoral students 2
2.2. The selection process 4
3. The doctoral training programme 5
3.1. Duration 5
3.2. The structure of the training programme 6
3.2.1. The courses 6
3.2.2. Test over independent reading 7
3.2.3. The seminars 7
3.3. Students' evaluation of the programme 8
4. The tasks of the doctoral student 10
4.1. Teaching 10
4.2. Research 11
4.2.1. Designing and doing the research 12
4.2.2. Oral presentations 13
4.2.3. Writing 15
4.3. Other tasks 16
5. Supervision and evaluation 17
5.1. Supervision 17
5.2. Evaluation 18
6. Doctoral-study duration and job-market prospects 19
7. Summary 20

Hoger Onderwijs en Economie. Autonome instellingen of een sturende overheid,, 2000

Belgian (Flemish) Case Study, 2000

The project "Governmental policies and programmes for strengthening the relationship between high... more The project "Governmental policies and programmes for strengthening the relationship between higher education and the national economy (HEINE)" is a EU-funded TSER-programme (SOE-CT97-2018). The case study of Flanders was carried out by the Centre for Sociology of Education (Department of Sociology) of the University of Leuven. It involved a study of governmental higher-education policies and programmes over a period of about 30 years and four case studies of higher education institutions (two universities and two colleges of higher education). With document analysis and interviews a detailed view on different aspects of the interplay between government, higher education institutions, and the economy was established

Verhoeven, J.C. & Van Petegem, P. (2006) De implementatie van het gelijke onderwijskansendecreet (Self evaluation and effectiveness of management) .Doctoraal Seminarie voor het Departement Pedagogische Wetenschappen location:Leuven date:12 January 2006, 2006

De implementatie van het gelijke onderwijskansendecreet I Evaluatieonderzoek naar het zelfevaluer... more De implementatie van het gelijke onderwijskansendecreet I Evaluatieonderzoek naar het zelfevaluerend en beleidsvoerend vermogen van scholen en het ondersteunend aanbod.

In september 2002 werd het nieuwe gelijkeonderwijskansenbeleid (GOK) ingevoerd. Ruim 2.000 Vlaam... more In september 2002 werd het nieuwe gelijkeonderwijskansenbeleid (GOK) ingevoerd. Ruim 2.000 Vlaamse scholen – basis en secundair – gaan sindsdien door het leven als GOKschool.De scholen die over GOK-uren beschikken, moesten vooraf geen GOK-plan indienen, maar kregen drie jaar de tijd om een eigen GOK-beleid uit te bouwen. Zij dienden echter wel vormelijk een aantal voorschriften te volgen:zo dienden zij te starten met een beginsituatieanalyse, op basis waarvan zij een GOK-plan moesten opstellen en hun GOK-beleid concreet dienden uit te werken. In het tweede GOK-jaar moesten zij een tussentijdse zelfevaluatie van hun GOK-beleid maken. Na drie jaar werden zij geëvalueerd door de inspectie. Dergelijke aanpak biedt scholen de mogelijkheid een zeer schoolspecifiek beleid uit te bouwen en – waar nodig – ook bij te sturen. In dit artikel beschrijven we de resultaten van een onderzoek waarin scholen gedurende de eerste twee jaren gevolgd werden bij de implementatie van hun GOK-beleid. Op basis van deze resultaten krijgen we een zicht op het verloop van GOK in de scholen. Concreet wordt aandacht besteed aan het opstellen en het uitvoeren van de beginsituatieanalyse, het itbouwen van het GOKbeleid en het uitvoeren van de zelfevaluatie.

AELTERMAN, A., J.C. VERHOEVEN, I. ROTS & I. BUVENS (2007) Welk beeld heeft Vlaanderen over de leraar? (Does the Flemish population appreciate teachers?) ORD-dagen 2003 edition:30ste location:Kerkrade (Nederland) date:8 mei 2003, 2003

Onderzoek naar de wijze waarop de samenleving de rol en de verantwoordelijkheden van leerkrachten... more Onderzoek naar de wijze waarop de samenleving de rol en de
verantwoordelijkheden van leerkrachten percipieert en waardeert en hoe leerkrachten zelf hiertegen aankijken

Verhoeven, Jef C. (2006-2007) "Kansengelijkheid in het onderwijs en nieuwe uitdagingen" pp. 1-48 Onderwijs en samenleving : thema's in het werk van J. C. Verhoeven / Kurt De Wit, Leen Dom, Caroline Gijselinckx, Koen Stassen, Jef Peeraer (red.). - Leuven : Acco pages:1-482, 2006

Because of processes of globalisation, internationali-sation, and neo-liberal world policy Flande... more Because of processes of globalisation, internationali-sation, and neo-liberal world policy Flanders (Belgium) is facing new problems concerning inequality of opportunities in education. This might raise sever¬al questions. In this paper three questions are an¬swered: 1) is there equality of opportunity in the Flemish education system, 2) what is the policy of the Flemish government in relation to inequality of opportunities in education and which answers could be offered to remedy for inequality of opportunities in higher education, and 3) does the academisation of college education contribute to more equality of opportunities in higher education. Besides delivering a short description of the inequality of opportunity in education, the author criticised some of the limita-tions of the current research. The second part of the paper is mainly interested in the description of research about new actions in the USA for the promotion of equality of opportunity in higher education. The third part supports the thesis that the processes of academisation of college education contribute to more equality of opportunity, although the means provided by the government to attain this purpose are not sufficient.

De globalisering van de samenleving heeft aan de problematiek van de kansengelijkheid in het onderwijs een andere dimensie gegeven. Daarenboven gaat dit proces gepaard met een toenemend belang dat in onze samenleving aan het neoliberale gedachtegoed wordt gehecht. Het is duidelijk dat dit zijn sporen zal achterlaten op de ontwikkeling van het beleid voor meer kansengelijkheid. Ik licht deze begrippen eerst kort
toe om me dan toe te spitsen op drie vragen betreffende de kansengelijkheid in Vlaanderen

VERHOEVEN, J. C. (1979) Sociologie III (Theoretische sociologie). Leuven: Acco , 1979

The first chapter of this course offers an overview of the characteristics of science and the app... more The first chapter of this course offers an overview of the characteristics of science and the application of these characteristics on sociology. Chapter 2 presents an overview of the different definitions of the object of sociological research and its methodological consequences. Chapter 3 introduces readers to the concept of model in scientific research. Chapter 4 discusses the link between philosophy of science and sociology and its methodological consequences. Chapter 5 offers a concise overview of the concept of dialectics in sociology