Patrick Woudstra, mbo theme advisor: “Everyone knows an mbo student, but no one knows mbo”.

Patrick Woudstra, mbo theme advisor: “Everyone knows an mbo student, but no one knows mbo”.

Ouders & Onderwijs is also there for parents with children in mbo. Patrick Woudstra, theme advisor mbo, plays an important role in that support. He is ready for parents who feel overwhelmed, whose children face challenges again and again, or who need lighter support. And he does that with passion. It is no wonder his nickname is 'Pitbull Patrick'.

“Everyone knows an mbo student, but no one knows mbo,” says Patrick Woudstra (48), theme advisor mbo at Ouders & Onderwijs. “Without mbo nothing much happens. You want to carry out the climate and energy transition, then you need mbo students. If you need a traffic controller because you travel by train to work: that is an mbo student. The roadside assistance if your car breaks down. The same applies to nurses and so on.” Who thinks that mbo is top priority for policy makers is mistaken. “For many policy makers mbo is a blind spot. Despite having more than half a million young people in it. You see that attention for primary and secondary education is much bigger. If I would want to change something it would be that.” Practical solutions As a teacher he gained much experience. “I taught for 21 years, both in mbo and higher education. I always served the same goal as parents: the best education for their children. I was also for some time internal support coordinator to guide students with specific care needs.” He was fully committed. “We had a student with a physical disability who was refused by special education. Then you make special adjustments to make sure she can, for example, take exams. We had much support from ambulant supervisors to find a practical location that would welcome people with disabilities. Colleagues said: can we handle this, we are not a care institution, but in the end it became one of the best success stories.” It deserves a serious approach.

Parents involvement Even teaching itself went very well for Woudstra. He even reached the final for teacher of the year. What did he do differently than other teachers? “Not giving homework,” he says laughing. “The nomination came from the students and they took action by making videos and interviews, which I still find overwhelming. In the end it was a surprise to my school governing body that I was nominated.” He thinks it remains important to involve parents in all school decisions. “Not all parents came to parents evenings. For some parents the threshold to come is high. We then actively visited all parents at home. Just a different approach, but it does lead to more participation.” Possibilities and impossibilities What does he bring to Ouders & Onderwijs?

Woudstra sees many bottlenecks in mbo. “Parent representation in mbo can be much better. In primary and secondary education a school participation council with parents is required, in mbo not. Only if at least 25 parents ask for it must the mbo governing body respond. Parents often have more power than they think.” In honor of our 10th anniversary, Ouders & Onderwijs in this series introduces some of our team members. Watch our anniversary page and social media to meet more faces that belong to the voices on the phone.