4.4 Pathways and milestones

Introduction

When looking at 'Teach your own' subsystem and envisioning 2065, we cannot imagine a pathway which achieves the goal without ICTs: any pathway needs to include learning through ICTs.

Similarly, when looking at the groups of actors initiating transition, we cannot think of a fully bottom-up of top-down approach: one needs the other. In a bottom-up approach, transition is initiated by students, teachers and parents. In a top-down approach, transition is promoted by the government and local municipality of Texel. In the end, coexistance, combination and balance between the two pathways is necessary. In our opinion, transition needs to be initiated more as a top-down than as a bottom-up process: once the milestones are legitimated (only if the top-down approach matches locals interests), then the bottom-up process will lead change. 

Each of the two pathways are governed by different mechanisms of change. In the top-down approach, a hierarchical mechanism will prevail whereas in the bottom-up approach communicative mechanisms will lead governance. We believe that market forces are less relevant for our case, at least in the initial stages or for the initial milestones in the action agenda. But it is still of importance since market dictates the professional opportunities (and motivation) for students to develop a professional carreer in the future.

Below we propose two pathways that we believe more standalone, independent and equally plausible than a bottom-up versus a top-down approach. As defined in the societal needs (section 1.3), the two main needs of Texel's education are reinforcing identity and reinforcing the higher levels of education. Each of the proposed pathways tackles both needs in a different way.

Pathway 1: "Call me local!"

This pathway is essentially focused on reinforcing the identity of Texelaars and not so much on moving towards higher levels of education, since lower levels (e.g. MBO) combined with adequate online learning (e.g. MOOCs) on new technologies (i.e. robotics, 3D printing...) can be sufficient to boost employment in the island. By getting to know local projects at an early stage, communion with the island is increased as well as job opportunities and willingness to make a living in the island and recuperate social life in Texel. We envision a pathway in which local knowledge is passed from old to new generations, who are in charge of adapting it to changing circumstances.

• Who and what drives change? Local Texelaars who fear the downwards spiral towards Texel as a touristic Island, aided by knowledge institutes as intermediaires. The main driver of change is the inner wish to preserve Texel's identity
• How is changed influenced or governed? Communication mechanism is the most present in this pathway and one of the main instruments is online networks and platforms where local knowledge is gained and stored in a dynamic way: communication between Texelaars and local businesses, with other Islands facing the same demographic problem who can share solutions, with local entrepreneurs...All in all, the main mechanism of change is the creation of a supportive online network to preserve identity.

The action agenda of this pathway is as follows:

• 2020-2025: Creation of an online platform/network where entrepreneurs, local workers, teachers share information on projects to make Texel self-sufficient and every Texelaar has access to it. Something similar to Ginger Research but with local people from Texel. These five years serve to familiarize locals with the platform. 

• 2025 milestone: Most of the entrepeneurs and workers of Texel are registered in the network.

• 2025-2035: There are physical meetings on the different topics addressed on the network and the usage of it is estimulated. In parallel, local hands-on activities are organised for primary and secondary school (e.g. experimental kits on robots, solar panels, wind turbines...). 

• 2035 milestone: There is a robust growing network. Experimental kits, hands-on activities and showcases for primary and secondary school are used in the classrooms. 

• 2035-2040: Learn by doing and experimenting campaign: 'Call me local!' Via videoconferences the local workers will show their daily work. Certain time of students is daily devoted to witnessing local daily practices. Then they will record themselves putting these into practice. MBO students are responsible of leading the campaign

• 2040 milestone: Reach a big amount of videos of local workers showing and learning how to put into practice local projects in both traditional and innovative ways, shared on the online network. This will both educate 

• 2040-2045: The 'Call me local!' campaign is organised now oriented to entrepreneurs from Texel in a competition for funding. Students can participate as well. This will incentivize sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation in Texel.

• 2045 milestone: Reach a big amount of videos of (entrepreneurial) students. The three best of them will be prized with funding to develop their projects. It needs to be a local sustainable initiative.

• 2045-2055: During this period the network will focus on opening the barriers and expand worldwide.  This means that conferences will be organised in different places and students will go to showcase their initiatives. This can serve as source of inspiration to gain more ideas. At the same time it addresses the need of youngsters to expand themselves beyond Texel and widen their horizons.

• 2055-2065: In order to create a real lifelong learning system, adults (local workers) also need to be involved and educated on e.g. new technologies. Therefore, the worldwide contacts established in the previous years will be used to create collaborative MOOCs on topics specifically related to local practices as well as more general about sustainability or self-sufficiency in remote islands.

 Pathway 2: "Entrepre-raising"

This second pathway reinforces the higher levels of education. It aims to change the education structure towards higher levels, starting at primary school, increasing HAVO and WVO in secondary school and creating online university and HBO. This pathway bets for higher education as a way to boost entrepreneurship and employment at the island, in a different way than Call me local!. This pathway appears as more innovative: higher levels of education could bring more innovation and entrepreneurship to the island. However, the structural changes to be made are also more drastic and more difficult to be accepted and legitimated. ICT in this case are present as a way to course a university or HBO degree, while staying in the island involved with local projects or internships in Texel.

• Who and what drives change? In this pathway municipality and teachers are crucial actors to achieve the goal. The main driver for change is to provide a high-quality continued education, in which youngsters do not need to interrupt their studies in the university/HBO period. By boosting the higher levels of education in highschool, the demand of HBO/university online degrees will increase and the business will get stronger in Texel
• How is changed influenced or governed? Communication mechanism is still present in this pathway and one of the main instruments is university online official degrees as a form of communication, as well as the communication between graduate, undergraduates and school students. But since this pathway is more innovative and difficult to be accepted, there is a need of a higher degree of intervention of municipality and the school agents and a more extensive usage of hierarchical mechanisms in the governance of change

 The action agenda of this pathway is as follows:

• 2020 milestone: Creation of two pilot groups of students in Primary School, which will be followed until Highschool. Pilot group A) will have intersified digital presence during the lectures and Pilot B) will have more online learning and gamification tools for homework. In order to provide guidelines to parents, several group meetings are organised by the school board

• 2020-2025: Period of monitoring of digitalisation in primary schools. Each year, two pilot groups of primary school students are created and closely followed. The strcuture of the high school is redefined to have at least one separate class of each level, including HVO and WVO.

• 2025 milestone: Test to secondary level entry is done to all the groups of the promotion, including the two pilot groups. The main milestone for 2025 is to have at least one full HAVO and one full WVO classes in highchool. 

• 2025-2030: Period of monitoring of digitlisation in highchools, with higher levels of education. Experiments of the previous five years regarding interaction of children with online learning in primary schools are continued, improved and applied to secondary education. From 2025 to 2030 the secondary school is reorganised and higher levels reinforced. 

• 2030-2035: Period of sustainability in education. Previous practices of the previous 15 years are continued and improved. With online presence already increased in the primary and secondary education, these five years intensify in sustainabiliy in the form of gamification, interactive activities with locals in Texel to learn by seeing and doing sustainable practices...

• 2035 milestone: The main milestone of 2035 is to have included sustainability practices in primary and secondary education. A Research and Development Institute of Sustainability is created in Texel to gain and spread knowledge on sustainability in Texel

• 2035 - 2040: Period of sustainability in business. During this period, there is a focus on generating internships and job opportunities in Texel related as much as possible with the 2065 global vision of self-sufficiency. These internships serve both students who studied HBO/university in the mainland as well as to those who just graduated from highschool and might want to have a practical experience before starting a MBO/HBO/university degree. This will incentivate students to realize the potential of higher education degrees

• 2040 milestone: Return rate of 80% of the people who go to study university/MBO/HBO degrees in the mainland return to work or at least do some internships in Texel

• 2040-2050: Employment for just graduates is flourishing in Texel, so there is a motivation to acreditate an official university/HBO online degree starting with the knowledge of Texelaars who went to the mainland or even abroad to study diverse degrees. Moreover, the increase of youngsters in the island creates the necessity to build leisure spaces that youngsters can enjoy in their free time, without moving to the mainland (i.e. hockey fields to practice sports, places for youngsters to socialize...)

• 2050 milestone: An accredited online degree (university/HBO) is fully created and running in Texel.

• 2050-2060: A big network of contacts and collaborations with educational institutions of different islands around Europe is established to share best practices, showcasing and learn from succesful online universities/HBO programs in other islands. Videos and conferences of teachers from different islands are shared in a common platform, so the variety of degrees is high. Previous practices fostering sustainability and entrepreneurship are continued and improved.

• 2060 milestone: A high-quality online degree (university/HBO) is established in Texel in collaboration and with participants from different islands and universities in general, with a variety of topics to study.