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PULSED MAGAZINE TALENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATION
N r. 6-2018 Versie 1.0
EN
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Preface The importance of talent development has been high on the agenda for a number of years. National and international, for workers and for students. A great deal of effort is also being made within Fontys to allow talent development to be part of the education programs. Despite the ongoing attention for this theme, there are still many questions about how talent development can best be stimulated. In the past four years, we have worked on various experiments with talent-developing education. The experiences gained by Fontys PULSED have been translated into our own vision and a concrete approach for talent-developing education. For anyone with an opinion about talent and talent development, for everyone with an inquisitive eye on this theme and for anyone who wants to be inspired, this is a commendable document. We start by naming what talent-developing education is. Then we describe why talent development is of great importance right now. Next, you can read about some results of talent-developing education. Then we inform you about practical execution, and finally, the realization of talent-developing education is considered.
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CONTENT
The essence of talent-developing education.
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The importance of talent development.
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Results of talent-developing education.
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Talent-developing education in practice.
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Realizing talent-developing education.
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Sources.
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The essence of talent-developing education The question of what talent is, according to science, produces many different answers. Presumably, every reader has his own (intuitive) definition of talent. It is therefore a tricky and unwise matter to say what talent-developing education is. That is why we have chosen to answer the question of what talent developing education could be, within the framework of our own vision on talent and within the frameworks of MBO and HBO education. Talent is the uniqueness of every person. That which makes a person special and with which he makes a creative valuable contribution to his environment.1 The potential of being talented is innate in everyone, and it requires growth and development from every person in order to express talent. It is not the question whether someone has the potential but much more in what way and in which form this potential becomes visible. An approach of people being talented, having strengths, fits well with research results from positive psychology. Both research into the motivating effect of approaching strengths and the actual effect of approaching the strengths of people show positive effects.2 For most people, development is needed to get from potential to talent; to the actual recognition and use of the talent. Many people have often forgotten the uniqueness of themselves, because it suits them so naturally, or because they pay particular attention to what is not yet good enough. In education, there is a tendency to focus a lot on what is not yet satisfactory and a side effect of this approach is that many students only pay attention to improving themselves. In addition to attention for talent and talent development, attention must also be paid to the limitations of each person. For this side, the term ‘dragons’ is chosen. Dragons are not seen as a necessary evil that you better say goodbye to, but just like the other side of the talent medal. Either metaphorically ‘no sun without shadow’. A different view on education. The approach to talent as the characterization of each person’s unique, potentially already innate and present to every person has a number of consequences. For example, professional knowledge and skills are not necessarily required to be talented. Or that that talent also has an impact on others. Or that that talent is very close to someone’s personality, identity or own nature. Identity and identity development is a relevant theme for students in MBO or HBO education that can be linked to talent development. Identity and identity development are investigated in different scientific areas. As a common denominator, it is mainly seen that identity is continuously evolving and that for this development interaction with others, feedback from others and reflection on the meaning of experiences is important.3 Talent-developing education can be characterized as education whereby the student is stimulated on the basis of experiences and feedback from relevant others to discover, develop and utilize their own valuable uniqueness. With this as the first prelude, the importance of talent-developing education can be further developed.
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The importance of talent development Is it useful to invest time in the design of talent-developing education? Is it not the umpteenth hype that we should or want to follow? Or are there useful arguments available to tackle this challenge right now, at the beginning of the 21st century? In addition to the great prosperity growth of the twentieth century, this century has also brought about more standardization in the desired knowledge and behaviour of people in the work environment. Various automation and information waves have slowly but radically changed the nature of the labour market. And it seems that everything that can be standardized can ultimately be implemented by machines (robots). A labour market in which all the work to be standardized is done by machines gives new demands and expectations to labour for people. Jobs in which innovation is requested and work with an important relational aspect, such as services, care and education are difficult to standardize. Work in which you as a person are required to deliver special, unique, personal added value. To be able to make a meaningful contribution in such a labour market, personality, individuality, authenticity and the ability to use these characteristics in a unique way become increasingly important. With the technology as a booster, the playing field of knowledge multiplication has changed enormously. Compared with the time that books were written by hand, the online availability of large amounts of knowledge and experience, the increase in communication forms and the possibility of worldwide communication, gives an amount of opportunities that seem to increase exponentially. And it is precisely with the increase in the number of possibilities for innovation that the distribution issues also increase. Distribution of scarce resources, distribution of prosperity and well-being on a limited planet, distribution of people across countries and distribution of limited financial resources. The increase in this type of problem offers opportunities for professionals who are able to look at these complex issues in a unique and innovative way. Think of “The donut economy� an alternative to the current economic model. The donut is seen as the economic playing field that is bounded on the inside by all kinds of requirements for a minimum necessary social foundation and is bounded on the outside by the ecological conditions.4 Another approach is that during the initial training courses students gain skills that enable them to continue learning without formal education during their entire career. SLO’s National Center of Expertise for Curriculum Development identifies skills for the 21st century.5 One of the skills is self-regulation, which also includes the independent learning capacity. Stimulating the independent learning capacity is in line with the lifelong learning objectives. Employers are increasingly asking for authentic employees with their own personalities. With only the diploma with which you have demonstrated professional expertise, you do not show who you are as a person now. More and more professional domains are working on personal branding. The increase in diversity, in personality, professional background, cultural or other backgrounds also makes greater use of the skills to use diversity in collaborations, such that the individual contribution is done justice and the combined results increase. Both secondary vocational education and higher vocational education must prepare for the new questions that are or will be considered competent at the start. And because the technological, social and economic developments that lead us to the above future will be unpredictable, fast and capricious, it is time that MBO and HBO education give priority to necessary changes.
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Results of talent-developing education The minor Embrace Technology, Entrepreneurship and Creativity is structured according to the principles described in this memorandum. In June 2018, the third tranche of students successfully completed the minor. On the basis of the final presentations of 85 students about their personal development and on the basis of several interviews with students ½ year and a year after completing the minor, the following picture emerges. • • • • •
Students allow themselves to ask for help from fellow students and experts for parts that they are less good at. This removes an important reason for stress and dissatisfaction. Perfectionism of students has been given a manageable form. In many cases, students have adjusted their self-image. They strive less intensively to meet an ideal picture. They see the value of how they themselves are and have experienced how they are valuable to others from themselves. Students are able to make future choices based on activities that make them enthusiastic and get energy. They are also capable of investigating the factors that contribute to this and the need to take action when the motivation and commitment are reduced. Students from the first and second batch continue their major studies from a self-conscious view of what they want to learn and what type of education suits them well. Several times it appears that they have a lot of difficulty with competence-based education where there is little room for their own initiative to walk different self-chosen paths. Students are motivated to use the insights about their identity and personal development in the continuation of their studies. There are also several students who want to go further with the personal development, as used during the minor, because they feel that there are still relevant issues.
The potential of the education described is being recognized by more and more parties. Partly due to an increase of 130% of the student numbers, follow-up research into the proceeds of this talent-developing education will be a point of attention in the coming year.
Talent developing education in practice Talent-developing education consists of a balanced mix of five ingredients. 1. Gain experience. 2. Learning in a social context. 3. Strengthen which is already good. 4. Reflection. 5. Making learning outcomes visible. Gain experience. Gaining experiences is the starting ingredient. This requires an education program that offers students opportunities for many different experiences. Experiences in which the student interacts with fellow students, teachers and clients with his or her developing identity. These interactions offer the opportunity for the students to test, confirm or revise the self-images. Especially a lot of interaction with the world outside the study context is valuable. The educational program has several modules in which a tangible product is developed. Each module is concluded with presentations and feedback from various people from outside education. Children, entrepreneurs, experts and artists come to challenge the students to better tailor their products to the wishes and needs of future customers. The modules are designed to challenge students to design-based learning.6 With a continuous challenge to experiment, students have every opportunity to gain success experiences and experience that some actions do not deliver what they had hoped for and expected. Design-based learning gives many opportunities to strengthen talents and recognize dragons. Learning in a social context. Matching the unique talent of each student is the opportunity to also use the talents of others. By deploying others on the basis of their talent you prove the other person a service and you give yourself the space to be able to share your own talent. In the traditional education system and in large parts of the labour market, it is not common for people to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses. The aim is often to be strong in as many areas and themes as possible. Dependence on others is not often seen as a virtue. By encouraging the students to be honest about both their talents and their limitations, an attempt is made to create a work and learning environment where the talented person takes the lead. In this way diversity is used, cooperation is learned and everyone can take the opportunity to make a unique contribution. In our education we organize collaboration in multidisciplinary groups. This increases the chance of interdependence becoming visible and being used. In the case of individual projects, the students work in a joint educational space, as a result of which multidisciplinary cooperation quickly develops.
Strengthen which is already good. Two approaches to education are mentioned by Dewulf.7 On the one hand, that of getting rid of shortages. The so-called GAP approach in which the difference between the current level and the desired level has to be minimized. On the other hand, the side of developing strengths where previously realized successes contribute to the motivation to grow and develop. In the talent-developing education that we carry out, a lot of attention is given to strengthening the already existing strengths and qualities of students. It is precisely the space and attention to gain success experiences that contribute to an increase in the intrinsic motivation to (continue to) learn. This approach is a strong counterpart to the feeling of inadequacy that is often present in many students. In talent workshops, students are given tools with which they can name, recognize and learn to use their talents and dragons. The tools support the process of development whereby the students also teach themselves a new way of talking and thinking about their own selfimage. The process of measuring and assessing8 in the curriculum gives a lot of space to the student to indicate in which way the required learning outcomes are achieved. This creates a great sense of ownership for the students’ learning process. Reflection Reflection is needed to translate experiences into new insights, to translate successes and failures into new behaviour and to adjust self-image and identity.9 Daily events offer the opportunity to recognize, apply and further develop talent. This learning route is intensive, especially because development is a matter of re-awareness of unconscious patterns. Patterns that can be recognized and strengthened. Workshops and regular conversations with a personal coach provide the students with the support they need. Both learning to learn from experiences and becoming aware of their own talents as well as seeing the impact of the dragons is addressed in personal coaching. Making learning outcomes visible The fifth and final ingredient is making visible the learning outcomes of and for the student. The learning outcomes are shown by the student in a portfolio where the required learning outcomes are shown with which learning experience they have been achieved. The learning outcomes have built up during the entire educational period and the portfolio is filled during the entire educational period. In contrast to the portfolio pur sang, in which the artist shows previously made work, it is important for a portfolio, that all kinds of intermediate steps, intermediates, successes and failures are collected; development must be made visible. In addition to a collection of products, supporting texts, examples and explanations are needed to get an insight into the way in which the student has developed new meaning constructions. The students are supported by their coach when creating and filling their portfolio. Through regular feedback, feed up and feedforward on the portfolio, students learn to make their learning outcomes visible.
Realizing talent-developing education. Talent-developing education can be realized. Also within the framework of a regular higher professional education institute. This conviction is supported by interesting changes in the educational landscape and by our own experiences. •
There are more and more national known initiatives in which the basic structure of education is organized differently. Agora in Roermond10 is a well-known example or the University College in Middelburg.11
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NVAO, which tests the quality assurance of higher professional education on behalf of the national government, is experimenting with new forms of accreditation in which more and more attention is being paid to the extent to which educational institutions themselves have their own quality awareness.12
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New didactic concepts arise in which the more traditional division of roles between lecturer and student (as the person who knows and the person who does not know it yet) changes. Design Based Learning is a good example of this.
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The cooperation between vocational education and the professional field is becoming ever more intensive and has new forms. The emergence of the hybrid teacher13 and the establishment of centres or expertise14 where education and business actually work together are good examples of this.
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New terminologies emerge from science, with which the different goals you would like to achieve with education can be distinguished. Biesta15 talks about qualification, socialization and personal development as three distinct and mutually complementary goals.
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Educational science knowledge16 has yielded meaningful alternatives and additions to the often too dominant behaviourism in which punishment and rewarding are the mechanisms by which learning is stimulated. Social constructivism has the basic assumption that people build up their reality through interaction with their fellow human beings. And the neuro-sciences17 emphasize the importance of the emotional state of the learner for the yield of learning efforts.
Our own experiences have shown that much more needs to be done for talent developing education than only adding a supply-oriented series of lessons in talent development. The following, not exhaustive list, gives an initial picture of elements that are necessary to achieve education in which talent development is well reflected. • • • • • • •
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An education program according to the principles of Design Based Learning. Development of the educational program in collaboration with students, teachers and professional field. Coordination with examination boards during the design of the educational program. Sustainable cooperation with partners from the professional field. A physical learning environment that is organized as a living and working environment. Teachers and coaches who can deal flexibly with tempo differences, and learning preferences of their students. Teachers and coaches who share the conviction that every student is capable of realizing his potential and can and wants to learn from intrinsic motivation.
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Sources 1 GabriĂŤls, K. (2011) De talentmanager, Het boekenschap 2 Bohlmeijer, E., Bolier, L., Westerhof G., & Walburg J.A., (Eds) (2103) Handboek Positieve psychologie, Amsterdam: Boom 3 Ruijters, M., (Ed) (2015) Je binnenste buiten, Deventer: Vakmedianet 4 Raworth, K. (2017) Donuteconomie, Amsterdam: NwAdam 5 21e-eeuwse vaardigheden, (20 maart 2018). Verkregen op 6 juli 2018 via http://curriculumvandetoekomst.slo.nl/21e-eeuwse-vaardigheden 6 PULSED Magazine Design Based Learning, versie 1, (2018) (interne uitgave FONTYS PULSED) 7 Dewulf, L. (2014) Ik kies voor mijn talent, Leuven: Lannoo Campus, Culemborg: Van Duuren Psychologie 8 PULSED Magazine Meten en beoordelen van (leer)ontwikkeling, versie 1 (2018) (interne uitgave FONTYS PULSED) 9 Meijers, F (2017) Zelfreflectie een inleiding, Hoofdstuk 1 in Meijers, F. & Mittendorf, K.(Eds) Zelfreflectie in het hoger onderwijs, Antwerpen-Apeldoorn: Garant 10 Onderwijs maar dan anders. (2018). Verkregen op 6 juli 2018 via http://www.agoraroermond.nl, bezocht op 6 juli 2018 11 About UCR, (2012) Verkregen op 6 juli 2018 via http://www.ucr.nl. 12 Instellingstoets-kwaliteitszorg. Verkregen op 6 juli 2018 via https://www.nvao.net/beoordelingsproceduresnederland/instellingstoetskwaliteitszorg 13 Hybride docent (2018). Verkregen op 6 juli 2018 via https://www.hybridedocent.nl/hybride-docent. 14 Centres of Expertise. Verkregen op 6 juli 2018 via https://www.vereniginghogescholen.nl/themas/centres-of-expertise 15 Biesta, G.J.J. (2015) Het prachtig risico van onderwijs, Culemborg: Phronese 16 Boekaerts, M. & Simons, P. R-J. (2003) Leren en instructie, Assen: Van Gorcum 17 Dinteren, R. & Lazero, N. (2010) Brein@work, Houten: Springer
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FO N T YS P U LS E D COP YRIGHT 2 018 MO R E IN FO R MAT ION: T IM O.WE S E NA A R@ FONT YS .NL
N r. 6-2018 Versie 1.0
EN
pulsed you are a designer