Our team
Petra Bertens - °1972
chairperson
After nearly thirty years in primary education, I believe that learning is much more than just transferring knowledge. For me, education is about thinking, feeling, and doing—about experiencing, discovering, and growing in connection with others and the world around you. Learning does not only happen at school and not only through one person: we learn from and with each other, and it is precisely in that collaboration that the greatest opportunities lie.
My conviction led me to experiential education, in which inclusion is achieved by consciously engaging with a broad spectrum of learning activities. Learning happens through exploring, playing, discovering, and working together. Methods provide structure, but they do not always suit every learning style. Together with my colleague Jacqueline, I developed new teaching materials based on this idea and we conducted four years of practical research, with our students as our sounding board. Later, I found a kindred spirit in Elke from Flanders, with whom the collaboration led to further deepening and new perspectives.
My curiosity is my compass. I have held almost every position in education, from teacher to internal supervisor, from language coordinator to educational team leader and cooperative learning coach. In recent years, I have focused primarily on vision development, educational content, and pedagogical-didactic practice. Through workshops and co-teaching, I have guided teachers in connecting theory and practice and in shaping their own educational identity.
As the mother of two gifted young adults, I learned how essential listening, giving space, and enrichment are. Their need for depth confirmed that learning is a lifelong process and that education does not stop at the school gate.
During my first trip to Ghana, I volunteered as a teacher and was deeply moved by the resilience and ambition of the children and teachers there. Despite scarce resources, I saw the same dreams and eagerness to learn as we have here, and once again it became clear that it is the teacher who makes the difference.
That same conviction brings me to EduTWIns. We focus not only on schoolchildren, but on anyone who wants to learn. EduTWIns works across borders, across ages, across countries, and across cultures because encounters create new opportunities and make us richer and stronger as human beings. My commitment is to share experience, vision, and practical knowledge, to create lasting connections, and thus to promote equal opportunities.
For me, education is an encounter between people, ideas, and worlds. Learning never stops; learning together is the most beautiful form of progress.
Jacqueline van Dijck - °1965
secretary/treasurer
I have been working in primary education since 2008. Before that, I worked in the business world and ran my own company. From the start of my teaching career, I wanted to shape education differently, mainly driven by my own experiences. I always felt that I didn't fit into the regular school system. I wanted to experience, discover, and figure things out for myself rather than be taught. When I started teaching, I wanted to do things differently, to create more meaningful education that matters, that fits the development of each child and is conceptual rather than divided into separate subjects. Designing inquiry-based and project-based learning is my passion. For me, education must be experience-oriented. Learning does not only take place on paper, but in the environment and with and from each other: social learning. I also believe that children should understand their own learning path and be able to influence it themselves: competence perception and autonomy.
The schools where I have worked hold these values in high regard. As a result, I have been involved in developing conceptual, future-oriented education that matters throughout all these years, both as a teacher and as an innovation coach guiding the team towards further educational development.
In addition to my work as a teacher and educational developer, I have also been involved at the school board level in coaching colleagues in the field of educational development and innovation, guiding new colleagues in further developing their pedagogical and didactic skills, and developing future-oriented education.
For a number of years, I have been working with Petra to further develop the conceptual education we have in mind, and through her I also got to know Elke. With the same vision of education and the same drive to align education with children's development, we quickly found common ground in a project for teaching materials for gifted children. When Petra asked me to join her in a foundation for Ghana, I didn't have to think twice.
My involvement with EduTWIns feels very natural to me because I believe in equal opportunities, that future-oriented learning is collaborative learning, and that everyone benefits from connecting people and worlds. Children and young people in Ghana have the same dreams and motivation to develop, and it is wonderful to create opportunities for them here. Every child wants to grow, and when we work together, we also strengthen the communities surrounding these young people. I want to contribute to EduTWIns by using my experience, bringing people together, and strengthening education so that we can really make a difference. Learning is a lifelong process, and it is most powerful when you can do it together.
Elke Coorens - °1974
Board Member
Since 1996, I have been continuously active in education, driven by a deep conviction that learning makes people stronger. I deliberately started my career in secondary/higher education, where I worked for many years with young people in vocational education in a multicultural context. There I learned what teaching really means: creating opportunities, pushing boundaries, and believing in growth, even when it is not self-evident.
My passion for education led me to develop teaching materials, coordinate policy, and coach teachers. As an educational author, I worked for publishers and later founded Arkades: a primary school for full-time gifted education, born out of a personal need and a broader social need. With three locations in Flanders and a focus on pedagogical innovation, I was able to use my expertise for a target group that often falls through the cracks.
My commitment to EduTWIns stems from the same core values: equal opportunities, future-oriented learning, and connecting people and worlds. In Ghana, I see the same needs and the same potential as we have here: children who dream, young people who want to grow, communities that are powerful when they are supported. Through EduTWIns, I want to use my experience to strengthen education, share knowledge, and help bring about lasting change.