Page 177 - Secondary school students’ university readiness and their transition to university Els van Rooij

Chapter 6
the coordination should consist of mutual information provision, such that teachers receive up-to-date knowledge about university learning in general, what universities expect from rst-year students in terms of general knowledge and skills, and degree programmes in their eld, because we saw that having attended university themselves is not su cient for teachers to prepare students adequately. With adequate and up-to-date information, teachers can help their students set realistic expectations about studying and the degree programmes. is latter, subject-speci c role is highly relevant for teachers, who, more so than guidance counsellors, can act as ‘ambassadors’ for their eld. is role is in demand and expected from teachers, as shown by our nding that two- thirds of teachers mentioned students coming to them with questions about degree programmes related to the teacher’s school subject. Moreover, many teachers expressed positive feelings toward having conversations with students who were considering a degree programme in their eld. On the other side, for university lecturers, counsellors, and programme coordinators, it could be useful to obtain a better view of what happens in the nal years of secondary education, so that they have a clearer sense of transition challenges students are likely to encounter and can take measures to resolve them, such as by developing a transition pedagogy in their rst-year programme (Ki , Nelson, & Clarke, 2010). Coordination and collaboration between schools and universities also should entail providing schools with feedback about how their students are doing. If information about students’ progress in university were to ow back, secondary schools could pinpoint and address possible problems. For example, if many students are switching degree programmes, the school would know that it needs to improve the guidance it provides in the study choice process. Some schools already collect these data and keep track of their alumni’s progress, but it is not yet a nation-wide habit.
Second, to address the lack of time, it would be helpful to nd ways to integrate university preparation into regular lessons. Here, the issue of examinations and national curricula comes into play, because regular lessons focus heavily on this curriculum and on preparing for the examinations. Noting the many critiques we heard of these examinations, e.g., that they fail to re ect what is needed to be successful in university, we perceive a need for a national discussion to think critically about the goal of these examinations and whether they could be better aligned with what students need to be ready for university. is issue is not exclusive to the Netherlands; in the United States, scholars have
176