June 5 Ghent High School Visit

June 5       Ghent High School Visit

Today we are visiting a high school in Ghent.  This is a first-time event for the cohort and Ingeborg does not know what to expect.  Since I work full-time with high school students I am excited about visiting and learning more about high school education in Belgium.   In Belgium higher education there are two levels; University and University College with the latter being slightly more prestigious.  There are also different tracks within high school which starts in the sixth grade.  High school selected will have some impact on the type of college or college major that the student may select

At the high school we were escorted by the principal to a room in the back of the school.  The principal had been there 30 years with the first 25 as a teacher.  He spoke to us briefly then gave us a tour of the facilities. Some take-aways from the conversation with the principal:

 

-High school does prepare students for some types of employment.  Only those with bachelors degrees can become the ‘bosses’.

-Only a small percentage of students go onto University or University College.  -Students select college based upon location.  Scholarships do not exist since schools all cost the same.

-Colleges may mail some promotional material but very little.

-Parents don’t influence college decisions. (Per Ingeborg the selection of high school is more important since it determines what colleges they can choose)

-High school is ‘free’ but students have to pay for books (can rent) and field trips.

-Only some colleges have entry tests.  He mentioned art and film as two of these.

-High school offers ‘inclusive’ education for students with physical and mentally disabled.  For deaf students, Denmark would provide interpreters.

-Students ‘know’ a lot but need to ‘do’ more.  Principal worries that high school does not prepare them for college.

-Teachers are evaluated by law every 4 years and are tenured after the first 4. of employment  The evaluation determines their teaching plans.  Difficult to fire a teacher with tenure. 

-No fundraising permitted.

-Capital improvements must be made with yearly budget.

He had three current seniors come in to speak with us.  The conversation was dominated by one of the three who spoke perfect English.  She spoke so much that she really did not give the other two students an opportunity to speak.  The students were dressed in typical teen-age fashion with all three wearing jeans.  The English speaking student spoke of her dream of going to Stanford but honestly knew little about it.  My take-aways from that conversation:

-US colleges are all about parties.  Parties in houses instead of the street sounds appealing.

-College like a village…fraternities and sororities.

-Feel they are prepared for college based on what they have learned so far in high school.


-Some students have jobs but only work a few hours after school.

-They were confident in their career choices.

I enjoyed the high school visit.  I think that it helped with our understanding of how students prepare for college and what they are thinking as they make decisions.  Since my full-time job is visiting with high school students I have the opportunity to go into many American High Schools.  I thought that the physical structure and classrooms looked similar to high schools that I visit in the US. 

Another positive thing about Ghent is not all toilets require a 'toll'.  However, I think they are just for men.  Yes, that is on a public street.

Ghent also has pretty canals and this picture is of the cohort as we walked back from our visit to to the high school.