Elise de Bree Named Professor of Child and Youth Care Specializing in Learning Disorders at the University of Amsterdam
Elise de Bree has been appointed Professor of Child and Youth Care for Learning Disorders at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). ‘This chair addresses a range of subjects, with the aim to contribute to both theoretical knowledge and the practice of educational support.’
Development of basic skills
‘In this chair, we focus on children’s development of basic reading skills, including phonological decoding skills and reading comprehension, as well as basic spelling and arithmetic skills and the underlying verbal language skills,’ De Bree explains. The chair group conducts research to gain a better understanding of these developmental processes. ‘Take the ability to fluently and accurately read words, for instance. What cognitive processes are involved in children developing the required phonological decoding skills? And how do the motivation and socio-emotional processes of both the child and the professional affect the process of learning to read?’
How can education optimally teach basic skills?
In addition to gaining insight into children’s development of basic skills, the chair also researches how education can optimally teach these skills. ‘For example, what instructional methods work best for teaching phonological decoding skills?’ This knowledge is then used to evaluate current educational practices, as well as programmes to prevent reading difficulties. ‘How effective, for instance, are the “Bouw!” and “Klankkr8” programmes for toddlers? And how many different methods and how much knowledge and expertise do schools have available to teach children reading skills?’
Delivering the best possible support
Lastly, the chair is looking into what support is needed for children with severe and persistent learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia or a developmental language disorder. ‘How can we prevent these problems and how do we diagnose them? What is the best approach to treating and supporting children with these learning difficulties? To diagnose a learning difficulty, you need to determine whether it’s related to other factors such as multilingualism or behavioural issues. And to be able to provide proper treatment and support, you need to know which components are effective.’
Great social importance
‘The research conducted by this chair group is of great social importance,’ De Bree says. To illustrate this, she points to the plans made by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to help improve children’s basic skills. ‘Steps need to be taken to improve children’s reading, spelling and arithmetic skills. But what variables come into play and how can we tackle this effectively? This chair group provides knowledge that can help in addressing these social challenges and that meets the diverse educational needs of pupils and the support needs of teachers.’
The chair group is also closely involved with the approach to learning difficulties. ‘In both society and academia, there are all kinds of debates around how we should look at these disorders. Should we continue to apply a medical model and diagnostic approach to learning difficulties, or is it time to adopt a different perspective? And if we do so, how do we ensure that the children who need it most receive appropriate support?’
An exceptional and vital combination
De Bree looks forward to working on this broad range of subjects together with her team. ‘In the Netherlands, there are few professorships focusing on educational problems, even though children’s development of basic skills largely determines their subsequent (academic) development.’ De Bree considers it exceptional and vital that her chair group combines knowledge of the development of basic skills and learning difficulties with expertise in the area of motivation and socio-emotional processes. ‘This combination enables us to effectively research complex issues.’
In addition, De Bree eagerly anticipates collaborating with other research groups in educational and pedagogical sciences, such as preventive care and developmental psychopathology, as well as with the Educational Research Centre. She also looks forward to collaborating with educational support institutions. ‘This collaboration has a positive impact on the available body of knowledge, policy, and the practice of educational support.’