Last night this newspaper lay on my desk, open on a VMBO piece. A piece with the title 'On VMBO, the image of not good enough sticks to it'. The newspaper, no doubt left by my in-laws who know how this topic is currently alive in our house, advocates more people in vocational education. Very nice of course, that plea, but only viewed from one point of view. The point of view that we don't have enough professionals. There is already a shortage, but that shortage will only increase in the coming years. Is the VMBO image indeed the problem?
Of course I immediately jump back into the thinking mode where my brain has been cracked on average about 3 times a day in recent months when it comes to this subject. It is not for nothing that I wrote my personal letter to Luc last week, in which I stated that 'late bloomers bloom best'.
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Am I one of those parents who wants to have her son on a different level than what is available to him? A higher educated mother who pushes her child to try VMBO-T instead of VMBO-K? I suspect his mentor and other teachers will shout out loud… YES! But is that true?
Yes, I did VWO myself and Frank went one step further by going to the University after the Gymnasium. But does that make us by definition pushing parents if we think that our son fits better at VMBO-T than at VMBO-K? No, right?
In addition, I was a very rebellious teenager myself. After my VWO I had a lot of fun in the first year of HBO and then started working because I really couldn't bring myself to go to school anymore. That's how I was done. While I really could. So NO, I am not a textbook example. I'm also one of those girls who had other things on their mind when I was a young adult and I too wanted to see the world rather than sit in school. Nevertheless, I managed to find work that I am very happy with. So I know that several roads can lead to Rome.
And I think that's what all this shit is about. Find work that suits you. Seeing and creating a future for yourself that makes you happy. Nothing worse than going to work day in and day out when you don't like it, right? After all, you spend most of your life there! Luc has made his choice, and is going to the MBO.
Another good example is linked to the piece in the Brabants Dagblad. Thomas Verhoef. He did a VMBO-K education and look how far he has come. That is actually the essence of that appendix. Show that you can go far with a VMBO-K education. Because hey… we have to promote, after all, the VMBO image is a problem.
But they forget to mention that this is not the essence of life. It's not about making it far! It's about feeling happy with what you're going to do. That you are heading for a future that suits you. That you feel motivated to do what you do during your school period and afterwards in your working life. Ordinary. Because it feels good and suits you. That is the essence… that it suits you! That Thomas just happens to like to be on TV with his head and that that is also the case every week… super cool for Thomas. But this does not mean that this should also be the reason for a VMBO-K choice.
The learning path should therefore never depend solely on what will be needed in a few years' time to keep the economy going. Stimulate children to work with their hands if they like it and know from an early age that they want to work as craftsmen later? Yes absolutely. Even if such a child could, for example, cope with VWO in terms of level, I still say… do it! After all, it is closest to the child itself. This has nothing to do with the VMBO image.
However, there is also another type of child. Namely the child who is still a child at the age of 12 or 13. The child who absolutely does not yet know what to do with his future. The child who is not handy with his hands, but who also has no idea what he or she wants to be when he or she grows up. That kid. That child who at the same time has difficulty with the current way of teaching and who does not lead the way when it comes to learning and doing homework. Because it is still a child and does not seem to feel the need yet.
Does such a child belong by definition at the VMBO-K? I wouldn't think so. That is because that is already so focused on practice and craftsmanship that you no longer stimulate such a child in other areas, but rather steer it in a certain professional direction. While that child does not yet know what he wants with his future, you already close certain roads in advance. Good for education in the short term (as this article in the Brabants Dagblad states… there are too few pupils at VMBO level) and good for the economy in a few years' time. Because hurrah, there is another professional!
But is this child happy? Wouldn't VMBO-T be much more appropriate then? Do we all really think that it is good for the economy if we send children in a certain direction that does not suit them? It's nice that the possibilities are there for children who know what they want, but a 'craftsman' who is not a 'professional' at heart will never be a permanent professional. And then? Retrain again?
But what if you already have a family? Sure there are examples of people in that situation who can bring themselves to choose a different direction, but there are just as many examples - probably more - of people who stick to where they are. Unhappy with what they are doing, but not quite able to change the situation. And there's nothing worse for the economy than that. And for the person in question of course.
As a mother I think I know what suits my child. In our case, not VMBO-K, but T. And that has nothing to do with the VMBO image. Not that I already know what he wants to do later, because he doesn't even know that yet! But I do see a child before me (in our case) who is far from practical. In my opinion, a practical training is not appropriate. And with that small difference, all doors remain open…
I therefore find promoting a certain learning path rather short sighted. Give children a chance to discover who they are and what they would like to do in their lives. My child doesn't necessarily need to know what he wants to become. And if he continues to live with us for 3 years longer because he wanders around in the world of training? So what!
But I do want him to be able to explore all possibilities. That he is given the opportunity to grow during his school period and that he is given the opportunity to make a choice that suits him. If only we would focus on that instead of making parents feel guilty for pushing their children. There is also such a thing as 'just don't know it when you're 12'.
