Session Information
02 SES 06 A, Learning II: Excellence in VET
Paper Session
Contribution
Background
In 2014, the Dutch Ministry of Education decided to stimulate the development of excellence programmes in vocational education (VET). The aim was to increase the attractiveness of vocational education, by providing ambitious courses for gifted students and paying more attention to top performances and role models. Extra funds were made available to support VET-colleges in developing and experimenting with excellence programmes (€ 25 million annually from 2015 to 2018). Moreover, extra budget was provided for the funding of research projects aimed at gaining more insight into this rather new topic in VET. A consortium of four VET-colleges and two research institutes started a research project, funded by the Dutch Scientific Organisation (NRO-project 405-15-605).
Topic
In both international literature and the field of VET, little is known about how to define the term ‘excellence’. Also, little is known about characteristics of excellent students in VET and how specific programmes could contribute to the development of excellence.
This paper report on research on excellence programmes in four VET colleges in creative-technical courses providing excellence programmes for selected students. In the Netherlands, these four vocational schools were part of a pilot program and one of the first in developing and experimenting with excellence programs at upper secondary level (EQF 4) in VET.
The main research question leading this research was 'what characterises excellence programs, in creative-technical upper secondary VET, that successfully support students in their excellence development?' To answer the main question three sub-questions were formulated:
- What characterises an excellent student in creative-technical VET?
- What are the elements of excellence programs of the four VET schools?
- Which specific elements can be distinguished that contribute to the development of excellent students?
Although the scientific literature is mostly focused on a) giftedness in general, b) other education sectors (primary education, secondary education and higher education) or c) excellent professionals, it was used as a starting point in gaining knowledge on the topic of excellence in general and on characteristics of students in particular.
It was found that:
- excellence is dynamic and continuously evolving;
- excellence is developed through interaction between student and environment;
- 'the excellent student' does not exist but is a heterogeneous group (Renzulli, 2012, Matthews & Dai, 2014, Monteiro, 2014, Lappia, 2014).
Various strategies are used by researchers to gain insights into characteristics of excellent performing students, for example:
- Studying excellent students themselves - at the start, during or after participating in an excellence program;
- Looking into what current excellent performing professionals characterised in the time that they were still students (e.g. Pylväs & Nokelainen, 2015).
- Using characteristics of excellent professionals as a frame of reference or direction for what students should develop in an excellence programme or have already developed in comparison to the 'average' student (Scager et al., 2012).
Method
The research was descriptive and cyclic; each data collection builds on the previous, ultimately answering the research questions. To describe and evaluate the four excellence programmes that were studied, the methodology of realistic evaluation (Pawson & Tilly, 1997) was used. With this method, data was collected on: 1. The context (C) in which the set of interventions takes place; these are characteristics of the physical environment, but also characteristics of the target group to which the interventions are directed; 2. The interventions (I) itself (the excellence program, the role of teachers and external experts); 3. What the interventions provoke in the students: the mechanisms (M); 4. The final results of the interventions: the outcomes (O). The aim of realistic evaluation is the opening of the so-called 'black box': searching for explanations for the links between a set of interventions (the various aspects of the excellence program) the mechanisms and the effects. The methodology of the realistic evaluation provides answers to questions such as 'how and why do interventions work?' To answer the research questions, a number of sources were used: - Documentation from the schools regarding the excellence programs (curriculum descriptions, policy documents); - All students who participated in the excellence programs and started in school year 2015-2016 (cohort 1) and school year 2016-2017 (cohort 2) were involved in the research. The exact number differs per school (5-15 per school each year); - Developers and teachers: the group of people responsible for the development and implementation of the excellence programs. This group consisted of, for example, the project manager, teachers, management, policy advisors and external experts. The composition could differ per school; however, different perspectives were represented in this group. Each year focus groups with the ‘developers group’ and the students were held and semi-structured interviews with individual students. The research lasts four years, so that the entire three-year pilot period of the excellence programmes could be followed.
Expected Outcomes
Currently the first research question ‘What characterises an excellent student in creative technical VET?’ is answered. Combination of literature and field study revealed six characteristics of excellent VET students in the creative-technical domain: drive, self-direction, cooperation, craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and innovation. 'Drive' is a central concept because motivation, perseverance and passion have been appointed as important characteristic of excellence or as precondition to excel. The model was applicable for each of the four vocational schools to describe their specific view on excellent VET students. In the first half of 2019 data will be analysed to answer research question 2 and 3. Results of the complete research project will be presented at the ECER conference.
References
Lappia, J., Weerheijm, R., Pilot, A. en van Eijl, P. (2014). Gesprekken met honoursstudenten: Over persoonlijke en professionele ontwikkeling. Rotterdam: Hogeschool Rotterdam Uitgeverij. Matthews, D. en Dai, D. Y. (2014) Gifted education: changing conceptions, emphases and practice, International Studies in Sociology of Education, 24(4), 335-353, DOI: 10.1080/09620214.2014.979578. Monteiro, S., Almeida, L.S., Vasconcelos, R. M. en Cruz, J.F.A. (2014). Be(com)ing an excellent student: a qualitative study with engineering undergraduates, High Ability Studies, 25(2), 169-186, DOI: 10.1080/13598139.2014.966066 Pawson, R. & Tilley, N. (1997). Realistic Evaluation. London: SAGE Publications. Pylväs, L. en Nokelainen, P. (2015) School-to-work transition and development of work career of vocational skills competitors. In: Gester, M. en Freunds, L. (Eds.), Crossing Boundaries in Vocational Education and Training: Innocative Concept for the 21st Century Conference Proceedings. (pp. 51-55). Bremen: Renzulli, J.S. (2012). Reexamining the Role of Gifted Education and Talent Development for the 21st Century: A Four-Part Theoretical Approach, Gifted Child Quarterly 56(3), 150-159, DOI: 10.1177/0016986212444901. Scager, K., Akkerman, S.F., Keesen, F., Mainhard, M. T., Pilot, A. en Wubbels, T. (2012) Do honors students have more potential for excellence in their professional lives? Higher Educaction 64(1), 19-39, DOI: 10.1007/s10734-011-9478-z.
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