In secondary education, the profile assignment (pws) is compulsory for HAVO students. Schools see it as a master test in which students can express their own interests and demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired.
For students, however, it is often a “must”: something that has to be ticked off in addition to all the regular lessons and tests. In many schools, the pws is often approached in a fairly traditional way, as a theoretically oriented research project whose main purpose is to learn more about a subject. Moreover, teachers do not always feel competent enough to supervise a pws and therefore enjoy it less.
However, the profile assignment offers many opportunities for pupils to develop skills that are very important for the transition to higher professional education and can therefore influence their academic success and enjoyment there. By better aligning the profile assignment with the practical orientation of research in higher professional education, it offers opportunities for pupils to start working on research skills, collaboration and critical reflection, for example. In order to achieve this, cooperation is needed between secondary education and higher professional education, working on the one hand to improve the alignment of education, but at the same time to professionalise the participating teachers.
In 2023, an initial pilot took place in the HAVO department of the Ostrea Lyceum in Goes. This pilot investigated whether it is possible and feasible for HAVO students at Ostrea to link their profile assignment to one of the programmes at HZ University of Applied Sciences, with the aim of achieving a better connection to higher professional education and thereby motivating them more for their profile assignment. In addition, the pilot examined whether HZ could play a role in professionalising the supervising teachers at Ostrea, so that they could better prepare their students for higher professional education. Twenty-three HAVO students (in pairs) participated, choosing a topic related to the PABO (primary school teacher training), Sports Science, Water Management/Architecture or Midwifery programmes. The students were supervised and assessed by an Ostrea teacher and met several times with an HZ teacher from the programme for explanations, help and feedback. This pilot was evaluated on the basis of (group) interviews with students, teachers from Ostrea and HZ, the school management and on the basis of a global evaluation of the final products of the groups. One of the findings of this evaluation was that the level of involvement of the supervising secondary school teacher was very important.
In the 2024-2025 school year, this research project was expanded to include a larger number of schools. In addition to the Ostrea Lyceum in Goes, the Goese Lyceum (Pontes), the Reynaertcollege in Hulst, the CSW and Nehalennia in Middelburg are now also participating. Based on the experiences in the pilot, researchers from HZ will work with representatives from the participating schools to develop an action plan and appropriate research questions. The aim of this project remains twofold: on the one hand, work is being done to better align the profile assignment with the research skills required in higher professional education, and on the other hand, the extent to which and the manner in which students can carry out a profile assignment that ties in with one of the HZ's programmes or research themes is being examined. Hilde Kooiker, Jessica Melker and Riaan Lous from HZ will lead this project.
This research has been made possible by the New Waves project of the National Growth Fund.
