Education philosophy

Starting point
Education begins in practice. That's the premise of learning at Friesland College, where we try to provide more exciting, contemporary and challenging education; education that invites students’ initiative, curiosity, reflection and practical application of knowledge. Friesland College wants to promote new professionalism in education and training by using a student-centred approach, coaching students to realize their career ambitions. The College aims to offer students practical learning experience in real life settings, and opportunities to develop professional skills and reflective powers, thus encouraging them to take the initiative and become effective learners.

In Friesland College learning is a constructive process. Students work on their assignments independently or in a group. This can be done in a classroom, a Learning Resource Centre, a small study room or through practical work experience outside the college. Students learn in a way that suits their individual styles of learning and are responsible for their own learning process. Results are determined by the activities the individual student has participated in and are assessed on the basis of the student’s demonstration of having mastered the required skills (competencies). Both staff and students should be aware of their responsibilities and remember that we need to concentrate as much on HOW we learn as on WHAT we are learning together.
Sharing knowledge with industry and other educational institutions, regionally, nationally and internationally, is also very important to Friesland College.

Practice-driven
For education to be effective courses and programmes need to offer students opportunities to learn to gain knowledge and to combine knowledge and skills by applying these in practice and to develop the necessary attitudes to function effectively in society and in the work place.

Meaningful situations / ‘decisive situations’
By demonstrating what they have learned in real or realistic situations (Friesland College refers to ‘meaningful situations’) students will discover:
•    what they know and
•    what they have mastered and
•    what they have yet to learn.
Being able to reflect on the effects of behaviour is an important precondition for effective learning. The basic principle of practice driven learning is that it becomes effective if it encourages reflection, adaptability, flexibility, experimentation and understanding. In order to achieve this, students will need to work in ‘meaningful situations’ in their chosen profession and to have access to learning resources and media. The learning process is driven by practice and experience.

Assessment, Examinations, tests
In addition, Friesland College makes a distinction between "assessing to learn” and “assessing to decide”.
Assessing for learning is all about what the student has learned, what he/she can improve and how he/she  will address this.
When assessing to decide,  Friesland College  will determine whether the student has met the legal requirements for a vocational diploma. There are different methods for this:
• written assignments and practical observations
• aptitude tests / assessments
• with a panel interview.
The Examination Commission of the unit  will ultimately decide whether the student has passed or not.