'Dare to be yourself in the classroom, because students learn most from a teacher who is genuine.'
About the teacher
My name is Jan-Wolter Smit. I teach pop music history and train future teachers on the Music in Education programme at ArtEZ Academy of Music in Enschede.
Before joining the conservatoire, I taught in secondary education for 23 years, mainly teaching history. I have also contributed to educational textbooks for many years, including Feniks, a history textbook series for pre-vocational secondary education (vmbo), published by ThiemeMeulenhoff.
Alongside my work at ArtEZ, I am co-founder and Head of Education at LessonUp, an interactive lesson platform widely used in Dutch education.
My field lies at the intersection of subject-specific teaching methods, curriculum development and educational innovation: how do you design a lesson in which students actively engage with music? In my teaching, I make extensive use of digital teaching methods, LessonUp and AI tools for teachers.
I play bass guitar and piano myself.
