Tijdschrift voor Hoger Onderwijs

Honours programs are a regular part of higher education in the Netherlands in recent years, as well in the research universities as in the universities of applied sciences. About the characteristics of the bachelor honours programs data were studied, for Dutch programs, but also for programs in the United States. The analysis of these data from documents, questionnaires and interviews show a strong diversity in the programs. But they also show some specific characteristics that are focused on stimulating the development of talented students. The characteristics are related to the type of talent development that is described in the mission of the programs. It concerns the learning processes and the interaction between students and teachers and the interaction among students, the community building, the organisation of the program and the external relations. These characteristics are brought together in a model with three windows: the core of learning and interaction, the curriculum and organisation including the community, and the impact on personal development, further studies and professional domain. Experiences and recent educational policy of institutions and the government have led to more programs with more students, and to new developments within honours colleges, and bachelor and master honours programs.

Honors education is emerging as an innovative, challenging academic agenda in Europe and especially in the Netherlands. Honors Programmes are intended to evoke excellence among students and enable talents of motivated and academically gifted students. This is seen as relevant for the development towards a knowledge-based economy. In the Netherlands, Honors Programmes have only recently been developed, and, as such, empirical research on the relationship between honors experiences and alumni careers, satisfaction and behaviours is scarce. This study examines the experiences of students in retrospect who have participated in one of the first Honors Programmes in Higher Education in the Netherlands. It is concluded that participating in an Honors Program positively contributes to critical thinking, scholarship, the development of methodological skills of students, personal development and the development of academic competences. Furthermore, those students who have participated in an Honors Programme have performed better during their studies than those who have not, and they are also better able to find a job afterwards which corresponds to their wishes and abilities.

The Sirius project of the Ministry of Education introduces a new policy in higher education in the Netherlands. This project invites with financial support Dutch institutes of higher education to invest in programmes for talented students and to stimulate them amongst others to become excellent professionals. In the context of the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht this study focuses on the consistency of that policy in the different faculties. A theoretical construct of excellence has been validated by literature study and by interviewing professional leaders in four domains, leading to a framework of excellence. These programmes of excellence intend to lead talented students towards excellent professionals and have been compared to the framework of excellence by interviewing the coordinators, teachers and students of each program. In these interviews not only the programme goals were investigated, but also several programme characteristics. Although with different accents, the programmes showed a similarity in profile. Programme characteristics differ significantly over the programme, showing several routes to reach excellence, dependent on the culture of the profession, school and dominant ideas of the teachers. Another conclusion of this study is that a relevant number of talented students will probably not be involved in this kind of programmes of excellence. To create opportunities for these students other possibilities should be created. Therefore, a so called 'stars system' will be implemented, which includes possibilities for students to earn stars by presenting their excellence in other ways than in a pre-set programme of excellence.

Drs. L. Tiesinga () is werkzaam op het lectoraat Excellentie in Hoger Onderwijs en Samenleving, Hanzehogeschool Groningen.

The article argues that educational programmes for excellent students are important in professionally oriented higher education. It reflects the vision of Hanze University Groningen, University of Applied Sciences, on talent development in higher education. It is stated that, because of the wide access to professionally oriented higher education and the diversity of the student population, special programmes for excellent students are needed. Programmes for excellent students are relevant in the light of a strong focus on quality and excellence. They are also relevant from the perspective of the need for top talent in regional development. In order to enhance a more ambitious study culture among all students, ambition, dedication and achievements should be individually recognized and rewarded.

Hanze University Groningen aims at professional excellence and the T-shaped professional: the broadly oriented specialist. Professional excellence is developed in collaboration with the professional field. Different types of excellence programmes have been developed: honours programmes, selective minors, selective specializations and individual routes. In addition, programmes have been developed for the scouting of potentially talented students and for stimulating excellence in sports and technical education.

The article describes first experiences with honours programmes and selective specializations and gives insight into the motives of students for taking part in these programmes. Extra challenge and broadening knowledge and skills were, among others, important motives.

The article reflects on dilemmas and questions for further development. Dilemmas in the honours programmes are freedom and space for student initiatives versus the need for structure. Having high expectations and strong demands versus the students' need for experiencing freedom and keeping them motivated is another dilemma. Implementing a common interdisciplinary programme has been a change in policy, on the basis of a more elaborated vision on honours education. Excellence should play an essential part in the long term strategic policy of a university in order to be (financially) sustainable. The article closes with themes and questions for discussion and research. The themes refer to the pedagogy of honours education, the features of professional excellence and 'community and culture': will excellence programmes have a positive influence on the ambitions and study culture of a wide population of students?

In Dutch higher education the development of talent for the more able and motivated students is a new and significant trend in educational policy. Universities are implementing honours programs, Honours Colleges, Top Classes and other activities for their most talented students to promote excellence. The Dutch government encourages the development of these programs by grants assigned to the research universities and the universities of applied science involved. The issue of development of talent is not new in Dutch higher education, but doing research on this topic however is. This article provides a research agenda about development of talent in which the outcomes of two meetings with stakeholders are used as input. The inventory of questions from practice has been organized from a theoretical perspective and is transformed into a research agenda as a starting point for vision building on research. Furthermore the dialogue is illustrated with questions from practice and theories about talent.

The papers in this special issue focus on 'Development of Talent in Higher Education' from different perspectives. All papers have in common the attention for the specific group of very motivated and excellent students in honors programmes and colleges. However, does this involve all kinds of talents? Is the current attention for 'excellence' not a narrow interpretation of the concept of 'talent'? In this paper we argue that the following questions should be put on the agenda on educational policy in higher education institutions:

In this paper these questions are illuminated and discussed.