The students of The Netherlands, Slovenia and the Czech Republic perform low level on an international level with other countries. Just 5% of the Dutch primary students will obtain the highest level. For Slovenia and the Czech Republic this is 4%. Singapore (43%), England (18%) and Belgium (10%) are far beyond our level (GfK Intomart, 2014). Talented students do not excel at this time during education as well as in their business career. Too often they feel that they are not being challenged in school, they become bored and under perform. This gave rise to the consortium to formulate the following problem definition: How can talented encouraged to use their talents during their school career to prevent underachievement and early school leaving and what is needed in the context of cooperation between educational sectors and other stakeholders, the skills of teachers and teaching materials. Personalised learning and continuous learning (Dutch: doorlopende leerlijn) and cooperation with other organisations than educational institutions are important principles. The project "Talent Education" has the following objectives: 1. Improving range of lessons for talented. 2. Strengthening the skills of the teachers. 3. Improving cooperation in and around education. The coordinator of the project is SWVVO 2801. 17 partners (kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, universities) of Czech Republic, The Netherlands and Slovenia are involved in the project. Since it is difficult for the coordinator to monitor the progress of so many partners. JJCM, Radovanek and ZVIS are designated as coordinating partners. They coordinate the activities in their region and monitor progress in their kindergartens, schools and universities. They also have the responsibility for communication and dissemination in their region. They have a large network and already have a significant role in the implementation of regional policy in the field of talent education. SWVVO 2801 is the implementing body for the Leiden Approach for talent development. JJCM and Radovanek are responsible for the regional implementation of the national policy in the Czech Republic in the field of talent education. ZVIS has a very large network and is an important partner in supporting teachers in the field of talent education in Slovenia. To achieve the above objectives, a number of activities will be carried out. To better match the lessons with the needs of talented students, two new education packages developed: Metacognitive Skills and Design Thinking. To improve the skills of teachers in the context of teaching talented, training events are organised and manuals developed in the field of Practical Differentiation and identification of gifted students younger than 6 years. Besides expanding the curriculum and improving the skills of teachers, teaching can be improved with a better transfer between the education sectors and more cooperation with other organisations such as museums, cultural institutions, universities and industry. These organisations can contribute to the improvement of education. This cooperation is simulated in the regions of the partners by local or regional authorities. To further develop the course of metacognitive skills, teachers are first trained in giving this curriculum. Then they will put this into practice and give feedback. The investigation of the implementation and feedback are done by a university (JCMM) and the manual will be developed by teachers of a school (SCOL). For the curriculum of design thinking the method is first elaborated by an external agency (Bureau Talent). Then a training seminar will be organised for the teachers. During an exchange pupils execute assignments using design thinking. University (PLATO) evaluates and analysis the effects of the use of design thinking and a manual will be developed on this basis by teachers of a school (SCOL). For the purpose of identifying gifted children in the kindergarten a manual will be developed by ZVIS. Here too, a cycle is completed of training, implementation, evaluation and drafting of a manual with tools and best practices. The method of Practical Differentiation already exists. The University of Leiden (ICLON) will conduct an impact assessment and on this basis, prepare a manual, supplemented with best practices. The teachers are first trained, then they will implement what they have learned. This is followed by the effect measurement and the processing of the results in a manual. For the purpose of the chain approach Leiden University (PLATO) will develop an evaluation tool with indicators that measure the extent to which there is cooperation between educational sectors and between education and other stakeholders. In addition, to facilitate this cooperation an IT tool developed by ZVIS (e-community). The project contributes to the European objectives of improving the quality and efficiency of education and training and enhancing creativity.
Recent research shows that underachievement is an immense problem in education. Some figures: -25% of all students in secondary education are regularly bored from teaching material they find too easy; from the top 20% of the class even 56% are often bored (Intomart Research 2014) -15–20% of students perform below level in primary education; 1/3 of (mildly) gifted are involved (Report Dutch National Council of Education (Onderwijsraad) 2011). -only 5% of the pupils in the Netherlands achieve the highest level in international comparison - the Czech Republic and Slovenia are 4%, in Belgium 10%, England 18% and Singapore 43% (TIMSS 2011) Causes for lagging of the talents are (Segers&Hoogeveen 2012): 1. Talent is not sufficiently stimulated and rewarded. 2. Limited flexibility in curriculums and room for talent 3. Teachers and school leadership are not enough equipped This gave rise to formulate the following problem definition: How can talented be encouraged to use their talents during their school career to prevent underachievement and early school leaving and what is needed in the context of cooperation between educational sectors and other stakeholders, the skills of teachers and teaching materials? General objective of the Talent Education program Development of a sustainable and structural approach which supports top talent in further development of their talent and thus preventing underachievement or dropouts. As a result the partners chose the following objectives from the Erasmusplus program: 1. Improving range of lessons 2. Strengthening the skills of the teachers. 3. Improving cooperation in and around education. Target groups of the project are talented preschooler, school pupils in primary and secondary education and their teachers. Schools and regional or local authorities are also part of the target group. The strategy of the project is 1) to focus on the role of teachers 2) to choose some “strategic elements” in the chain of education in which a new approach could be effective and have impact on all education. The consortium chooses for: a. identification and adaptive approach at a very early stage (2 – 6 years); b. education metacognitive skills in primary education c. Design Thinking (DT)in primary and secondary education d. differentiation in the classroom based on a personalised approach in secondary education. In all “elements” basic expertise is already available and can be transferred, but is not yet adapted to each form of education nor widely spread. 3) to develop new education in practice: PLC’s of teachers in all subjects, coaching on the job, pilots in classrooms, exchange of students of all ages to apply the method of DT and to cooperate with their teachers in a living laboratory. 4) to gather all developed methods and tools in a Toolkit for Teachers which is available for all teachers and could be applied in practice immediately. The partnership consists in 18 partners: Kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, universities in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and the Netherlands. The coordinator is the Samenwerkingsverband Passend Onderwijs VO in Leiden, founding organisation of the Leiden Approach for Talent Development (Leidse Aanpak) Results and impact Many schools and organisations, teachers (141), students (292), schoolmasters, educators and scientists (35) participated in the project. Teachers say to be better equipped to challenge their students, students indicate to be challenged and motivated to deeper learning by using the new methods and are delighted to have more space for learning. In all four educational lines of the program (Practical Differentiation, Design Thinking, Metacognitive Skills and Challenging Young Children) manuals, tools for identification of talent and lesson-plans have been developed and good practices described. These are the results of the collaborative work of teachers in PLC’s and the exchange programs of students. All tools are available in the online Talent Education Toolkit for Teachers . A scientific study has been published on the implementation of metacognitive skills in 15 Czech, Slovenian and Dutch schools. It shows significant improvement in the skills of students. Reports on achievements in Czech educational competitions and in Dutch national tests support this conclusion. Another report presents the Impact and Self-evaluation Methodology of the Talent Education project, which contributes highly to sustainable learning effects. A scientific article about the chain oriented system approach of talent education in Leiden shows that the TE project functioned as a “flywheel” in the evolution of the Leiden Approach to a wider and more inclusive approach. The LA could serve as a prototype of chain-oriented talent education in Europe. All educational sectors cooperate in talent development which provokes many opportunities for transfer and sharing knowledge, for creating a very strong local learning environment.