Inspiration
“I grew up in a large family with an Indian father, in a multicultural working-class neighborhood. At our home, the door was always open to everyone. People with different cultural and social backgrounds walked in and out all day.
My motivation to become a teacher stems from my high school years. Back then, I felt unseen and certainly not acknowledged. To make a difference for the students who came after me, I enrolled in teacher training. I'm convinced that when people are recognized at the right moments, they can make great strides in their development. Recognition of qualities is also an important core value of TopTaal become.
During the internships of the Dutch teacher training program, I came into contact with refugee children and children of guest workers, who taal and still had to get to know the culture. That experience made such a deep impression on me that, in addition to my work as a Dutch as a Second Language teacher, I enrolled in the Dutch as a Second Language expert program at Tilburg University.
The pedagogical side of teaching has always appealed to me. And because I can identify well with other cultures due to my upbringing and background, the establishment of TopTaal a logical next step.”
Everything we do at TopTaal comes from our passion: we want to ensure that everyone in the Netherlands experiences Dutch culture and taal In such a way that they can participate and develop optimally. For us, development is a fundamental right and a prerequisite for a pleasant society. This means more pleasant relationships and greater mutual understanding. But a large group of people is still left behind. They want to participate, but can't. They often don't yet have sufficient mastery of the skills that are important in our society.
Fortunately, this concern is also shared by politicians. In recent years, the focus has been on first taal learning and obtaining the integration diploma. But with only an integration diploma and basic knowledge of the taal Aren't you there yet? In the renewed integration system, students will be guided towards active participation in society through an integrated approach to adult education and integration. This requires practice-oriented training in collaboration with municipalities, businesses, and (volunteer) organizations, tailored to the students' personal learning path, in which we will also involve their environment. TopTaal offers competency-based education in combination with taallessons. For example, lessons in dealing with home administration, parenting, education and work. Courses in the field of Taal & Work and Taal & Parental involvement are good examples of how it should be in our opinion. Participants improve their command of Dutch taal and at the same time learn how to better participate in our society. Competency-based learning is a key prerequisite for this.
Together with our clients and partners, we ensure that participants in our courses feel happier in our country by participating in society. I'm proud that we have so many satisfied students. But also that we can continually challenge existing and new clients with innovative, supportive tools. The student monitoring system My TopTaal is a very recent example of this. Although we are constantly looking for ways to improve things.
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