Peter Hoefnagels

About Peter Hoefnagels

Peter Hoefnagels is the largest YouTube teacher in the Netherlands with 356,000 subscribers and 2 million views per month. In his videos, Peter Hoefnagels demonstrates various ways and methods to engage with a class. He challenges students and pushes boundaries. How do you deal with difficult and challenging students? How do you handle teenagers? How do you ensure that students are actively involved in the lesson? How do you encourage them to think critically, ask questions, and learn together?

Peter Hoefnagels not only addresses didactic challenges, but he also shows in his videos how various current social issues are discussed in his classroom. Topics such as social media use, (cyber)bullying, racism, homosexuality, school dropouts, drug use, gaming addiction, depression among youth, etc., are covered in his videos. With an average of 2000 comments per month, Peter Hoefnagels has become the largest discussion platform in Dutch education.

In 2012, Peter Hoefnagels created the six-part TV series ‘Help, I’m a Teacher’ for NTR. The series explores how far one can go to touch and inspire students. As a viewer, you get a unique insight into how Peter teaches a multicultural class. Additionally, we see how Peter’s approach leads to discussions among his fellow teachers during staff meetings.

In 2018, Peter Hoefnagels began conducting interviews with celebrities about their high school experiences. His interviews are dynamic and often newsworthy as he challenges the interviewee to engage in role-playing alongside the Q&A. This innovative and inspiring interviewing style ensures that celebrities like Brigitte Kaandorp, Giel Beelen, and Dylan Haegens step out of their comfort zones, providing viewers with a unique glimpse into how they were as students and how their school years contributed to their identities.

With 15 years of experience as a trainer and training actor in education, Peter knows better than anyone where the pain points in teaching lie. Authenticity, natural authority, and building trust are, according to Peter, key concepts that lead to developing your own teaching style. Discovering your own (unconscious) beliefs and applying humor are, according to Peter, the framework upon which you can hang your didactic skills.

Peter Hoefnagels speaks in an inspiring manner from practical experience. After all, everything hinges on making genuine contact with your students. Through examples, Peter takes you through the various teaching styles and how to make them your own. His speaking style is characterized by unexpected insights and the humorous context in which he frames his story. In addition to being a YouTube teacher, Peter Hoefnagels is also a theater documentary maker and screenwriter. He created the six-part satirical series ‘Hokjesgeestigheden’ and the ‘Institute for the Accidental Passerby’ for NTR. In 2010, he made a documentary about education in Sint Eustatius.