Dr J.M.A. Hermanns (1948) has been named Professor by Special Appointment in the Kohnstamm Chair in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), effective 1 January 2009. The chair was designated on behalf the Association for the Advancement of the Study of Educational Theory (VBSP).

The chair is named for Philip Abraham Kohnstamm (1875-1951), the father of scientific educational theory and didactic method in the Netherlands. The VBSP was founded in 1925 by a group of professors headed by Philip Abraham Kohnstamm, and would later go on to become the supervisory body for education.

In the Netherlands there is a markedly increasing focus on the way child rearing and education in the home, at school and in children's general environment influences the quality of society. There is also growing interest in the influence child rearing and education have on the emergence of a variety of social problems such as dropping out of school and criminality. Pedagogical scientific research can provide important stimuli for these developments. Researchers, as well as educationalists working in the field (both those trained at research universities and at universities of applied sciences) are being faced with important new questions, such as regarding the effects of government intervention - both coerced and otherwise - on education. Jo Hermanns aims to use research and education to contribute to the professionalisation of the field of educational theory.

Since 1991 Hermanns has worked full-time and part-time as Professor of Theoretical and empirical research regarding child rearing and education at the UvA, with an emphasis on empirical research on normal childrearing and education situations. In addition, he serves at a tutor (lector) in ‘Counselling of Mandated Clients at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, and he advises various departments, municipal administrations and organisations in the area of youth policy and youth care. See the links below for publications and additional information.