Tessa Mearns
Assistant professor
- Name
- Dr. T.L. Mearns
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 6106
- t.l.mearns@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0003-4914-0365
Tessa Mearns is assistant professor at ICLON.
More information about Tessa Mearns
PhD candidates
Before I came to work at ICLON I was a teacher in secondary education, first in England and from 2010 at a large, multicultural bilingual (tto) school in Eindhoven. In 2015 I completed my PhD research on the motivation of havo students in tto and 'regular' education. I started at ICLON in 2017 as an assistant professor (UD).
I am coordinator of the World Teachers Programme (WTP) – a bilingual variant of ICLON’s teacher education for students who want to focus on teaching in multilingual and multicultural contexts, such as bilingual education (tto) or international schools. In the WTP, I am a supervisor and I teach specialized seminars on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), intercultural communication, global citizenship and culturally-responsive teaching. I also supervise students' research. I have been actively involved in teacher professional development, alongside initial teacher education and research, since 2022.
My own research is about CLIL and bilingual education, about equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and if possible, about both together. For example, I am currently working on a study on assessment in CLIL, a study on EDI in teacher education and a study on how teacher education, students and schools make use of a tool aimed at developing competences in CLIL, cultural responsiveness and inclusion, critical thinking and intercultural competence. In addition, I am involved in international projects and consortia on CLIL and subject-specific language, and on inclusive higher education. I also supervise six PhD students on various topics related to CLIL, EDI and language teaching.
For me, the learner is always at the centre. Particularly with regard to professional development, education must fit with the needs and learning goals of those you have in front of you, and with their context at school. At the same time, I'm not afraid to challenge you to consider things from a different perspective. I am also a strong believer in 'co-learning': I learn at least as much from course participants and students (and their students) as they learn from me.
I really want students to achieve their own learning goals – even if sometimes in a slightly adjusted form – and that they gain insight into their own growth and where they want to go next. From a somewhat selfish perspective, I am also very happy if I can take away some lessons for myself and my own future practice.
Assistant professor
- ICLON
- Onderzoek
- Liu X., Mearns T.L. & Admiraal W. (2024), “For me, it is important to maintain self while adapting.”: Understanding Chinese foreign language teachers’ identity in an intercultural context, Asia Pacific Journal of Education : .
- Jong N.H. de, Berns J. & Mearns T.L. (2023), Toetsing als vertrekpunt voor vernieuwing, Levende Talen Magazine 110(3): 30-35.
- Dale L. & Mearns T.L. (2023), CLIL challenges in designing learning experiences. In: Banegas D.L. & Zappa-Hollman S. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of content and language integrated learning: Routledge.
- Mearns T.L., Kampen E. van & Admiraal W. (2023), CLIL in The Netherlands: three decades of innovation and development. In: Banegas D.L. & Zappa-Hollman S. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of content and language integrated learning: Routledge.
- Jong N.H. de, Berns J. & Mearns T.L. (2023), Toetsing als vertrekpunt voor vernieuwing, Levende Talen Magazine 110(3): 30-35.
- Ertugruloglu E.O., Mearns T.L. & Admiraal W.F. (2023), Scaffolding what, why and how?: A critical thematic review study of descriptions, goals, and means of language scaffolding in Bilingual education contexts, Educational Research Review 40: 100550.
- Çal A., Mearns T.L. & Admiraal W.F. (2023), Two worlds apart? : Engineering students’ perceptions of workplace English, Business and Professional Communication Quarterly : 1-27.
- Banegas D.L. & Mearns T.L. (2023), The Language Quadriptych in content and language integrated learning: findings from a collaborative action research study, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development : .
- Liu X., Mearns T. & Admiraal W. (2023), Teacher-student relationship as a lens to explore teacher identity in an intercultural context, Teaching and Teacher Education 136: 104379.
- Mearns T.L. (28 April 2022), A disciplinary literacies perspective on subject teaching (or: why every teacher is NOT a language teacher). Teaching and Teacher Learning. Leiden: ICLON Leiden University. [blog entry].
- Mearns T.L. & Jong N.H. de (2021), Sketching a motivational landscape: motivational variation within bilingual secondary education in the Netherlands, Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 9(1): 85-111 (4).
- Çal A., Admiraal W.F. & Mearns T.L. (2021), The what - how - why of English in the workplace: perspectives from Turkish engineers, European Journal of Engineering Education : .
- Mearns T., Struys E. & Surmont J. (2021), The fifth C: CLIL principles and practices in local contexts [symposium] (AILA 2021 World Congress). [other].
- Mearns T. & LeBruyn B. (2021), Language learning through language content: Rediscovering our subject [symposium] (AILA 2021 World Congress). [other].
- Mearns T.L. & Dale L. (2021), Een vak leren op de vleugels van taal: dubbelinterview over de didactiek van tweetalig onderwijs, Levende Talen Magazine 108(4): 4-8.
- Mearns T. (2020), Motivatie: Een taal leren. Leuk?. In: Dönszelmann S., Beuningen C. van, Kaal A. & Graaff R. de (Eds.), Handboek Vreemdetalen Didactiek: Vertrekpunten, Vaardigheden, Vakinhoud. Bussum: Coutinho. 87-100.
- Mearns T. & Hajer M. (2020), Taalbeleid, CLIL en tweetalig onderwijs: Over de grenzen van de vakles. In: Dönszelmann S., Beuningen C. van, Kaal A. & Graaff R. de (Eds.), Handboek Vreemdetalen Didactiek: Vertrekpunten, Vaardigheden, Vakinhoud. Bussum: Coutinho. 167-180.
- Mearns T. & Platteel T. (2020), Exploring teacher support for a content and language integrated modern languages curriculum, Language, Culture and Curriculum : .
- Mearns T.L. (2019), ‘Waar gaat je vak over?’ Actieonderzoek naar inhoud in de mvt-les, Levende Talen Magazine 106(8): 10-15.
- Mearns T. (2019), Het breken van het CLIL-monopolie: Reflecties op de CLIL Connect Conference 2019, Levende Talen Magazine 106(4): .
- Mearns T. & Tammenga-Helmantel M. (2019), De toekomst van het talenonderwijs ligt in handen van de lio’s: Een inhoudsrijke Landelijke LIO-dag 2019, Levende Talen Magazine 106(5): 49.
- Mearns T.L. & Graaff R. de (2018), Bucking the trend? Motivational differences between boys and girls who opt in or out of bilingual education, Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 6(1): 1-26.
- Kampen E. van, Mearns T.L., Meirink J.A., Admiraal W.F. & Berry A. (2018), How do we measure up? A review of Dutch CLIL subject pedagogies against an international backdrop, Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics 7(2): 127-154.
- Mearns T.L. & Graaff R. de (2018), Bilingual education and CLIL in the Netherlands: The paradigm and the pedagogy, Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics 7(2): 122-128.
- Mearns T.L., Graaff R. de & Coyle D. (2017), Motivation for or from bilingual education? A comparative study of learner views in the Netherlands, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism : 1-14.
- Mearns T.L. (2015), Chicken, Egg or a Bit of Both? Motivation in bilingual education (TTO) in the Netherlands (Dissertatie, School of Education, University of Aberdeen / Utrecht University). Supervisor(s): Coyle D.
- Mearns T.L., Coyle D. & Graaff R. de (2014), Aspirations and assumptions: a researcher's account of pupil involvement in school-based research, International Journal of Research & Method in Education 37(4): 442-457.
- Mearns T.L. (2012), Using CLIL to enhance pupils’ experience of learning and raise attainment in German and health education: a teacher research project, The Language Learning Journal 40(2): 175-192.