Chapter 4 Research Findings
4.2.2 Dutch School Case Implementation
The way IEPs are often used in Practical Training can be represented in a „Christmas tree model‟.
Figure 4.1 Christmas tree model of the IEP
Source: (te Braake-Schakenraad & Huisman-Bakker, 2004)
4.2.2 Dutch School Case Implementation
As was mentioned in the previous chapter, the approached Dutch expert on secondary education for mildly mentally impaired students, Mr. Cees Hoedjes, recommended Accent Nijkerk as the ideal school case for this research project. Since the authorities at Accent Nijkerk consented to take part non-anonymously, a short introduction of the school and a description of the research participants will now follow.
Subject material (e.g. PrOmotie)
Portfolio in the hands of the student and post school portfolio
Individual Post-school support (plan) School leaving
Employment contract
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School background
Accent Nijkerk is located on the outskirts of the city of Nijkerk. It is a medium-sized city, according to Dutch standards, with a population of just under 40,000. It is situated in the centre of the Netherlands, about forty kilometres northeast of the large city of Utrecht and just over ten kilometres north of Amersfoort.
Accent Nijkerk is a private Practical Training school with a Protestant ideology.
Together with Accent Amersfoort Practical Training it forms the division of Practical Training within the Meerwegen Schools which also offer education at the Pre-University Education (VWO), Senior General Secondary Education (HAVO), and Pre-Vocational Secondary Education (VMBO) levels. The Practical Training school has about 225 students and forty staff members.
The school‟s own facilities include students‟ own bicycle parking, a kitchen according to national hygiene and safety standards (HCT), mountain bikes for recreation which are also maintained by students, a warehouse with forklift, plants outside that are taken care of by students themselves, a technical classroom, a textile processing classroom, and a recording studio / multimedia studio.
Research participants
Accent Nijkerk was visited by the researcher in April and May of 2010. The location manager of the school, besides himself, identified three other key informants to be
interviewed and this resulted in a total of over six hours of interviews. The participants were:
1. Location manager
The tasks and responsibilities of the location manager at this school are the daily running of the school concerning student matters, supervising the mentor team,
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supervising the teachers, and coordinating the educational processes at the departments.
Mr. Hofman is the location manager of the school and he has worked at the school for over ten years. He graduated from a Primary School Teacher Training College
(PABO) and he holds a masters degree in special education.
2. Curriculum supervisor
The curriculum supervisor‟s main responsibility is coordinating curricular matters within the school and, therefore, he communicates with external parties to develop the school‟s curriculum.
Mr. Noorlander has worked at Accent Nijkerk for more than five years. Among others, he is currently the chairman of the P-team (PrOmotie curriculum team) and mentor of an upper-level class. In the early 1980s he was deputy director at the same school (at the time Secondary Special Education for Children with Learning Difficulties).
Afterwards, Mr. Noorlander was the director of an elementary school for eleven years and the director of a Secondary Special Education school for Severely Maladjusted Children (ZMOK). He holds a Primary School Teacher Training College (PABO) degree and studied special education for mentally impaired students upon graduation.
3. Mentor
A mentor at Accent Nijkerk is responsible for teaching one class of, on average, fifteen students. The mentor is also responsible for facilitating the drafting of these students‟ Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Mrs. Diane van de Steege is currently the mentor of an upper level class, member of the Participation Council (Medezeggenschapsraad) and also the confidential student advisor within the school. She has worked at the school for five years.
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4. Internship coordinator
The internship coordinator oversees the school‟s internship supervisors and communicates with internship companies.
Mr. Kok is the head of the internship, after-care, and ICT departments. He holds a Primary School Teacher Training College (PABO) degree and also studied special education for two years. He coordinates the school‟s internship supervisors and approaches companies to find internship positions for the students. Mr. Kok has worked at Accent Nijkerk since 1984.
Direct quotes from any of these four participants will be written in italics in the following sections followed by a reference as to who was quoted.
The school’s program
At Accent Nijkerk, education is split up into two phases: the lower level and the upper level. The lower level is roughly grades one and two. An average class in the lower level is about fifteen students of the same age, and at the upper level it could be as many as nineteen students. However, at the upper level, many of the students are at a company for their internship, so these students are normally not all present in the class at the same time.
At both the lower and upper level, students join vocational classes at the adjacent school for Pre-Vocational Secondary Education (VMBO). This is referred to as „symbiosis education‟ at Accent Nijkerk. This initiative is in line with the government‟s „Together to School Again‟ (WSNS) policy described in Chapter 2.6.3. Symbiosis classes are compulsory and students are taught by a teacher specialized in vocational education and „push-in‟ support is delivered by a Practical Training teacher. This Practical Training teacher provides
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Our students start taking vocational courses in the first grade of secondary education while students at the Pre-Vocational Secondary Education track do not take such courses until the third grade. Our students are often stronger in vocational classes since they had a head start.
Theoretically, however, they are weaker. Often it is the case that Pre-Vocational Secondary Education students help our students with theory while our students help them with the vocational parts. The cooperation between the two parties works well. There is no discrimination. (Location manager)
The symbiosis classes at the lower level include all the possible sectors for which a student can take classes. Accent Nijkerk wishes for the students to try every sector at the lower level before making a final decision as to which vocational path to follow at the upper level. The symbiosis classes at the lower level take about half of the student‟s total class time.
The other half is based around the PrOmotie textbooks. The concept of the PrOmotie curriculum is that theory supports practice. The curriculum is functional in nature and the subject matter learned can be put into practice when taking the vocational classes.
If a student chooses a metalworking program, he certainly will need to be able to calculate.
Also Dutch, you will at times need to fill in a form. (Location manager)
The school works with the PrOmotie curriculum since it offers adapted theoretical education as stated in the Law on Secondary Education. The PrOmotie curriculum has been developed by publisher Edu‟Actief and has been approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The majority of Practical Training schools in the Netherlands make use of their textbooks. It consists of five basic learning domains: Culture and Society, Dutch, Calculating and Math, Information Technology, Vocation and Career. Throughout these domains, the following themes, which cover the daily life of the student, are integrated:
„Around you‟, „To your health‟, „Fun activities‟, „Money matters‟, and „Society‟. Physical
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education is also offered and special attention is paid to the acquisition of social skills throughout the curriculum. English is optional.
PrOmotie is based on seventeen competencies. These seventeen competencies have been accepted by the Nationwide Association for Practical Training and the Inspection of Education. A list of these competencies can be found in appendix I.
We educate here to be able to work well but also live well. So, what is important for your daily life and recreation? You will need to be able to handle money, fill out forms, read the newspaper, stay up-to-date on the latest developments. These matters are all covered in the educational domains. (Curriculum supervisor)
Accent Nijkerk is also a pilot school for the digital version of PrOmotie called PrOdigi. The school is, together with PrOdigi‟s supplier Edu‟Actief and the Nationwide Association for Practical Training, developing the digital curriculum for the school. In the school year 2009 / 2010 this was used in a few upper level classes only for the domain
„Vocation and Career‟. This domain is mainly aimed at placement into the job market while also integrating the other four domains into the subject matter. Within the next five years all the domains should be included into PrOdigi.
Practical Training writes its own newspaper, the so-called PrO newspaper. There is a printed paper as well as a digital version in PrOdigi. It is also used as teaching material at the school. It has various topics which a student can choose from with related questions to be answered. There are also various websites with teaching material specifically aimed at the Practical Training student population which the teachers at Accent Nijkerk use.
The theory learned from PrOmotie textbooks, which covers about half of class time at the lower level, is designed to support the students in their vocational classes. At the lower level, students are also introduced to vocational courses from four sectors: the environmental,
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variety of vocational subjects such as metalworking, woodworking, painting, cooking, nursing, technology, gardening and maintenance, and animal farming.
Based on these vocational classes a vocational teacher can judge very well if a student is good at metalworking, woodworking, painting etc. A mentor nowadays can judge this well too. (Internship coordinator)
Students are evaluated and given a score of one (insufficient), two (sufficient), and three (good). If a student performs at a level three for a certain vocational subject at the lower level, he or she could be encouraged to take this subject as a vocational course at the upper level.
Although the lower level is roughly the first two grades at Accent Nijkerk, students can also be assigned to classes based on age. Students can either come straight from primary education, special education, or Pre-Vocational Education. A student who failed a grade in primary school will still start at grade one at Accent Nijkerk. It can also be the case that a student in second grade is already following an internship. The difference between the lower and upper levels is not always very clear. Students do not fail a class at Accent Nijkerk but it is not necessarily the case that all students are at a similar level. There are no clear standard norms per class as to what the level should be.
A major difference between the lower level and the upper level is that at the lower level all the students together take the same vocational class, for instance woodworking, and they also jointly work on their five basic domains. Students are introduced to all different industry sectors before they make a decision on what vocational courses to pursue at the upper level. At the upper level, students start taking vocational courses instead of vocational classes. A vocational course is specifically aimed at an industry sector while vocational classes are more diverse at the lower level. Vocational courses remain part of symbiosis education as students still join classes with their Pre-Vocational Education classmates. So,
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studying at the upper level means that students start choosing what they want to do after finishing school. This means that at the upper level, more individual programs are taken.
Students will still, however, study the five basic domains of the PrOmotie curriculum. Apart from that, students can also choose academic workshops (e.g. English) related to their field of interest.
At the upper level (roughly starting at grade three, although this could vary per individual case), a student starts with internships. The student will continue with the vocational courses in his or her field of interest to prepare for these internships. Before the students turn fifteen, they can take part in activities which prepare them for future internships.
These activities can take place at school or at a company.
To be able to start an internship, students need to be at least fifteen years of age. They are then allowed to work at a company one day a week. This is the so-called „career
orientation internship‟. The goals of this kind of internship are to develop a good work attitude and to find out what a student‟s possibilities and limitations are. As the student‟s work performance and age increases, the internship can be extended to two or two-and-a-half days a week. This is called the „career preparation internship‟. Concerning the company choice for this kind of internship, more attention is paid to the possibilities and the career perspectives of the student. It is possible that this internship will result in a „placement internship‟. The placement internship is the final kind of internship. A student at this stage works three to four days a week at a company before finishing his or her educational career at Accent Nijkerk. The placement internship is meant for students who possess sufficient skills to have an effective chance to obtain a job position within a company or government
organization. The nature of the work at an internship can be described as assisting, orderly, routine, of a low educational level, and non-complex.
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It is also possible for students to have an internal internship within the school. This kind of internship is meant for those students who are not yet ready to function in an external internship at a company. During an internal internship, the student will need to perform tasks which are evaluated by the staff. At this point they will also learn how to evaluate themselves.
Examples of internal internships are cleaning the classrooms, copying documents, warehouse tasks, and reception activities.
Accent also offers certificates at Job Market Qualified Assistant level (AKA). This is a certificate at Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) level 1. The name „Secondary
Vocational Education‟ (MBO) should not be confused with „Secondary Education‟ (VO). For a more detailed explanation, see Chapter 2.6.2 and Appendix B.
For certain students, it is possible to study an AKA program at Accent Nijkerk. AKA level 1 is a course that will educate a student up to an assistant position within a company.
This is a competencies-based course that focuses on practical application instead of written examinations. This kind of course is done in cooperation with a Regional Education Centre and although the classes can be taken at the Practical Training school, the Regional Education Centre is in charge of the examinations.
It is not always sensible, necessary or possible that a student studies an AKA course. When this happens, it is only because both the Practical Training school and the Regional
Education Centre both believe this to be appropriate. (Location manager)
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Source: Accent Nijkerk‟s location manager Jan Hofman
We recently had a girl who went to level three, but those are really the exceptions. Normally that doesn‟t happen. Let‟s be honest, for some level one is the maximum and for others level two. But still, parents are really focused on that, they want a diploma. But I say that there‟s no noticeable difference between level one, two, or straight out of Practical Training to the job market. It‟s all about the self-esteem of the student. That‟s what matters. (Internship coordinator)
There are no final exams at Accent Nijkerk. Students can, however, sometimes
receive diplomas for certain individual tracks or parts of a certificate from the Pre-Vocational Secondary Education track (VMBO), Secondary Vocational Education (MBO), or certain industry sector training.
We try to find the challenge of how far we can go. (Location manager)
Accent Nijkerk, in the school year 2009 / 2010, had one student who was in the seventh year of education at the school. If the school wants to keep eighteen or nineteen year-old students, it needs to ask for dispensation from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and
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When students finish their educational career at Accent Nijkerk, they receive a certificate of completion. This is not a formal diploma as is the case for the Pre-Vocational Education (VMBO), Senior General Secondary Education (HAVO), or Pre-University Education (VWO) tracks. For the vocational courses, it can be the case that a course is tailor-made for the student. In these cases, the student receives several modular certificates after finishing parts of certain courses.
Post-education perspectives students
As was explained in the previous section, students can continue their education at a Regional Education Centre and work their way up the Secondary Vocational Education (MBO) system from a level one to, if possible, a level four (see Figure 4.2).
If students do not continue studying after finishing their education at Accent Nijkerk, they will aim for employment. At the school, employment is split up into four categories: A, B, C, and D. Internship positions are categorized in the same way.
- Level A is the sheltered work environment. These are non-profit organizations at which the job performance is secondary to a student‟s personal development. There is a need to perform but, instead, performance is linked to the ability of the student.
- Level B companies are places where the performance factor is more prominent. Companies like these receive some government subsidies but also need to compete for money in the competitive market. Accent Nijkerk has connections with such companies in the fields of landscaping, construction, production, metalworking, and cleaning.
- Level C indicates companies who fully operate in the competitive market. However, the employer can receive subsidies or tax rebates for each individual student who works there.
- Level D is the same as level C, but here the employer receives no support from the government to employ the student.
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Students in the Practical Training track have a Structural Functional Limitation (SFB) which means that all students have the right to receive subsidies.
However, the school believes that students should only receive subsidies if it is really needed.
(Location manager)
The Nationwide Association for Practical Training provides statistics of what students do after finishing their education at every Practical Training school. Of the thirty-one students who left Accent Nijkerk after the 2006 / 2007 school year, twenty-one entered the job market, nine continued their education at a Regional Education Centre, and one student became unemployed. Accent Nijkerk offers one year of post-Practical Training support.
Individualizing education
An important part of our vision is that the student does not receive education but that education is tailored to the student. The student is at the centre, not the teacher, which means that there is a change from supply-driven education to demand-driven education. (Location manager)
Participants in the student’s individualized education process
The process of individualizing education is mainly based around the „triangle‟ of the student, the mentor, and the parents. Other participants include the location manager, the other teachers who are in contact with the student, and the Care and Advice Team (ZAT).
The process of individualizing education is mainly based around the „triangle‟ of the student, the mentor, and the parents. Other participants include the location manager, the other teachers who are in contact with the student, and the Care and Advice Team (ZAT).