In de brochure ‘Aan de slag met honors’ worden onderzoeksresultaten van het onderzoeksproject Honors in Europe hertaald naar tips voor succesvol en inspirerend honorsonderwijs. De brochure is grotendeels gebaseerd op het boek Talent Development in European Higher Education – Honors programs in the Benelux, Nordic and German-speaking countries van Marca Wolfensberger van het Lectoraat Excellentie in Hoger Onderwijs en Samenleving van de Hanzehogeschool Groningen.
This book examines the much-debated question of how to unleash the potential of young people with promising intellectual abilities and motivation. It looks at the increasingly important topic of excellence in education, and the shift in focus towards the provision of programs to support talented students in higher education. It provides a systematic overview of programs for talented students at northern European higher education institutions (HEIs). Starting in the Netherlands, where nearly all HEIs have developed honors programs over the past two decades, the book explores three clusters of countries: the Benelux, the Nordic and the German-speaking countries. For each of these countries, it discusses the local culture towards excellence, the structure of the education system, and the presence of honors programs. In total, the book reviews the special talent provisions for nearly four million students at 303 higher education institutions in eleven countries. In addition, it offers an analysis of the reasons to develop such programs, a look into the future of honors education and a practical list of suggestions for further research.The Sirius Program assigned Marca Wolfensberger to carry out this research.
LINK
Teacher development courses should be based on both research and literature to promote their success and impact in practice. In this article, we translate the findings of research studies and theories into evidence-based design principles for a professional development course for honors teachers. This course was evaluated on the level of teacher reaction, teacher learning, outcomes, and organizational response. Nine design principles were formulated and translated into concrete actions, resulting in a one-year course (study load of 140 hours), ‘A Teacher’s Road to Excellence.’ We evaluated the impact of the course with a questionnaire filled in by participants (N=10) who finished the course one year ago. The design principles showed to be helpful in developing this course for honors teachers. The course, ‘A Teacher’s Road to Excellence,’ seems to be instructive for honors teachers and impact on student learning outcomes is seen. More research is needed to improve its impact further, on organizational level.
