At both Rhein-Waal University’s Fablab and QConcepts Design & Engineering, students were highly focused, inspired by their learning, and eager to share their work. They were also developing a wide range of skills that went far beyond simple rote knowledge or occupation-specific technical skills; they were developing adaptability, organization, communication, and teamwork skills. Both …
Friday morning at QConcepts
Friday was our final day in Germany and the Netherlands, and it seems our hosts may have saved the best for last. This morning, we visited QConcepts Design & Engineering in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The owner, Jurian Rademaker, founded the company as an expression of his passion for boat racing and integrating solar systems into boats. The …
Coffee, Analytics, One Medieval Church, One More Wonderful Meal
It's been a long but lovely day, and I'm exhausted, so I will try to keep today's entry brief. This morning, we joined our friends from both Rhein-Waal University and Berufskolleg Kleve to tour Probat, a family-owned business that produces coffee roasting machinery. We were given a tour of the museum, taught how to roast …
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ROC Nijmegen
It was back over the border into Netherlands today for a visit to ROC Nijmegan. ROC translates to Regional Education Center, an institution that is strikingly similar to the U.S. notion of the community college. In fact, there were no ROC's in Netherlands until the 1990's, when the country had a Minister of Education who …
Tuesday, Feb. 5: Berufskolleg Kleve
Today we visited Berufskolleg Kleve. Coming into this week, I had no real notion of what a berufskolleg was. Today I learned that it is a sort of mix between what Americans know as community colleges with what we know of as high schools. The institution is quite comprehensive, with such a wide variety of …
Monday, Feb. 4: Rhein-Waal University & Fablab
Today's program began with an introduction to Rhein-Waal University, which has three cornerstones in its mission: Innovative, Interdisciplinary, & International. The college has four interdisciplinary schools: Technology & Bionics, Life Sciences, Society & Economics, and Communication & Environment. 75% of the programs are in English, a feature so attractive that it, along with Germany's free …
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Sunday is funday in Amsterdam
Sunday morning's bus ride back to Amsterdam was much more comfortable. This time, though we had no luggage, we were given a couch! But unfortunately, all the main highways into downtown were under construction or closed to buses, so we had to debark from the bus and take the tram into Central Station. This turned …
A Weekend (mostly) in Amsterdam
I'm now sitting in a hotel room in Kleve, Germany wiped out and already full of memories. How can it be that we've only been here for less than two days? What follows is a photo essay in which I try to capture the first day. After an overnight plane ride and then a whole …
The Countdown Begins
In less than 48 hours, I will be in my car traveling to Minneapolis to get on a flight to Philadelphia, where I will board our overnight flight to Amsterdam. This trip, which has often seemed like a mirage on the horizon ahead of me, is becoming more and more real. We will arrive in Amsterdam …
Vocationalism á la Dewey
In last night's webinar, the conversation touched on one of the potential drawbacks of secondary training that is solely based in VET, which can be responsible for replication of social stratification. To me, this appears especially problematic when poor-performing students are tracked to veer strongly away from academic material while still at relatively young ages. …
Higher Education in Germany & The Netherlands: An international inquiry 