TO TTO OR NOT TO TTO. A case study in a Dutch secondary school

Abstract

Bilingual education in Dutch schools (called the TTO program) needs a certain amount of students to be viable. In this research, the authors undertake a survey in a Dutch secondary school to understand how to communicate the value of the bilingual program in order to enhance the number of enrolments. They compared the attitude of pupils and parents, those attending the TTO and those not, in order to understand how they appreciate the different characteristics of the program. Authors focused on the perceived value (understood in terms of perceived benefits, costs and risks) of the TTO program as shown by pupils and their parents who choose for it, in comparison with the intended value of the program as conceived by the TTO staff of the school. Conclusions suggest that overall the TTO program is appreciated as bilingual education. Surprisingly, the authors discovered that improved self-confidence is not considered a positive attribute of the TTO by the school. However, this is the case for pupils and parents. Moreover, TTO pupils consider TTO expensive in comparison with non-TTO pupils.