My trip to Europe was fantastic, and I learned so much about the European educational experience, but I am so glad to be back in the United States! I'm too tired to write much about it yet, but be sure to browse through the photos on the blog (and on Facebook) because they often tell a story of their own.
In the next few days, I will finish up writing about the trip including:
* a lightning fast trip to Paris
* the last of the educational presentations
* just a few more photos
Thanks so much to everyone who followed along on the adventure. Because this is also serving as a class journal, we didn't include guest comments. I am honored that 127 of you chose to follow along on my "Ed"Venture (google gives you those statistics on followers of blogs). It was a wonderful experience, and I'm purposing to return to Europe sooner than sooner than 37 years from now (it was 37 years ago that I first visited).
Monday, July 4, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
A Day at the Beach
Click below for the new album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2266816869995.2143372.1235756360&l=0dbcbb230e
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2266816869995.2143372.1235756360&l=0dbcbb230e
Friday, July 1, 2011
PROBLEM BASED LEARNING. University of Maastricht presentation, 6/28.
Next to the visit to Bernard Lievegoed school, this was my favorite presentation. *Finally* I got to interact with colleagues in higher education, and not only that, they are completely devoted to what we call "team-based learning," which I learned from Dr. Larry Michaelsen at the University of Oklahoma, and practiced myself throughout my teaching career.
Drs. Ineke Wolfhagen and Diana Dolmans are educational researchers at the medical school of the University of Maastricht. They shared a presentation on "problem-based learning" with us. The University of Maastricht is only 35 years old. It was opened when the coal mines closed because, while there were several other universities (7 other medical schools) in Holland, it was felt there needed to be something in the south. The school was founded on the principle of problem-based learning. Students enter their medical school studies at the point we would call "freshman year" in college. Learning is active, self-regulated, contextual and collaborative. Students meet ten to a group with a trained facilitator. They are given a problem, then have two days or so to study and research on their own, then come back together to brainstorm and discuss the case. Research behind each phase of learning was shared in the presentation. The gist is that the *student* and not the teacher should play a central role in education. Results show that learning outcomes are comparable to the traditional model of education, but both teachers and students are highly satisfied with the experience.
The presentation was followed by a tour of medical skills laboratories. Life-sized models of humans (appropriate to the field of study) in labs are used to train students (from their first year in medical school). By Year Three, they are seeing real patients, though supervised by a faculty member.
I support team-based learning, but wonder if students have an adequate foundation of theoretical knowledge in basic sciences by Year Three to be in clinical practice. I would like to read more about the Harvard University/Boston University 6-year medical program to see how their educational results compare to traditional medical schools.
Overall, our hosts have been very gracious, eager to share their knowledge and experience in education with us. The days have been long, but it has truly been an educational immersion experience that has provoked deep reflection.
Drs. Ineke Wolfhagen and Diana Dolmans are educational researchers at the medical school of the University of Maastricht. They shared a presentation on "problem-based learning" with us. The University of Maastricht is only 35 years old. It was opened when the coal mines closed because, while there were several other universities (7 other medical schools) in Holland, it was felt there needed to be something in the south. The school was founded on the principle of problem-based learning. Students enter their medical school studies at the point we would call "freshman year" in college. Learning is active, self-regulated, contextual and collaborative. Students meet ten to a group with a trained facilitator. They are given a problem, then have two days or so to study and research on their own, then come back together to brainstorm and discuss the case. Research behind each phase of learning was shared in the presentation. The gist is that the *student* and not the teacher should play a central role in education. Results show that learning outcomes are comparable to the traditional model of education, but both teachers and students are highly satisfied with the experience.
The presentation was followed by a tour of medical skills laboratories. Life-sized models of humans (appropriate to the field of study) in labs are used to train students (from their first year in medical school). By Year Three, they are seeing real patients, though supervised by a faculty member.
I support team-based learning, but wonder if students have an adequate foundation of theoretical knowledge in basic sciences by Year Three to be in clinical practice. I would like to read more about the Harvard University/Boston University 6-year medical program to see how their educational results compare to traditional medical schools.
Overall, our hosts have been very gracious, eager to share their knowledge and experience in education with us. The days have been long, but it has truly been an educational immersion experience that has provoked deep reflection.
SEGREGATION IN THE DUTCH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM and Freedom of Choice. (Presentation, 6/28)
Dr. Paul Jungbluth is a professor from the University of Maastricht, and he shared a different perspective on the Dutch educational system than what we had heard up to that point. He said that, not surprisingly, people give you different information depending upon their roles in the system. The Office of the Inspectorate has high potential to create change in the school system, but they are currently only looking at the lowest performing schools. As for information coming from the Ministry of Education, one has to ask: How accurate is the information? How relevant is it? Is the data they gather relevant to schools, or only to the bureaucracy? Dr. Jungbluth advocates for "academic grounded criticism," that is, policies that are based upon research evidence rather than the whim of the day. He said it looks as though there is a shift in policy every 4 years (when politicians change office), but in reality, things stay relatively the same. This is also true in the United States.
His criticism of the statistics included the remark that by changing the criteria, you create a better chance that you will achieve the goal. This was exactly the question I wanted to ask when we visited the Ministry of Education. The goals for reducing the drop-out rate (they call it "early school leaving") is given in absolute numbers (35,000, for example). My question is: What percentage is that of the total population? Since the total school population is shrinking every year, the absolute number may be a way to appear to be making progress while the relative percentage of drop-outs may not be decreasing as much as it appears to be.
Dr. Jungbluth considered the ranking of PISA scores for students in Holland compared to other students internationally a "non-discussion." He said students are not engaged because the test is not important to them personally. (I wonder what measurement is used to compare US students to European students since we do not give the PISA test.) He also said that it was difficult to get a sufficient sample size, thought the reason for this was not clear. He said the score on this test is only important to the Ministry of Education. In the US, a comparable test might be the SAT, which *is* important to students because it determines what kind of college they can get into. Here, the CITO test at age 12 is the only real high-stakes test.
The Netherlands is a very "class-aware" society. The demonstrations we observed at The Hague against budget cuts toward culture and the arts are driven by the upper class protesting new policies by politicians who were elected by the lower class who do not want to pay for the arts. I believe we have similar tensions in the United States.
Most religions and churches here have lost their identity, according to Dr. Jungbluth. The ancient division between Protestant and Catholic which exists in education really isn't reflected in society. The ROLE of Christian schools has changed from exercising spiritual/moral leadership to budget management. Remember, all public and private schools, whether religiously affiliated or not, are funded by the government here. (Question: Does it matter from whom you get your funding? Does that influence the character/culture of a school? Remember Rob Nijhoff's comment that there is no such thing as neutrality.)
If education does not achieve the aspirations of the parents and the children, we (the Netherlands or society at large) become a "society at risk," Jungbluth says. Then education does not have the support of the middle class. Even when all stay in school until age 18, the lowest 20% of students perceive there is nothing of benefit there for them. These days, the best way to attract children to a school is to tout special programs for the gifted. This is seen in the US with the charter school movement.
Dr. Jungbluth proposed the radical notion that multi-culturalism is a project of the elite as a benefit to them. It doesn't just mean "multi-color," but it is also reflective of class differences. When you preserve class differences, you preserve the position of the elite in the class system. I do not think this is such a radical idea. In economics, cultural dualism in an economy prevents the non-dominant culture from progressing economically. In Mexico, isolated Indian tribes who do not speak Spanish cannot trade or be educated, and are then relegated to the permanent underclass. I witnessed this first-hand as a missionary kid in the 1960's. Jungbluth said children who know English as a second language need to learn the "mother tongue" of the country in which they live.
The second speaker was Dr. Trudie Schils from the school of business and economics at Maastricht University. She deals mainly with educational statistics. She said that pre-school education implies that mothers should work outside the home. What is interesting about this cultural phenomenon is that, in her research, she found that parental expectations are the best predictor of whether children will follow the pre-university (highest) educational track in the Netherlands. There expectation *at the child's age of 4* is a more powerful predictor of performance than the CITO test! Jungbluth had reported a statistic that the education level of the mother was predictive of educational attainment as well.
As much as we have heard about the multi-track educational system in Holland, it was good to hear from the Christian Union party at The Hague, as well as Drs. Jungbluth and Schills, to know that healthy debate continues in this democratic society, as it does in ours.
His criticism of the statistics included the remark that by changing the criteria, you create a better chance that you will achieve the goal. This was exactly the question I wanted to ask when we visited the Ministry of Education. The goals for reducing the drop-out rate (they call it "early school leaving") is given in absolute numbers (35,000, for example). My question is: What percentage is that of the total population? Since the total school population is shrinking every year, the absolute number may be a way to appear to be making progress while the relative percentage of drop-outs may not be decreasing as much as it appears to be.
Dr. Jungbluth considered the ranking of PISA scores for students in Holland compared to other students internationally a "non-discussion." He said students are not engaged because the test is not important to them personally. (I wonder what measurement is used to compare US students to European students since we do not give the PISA test.) He also said that it was difficult to get a sufficient sample size, thought the reason for this was not clear. He said the score on this test is only important to the Ministry of Education. In the US, a comparable test might be the SAT, which *is* important to students because it determines what kind of college they can get into. Here, the CITO test at age 12 is the only real high-stakes test.
The Netherlands is a very "class-aware" society. The demonstrations we observed at The Hague against budget cuts toward culture and the arts are driven by the upper class protesting new policies by politicians who were elected by the lower class who do not want to pay for the arts. I believe we have similar tensions in the United States.
Most religions and churches here have lost their identity, according to Dr. Jungbluth. The ancient division between Protestant and Catholic which exists in education really isn't reflected in society. The ROLE of Christian schools has changed from exercising spiritual/moral leadership to budget management. Remember, all public and private schools, whether religiously affiliated or not, are funded by the government here. (Question: Does it matter from whom you get your funding? Does that influence the character/culture of a school? Remember Rob Nijhoff's comment that there is no such thing as neutrality.)
If education does not achieve the aspirations of the parents and the children, we (the Netherlands or society at large) become a "society at risk," Jungbluth says. Then education does not have the support of the middle class. Even when all stay in school until age 18, the lowest 20% of students perceive there is nothing of benefit there for them. These days, the best way to attract children to a school is to tout special programs for the gifted. This is seen in the US with the charter school movement.
Dr. Jungbluth proposed the radical notion that multi-culturalism is a project of the elite as a benefit to them. It doesn't just mean "multi-color," but it is also reflective of class differences. When you preserve class differences, you preserve the position of the elite in the class system. I do not think this is such a radical idea. In economics, cultural dualism in an economy prevents the non-dominant culture from progressing economically. In Mexico, isolated Indian tribes who do not speak Spanish cannot trade or be educated, and are then relegated to the permanent underclass. I witnessed this first-hand as a missionary kid in the 1960's. Jungbluth said children who know English as a second language need to learn the "mother tongue" of the country in which they live.
The second speaker was Dr. Trudie Schils from the school of business and economics at Maastricht University. She deals mainly with educational statistics. She said that pre-school education implies that mothers should work outside the home. What is interesting about this cultural phenomenon is that, in her research, she found that parental expectations are the best predictor of whether children will follow the pre-university (highest) educational track in the Netherlands. There expectation *at the child's age of 4* is a more powerful predictor of performance than the CITO test! Jungbluth had reported a statistic that the education level of the mother was predictive of educational attainment as well.
As much as we have heard about the multi-track educational system in Holland, it was good to hear from the Christian Union party at The Hague, as well as Drs. Jungbluth and Schills, to know that healthy debate continues in this democratic society, as it does in ours.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
6/30--On the Road Again!
We are about to board the bus heading to Bayeux, France, with a tour of Omaha Beach tomorrow. Camera is charged and ready to go! Back with more soon!
*Nota Bene* Last night was the very last night of class in my doctoral program! Just a little more writing to do, and I will be ABD. Celebration to follow...
*Nota Bene* Last night was the very last night of class in my doctoral program! Just a little more writing to do, and I will be ABD. Celebration to follow...
Visits around Maastrict
Click below to see the newly uploaded photos from around Maastrict!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2260973763921.2143064.1235756360&l=a6a693cca2
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2260973763921.2143064.1235756360&l=a6a693cca2
CHRISTIAN UNION PARTY--THE HAGUE
We met with Rob Nijhoff who works with the Scientific Institute of the Christian Union Party in Parliament. He has a degree in Information Sciences from Delft Technical University as well as a degree from the Theological University of the Reformed Churches. He explained that each party has a scientific institute to conduct research and provide information to influence policy decisions. This is similar to the role which we observed that Michelle Chin plays as a policy advisor to Senator Cornyn in Texas.
There are many political parties here, which makes decision-making more difficult. There is even an animal rights party. While we visited, the animal rights party was objecting to the ritual slaughter of animals in the Jewish tradition because it is done without anesthesia. This includes any type of "kosher" preparation of meat, which of course is legal in the United States. The Christian Union party supports the free exercise of religion, so in this case was opposing the animal rights party on this issue.
He explained that currently, out of 150 members of Parliament, there are 30 social democrats, 30 liberals, 20 Christian democrats (more liberal than the Christian Union party), 30+30 more on the right and left, and 5 in the Christian Union party. The party identity is NOT to be a lobby for "Christian goals" but to stand on biblical principals, such as family values, right to life, etc. etc. etc. (They say "etc." three times in a row a lot here!) Abraham Kuyper was a "founding father" of this party, having served as a vicar and professor, he looked to the US as an example, and called it the "anti-revolutionary party" referring to the French revolution.
The primary philosophical bent which Rob shared with us was that no one is truly neutral in their view. The government is not neutral. All governments have a worldview, and every budget is a moral document. The example he gave was the decision to exclude prayer from American schools. He said this was a religious decision. He elaborated in the notes which he gave us (but didn't have time to share verbally, as we ran out of time) that everything reflects the identity of a school: the people, the emphasis in different subjects, the methods/rules, and even the atmosphere, including furnishing, architecture and environment. This is an interesting point, reflecting on what we learned at the Bernard Lievegoed (Waldorf-type) school. The teacher there said that a "free school" should be out in the country, built of wood, with lots of open spaces in the architecture, rather than the traditional institutional look and feel of an American high school, which is how the BL school was built.
In conclusion, Rob noted that it takes a coalition of minorities (it takes at least 3 parties to equal 52%) to make decisions in the Netherlands.
There are many political parties here, which makes decision-making more difficult. There is even an animal rights party. While we visited, the animal rights party was objecting to the ritual slaughter of animals in the Jewish tradition because it is done without anesthesia. This includes any type of "kosher" preparation of meat, which of course is legal in the United States. The Christian Union party supports the free exercise of religion, so in this case was opposing the animal rights party on this issue.
He explained that currently, out of 150 members of Parliament, there are 30 social democrats, 30 liberals, 20 Christian democrats (more liberal than the Christian Union party), 30+30 more on the right and left, and 5 in the Christian Union party. The party identity is NOT to be a lobby for "Christian goals" but to stand on biblical principals, such as family values, right to life, etc. etc. etc. (They say "etc." three times in a row a lot here!) Abraham Kuyper was a "founding father" of this party, having served as a vicar and professor, he looked to the US as an example, and called it the "anti-revolutionary party" referring to the French revolution.
The primary philosophical bent which Rob shared with us was that no one is truly neutral in their view. The government is not neutral. All governments have a worldview, and every budget is a moral document. The example he gave was the decision to exclude prayer from American schools. He said this was a religious decision. He elaborated in the notes which he gave us (but didn't have time to share verbally, as we ran out of time) that everything reflects the identity of a school: the people, the emphasis in different subjects, the methods/rules, and even the atmosphere, including furnishing, architecture and environment. This is an interesting point, reflecting on what we learned at the Bernard Lievegoed (Waldorf-type) school. The teacher there said that a "free school" should be out in the country, built of wood, with lots of open spaces in the architecture, rather than the traditional institutional look and feel of an American high school, which is how the BL school was built.
In conclusion, Rob noted that it takes a coalition of minorities (it takes at least 3 parties to equal 52%) to make decisions in the Netherlands.
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