Vso schools Heliomare stop Kunskapsskolan
The Heliomare VSO schools in North Holland are discontinuing Kunskapsskolan. “The Swedish educational concept is not in line with the Dutch normative system that is linked to each other,” says department manager Pjotr Neering.
picture: Type tank
In the 2015/2016 school year, the schools for secondary special education (VSO) from Heliomare switched to Kunskapsskolan. This Swedish educational concept is based on personalized learning and works with an online portal. The intention is that students learn at their own pace and in their own way and have a lot of personal contact with teachers, who play the role of coach.
For the Dutch student, the final exam is what it's all about
This year, the first group of Heliomare students who work with the concept must take their final exams. “But it turned out that the quality of the material in the portal, including the final exam projects, was not yet up to par," says diploma-oriented education manager Pjotr Neering. "There were also gaps in the students' knowledge. The Swedish concept is not in line with the Dutch normative system, which is based on tests. For the Dutch student, the final exam is what it's all about. The commands in the portal are fun to use alongside your method. For example, many presentations have to be given, which is great fun, but the final exam is not a PowerPoint presentation. As a standalone method, the portal is inadequate.” At the start of this school year, it was decided to use old methods again for final exam students and to no longer teach exam candidates according to the Kunskapsskolan method.
Autists
From next school year, the other years will also stop working with Kunskapsskolan Education (KED). “In VSO, children are not suitable to be alone with devices to work - especially autistic people do not. The transition from books to screens was already difficult in itself, and the temptations that online working entails are difficult for our students to resist.” Teachers also do not find the portal pleasant to work with. Neering: “For example, there are no marking sheets. As a result, the teacher has to sort out a lot of grading work himself, which is far too time-consuming.”
The content does not match the quality we strive for
Complaints about the Kunskapsskolan Nederland portal have been around for some time. Next school year, another early North Holland KED user, the Kennemer College Beroepsgericht, will also stop using the Swedish concept, partly because the portal does not comply. 'The content does not match the quality that we strive for. So then it is time to say goodbye ', director Theo Jaspers said earlier about this the site of the AOb.
Bridge too far
“We will return to the regular methods from next school year,” says Neering van Heliomare. “The starting point of KED – what does this student need in order to learn – will we keep to it. But KED's working method - putting the control in the hands of the student - that is really a bridge too far for our students.”
Teachers and parents immediately had serious doubts
During the short collaboration with Kunskapsskolan Nederland, Heliomare has invested heavily in the portal and training and education programs for teachers. “While they were not even applied to VSO,” says Neering. In the article 'Made-to-measure or misfire' Kunskapsskolan Nederland calculated from the November issue of Onderwijsblad that the concept of schools costs between 300 and 450 euros per student, depending on the size of the school and the support demand. Why then did Heliomare switch to this pricey concept that does not suit VSO students? Neering: “The then director, then manager and then project manager were very enthusiastic about it. Teachers and parents immediately had serious doubts. Yet it got through at the time. Now it turns out that what we feared is the truth. ”
