Guide | 4 quadrant model (article)

How do you work in a planned and sustainable way to promote teacher expertise to achieve accessible education for these students? Much has been said and written in recent years about teacher learning and professionalization. This learning and professionalization takes place both informally, for example in the interaction with students in the classroom and through exchange with colleagues, and formally, by following training courses or educational programs.

Regarding expertise in the field of studying with a disability, the Maatstaf Committee states in its advisory report that institutions should actively promote expertise on support options, facilities and resources at the educational and institutional levels. It advises investing in knowledge development and structural assurance. The importance of this is also evident from research among students with support needs from the NSE. They appreciate the understanding they experience from lecturers, but at the same time indicate that the substantive knowledge of lecturers about support needs and accessibility is rated less highly.

What does the model offer?

The four-quadrant model supports institutions in planning the professionalization and safeguarding of knowledge about studying with a disability.

Who is the model for?

The model has been developed for professionals from higher education institutions, who are concerned with the professionalization of teachers at the educational or institutional level. It is about professionalizing in the field of studying with a disability and the accessibility of education for students with a support need.

The Quadrant Model

Four scenarios of professionalization

The four-quadrant model distinguishes four scenarios that show how professionalization around accessible education for students with support needs can be organized within an institution.

On the vertical axis is organization versus individual: this axis indicates who within the institution takes the initiative for professionalization.
On the horizontal axis are ad hoc and policy versus each other: this axis indicates the extent to which professionalization arises from a shared vision and structural policy, or, on the contrary, is incidental and based on separate initiatives.

The combination of these axes produces four scenarios. Each scenario can describe who professionalizes, what the subject is, how the professionalization takes place, why it happens and what effects it has. Of course, there are also hybrid forms and variants of these scenarios.

Questions for dialogue

Within courses and institutions, the model can be used to support dialogue about planned professionalization. Three key questions guide this process:

1. What scenarios fit the current situation?
2. Which scenarios match the desired situation?
3. What actions, stakeholders and resources are needed to get there?

Teachers within an institution request training on studying with ADHD. The institution’s professionalization academy offers this training, but due to too few registrations, the training has been repeatedly canceled.

Case example

Therefore, in a conversation with an HR professional, the following questions came up:

• Who has the professionalization needs?
• Is it an individual desire or does it stem from the vision of the organization?
• Is there a central policy, or does the responsibility lie with individual teachers or programs?

The four-quadrant model proved to be a useful tool here. It helped to identify the current situation (scenario I) and to formulate ambitions and actions to move toward the desired scenarios (II, III or IV).

Scenario	Initiative	Degree of policy	Features	Impact/risk
I – Individual & ad hoc	Teacher or staff member	No or limited policy	Professionalization arises from personal interest or direct need of the students.	Enthusiasm and commitment, but fragile and unsustainable.
II – Organizational & ad hoc	Training / team / service	Not yet embedded in policy	Departments or teams organize training sessions or workshops on current questions.	Rapid response, but risk of fragmentation and varying quality.
III – Individual & policy	Teacher or staff member	Supported by policy and vision	Personal initiatives align with institutional policies or qualification pathways (such as BKO/SKO).	Enhances individual motivation, but may have limited reach.
IV – Organizational & policy	Institution/Faculty	Structurally embedded in policy	Professionalization is part of established policy, systematically included in pathways and quality assurance.	Broad assurance, sustainable anchoring and consistent quality.

The model shows where an institution is now and what direction it wants to develop. Professionalization often starts in scenario I (individual, ad hoc) and works toward scenario IV (organizational, policy-based) in order to achieve sustainable assurance.

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