Preparing students for a complex world: a worthwhile and important ambition. But how do you do that? The new guide VU World-Oriented didactics helps lecturers get started. And it doesn’t have to involve anything big, the authors emphasize: “Sometimes it starts with the question you ask, how you listen to a student, or simply with the word ‘we’.”
We speak with Janneke Waelen, Director of the VU Centre for Teaching & Learning (CTL), and educational specialists Jessy la Faille and Yolanda Koevoets about starting small, tackling big questions about the world and why lecturers don’t need to have all the answers.
To get straight to the point: why was this guide needed?
Koevoets: “At VU CTL, we notice that lecturers want to do more than just pass on subject knowledge. They also want to encourage students to engage in deeper learning and personal development. Of course, we can make a list of do’s and don’ts, but that’s not how pedagogy works. It helps lecturers if they can make certain pedagogical choices their own, so that this way of teaching really becomes part of who they are. And that takes time. You have to be willing to look at your own practice.”
Waelen: “That need also emerged in the Education Portfolio Holders Meeting (OPO). At the same time, a lot is already happening around world-oriented education at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, from the VU MIXED model and Community Service Learning to A Broader Mind. So the question was: how do we bring all that knowledge and experience together into something lecturers can actually work with? That’s how the idea for this guide came about: a practical resource that helps you look at your own teaching and really take steps forward.”
La Faille: “Exactly. For example, we have already worked intensively with lecturers and students from Anthropology and Environmental Studies, among others, to redesign education. Then you see: hey, this works, we can build on this. Those experiences gave us a reason to take a closer look: which pedagogical and didactic principles keep recurring?”
VU wants to educate students to become both good scientists and engaged global citizens. What actually makes education ‘world-oriented’?
La Faille: “To me, that’s very logical: a university educates good scientists, but of course those scientists don’t exist separately from the world. Ideally, they ultimately work in service of society. In Environmental Studies, for example, we saw students who were regularly confronted in lectures with the consequences of climate change. Of course, students wanted to discuss the subject matter, but they also felt a strong need to talk about it with one another. They asked themselves: what does this mean for me? What are the consequences of my own behaviour? Can I do something differently myself? World- oriented didactics means making room in your teaching for those kinds of questions.”
Was there a moment when you thought: this is exactly why we’re doing this?
Koevoets: “Absolutely. For me, it’s often about the small moments. Students don’t just learn from what you tell them, but also from what you do: how you interact with them and the way you connect. As a lecturer, you don’t have to know everything. Recently, I spoke to an assistant professor who had made a small change to his teaching. He started paying more attention to what students were thinking about the topics he discussed in his lectures, and asked more follow-up questions. That alone helped them look at things from a broader perspective. And I thought: yes, exactly. That’s what it’s about.”
La Faille: “For me, it goes back to when I was seventeen. That was when I read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. In this book, Carson refers to the consequences for the climate of the widespread use of pesticides. That book really made me think. We conduct research, we develop knowledge, but then what? What do those insights mean, and what do we do with them? That question has always stayed with me. To me, knowledge and insight are connected to responsibility. Thinking for yourself, reflecting, listening, daring to doubt, being open to another perspective. Especially now that everything is changing so quickly, those are things we need to keep encouraging in education.”
Many lecturers will recognize this: you want to prepare students for a complex world, but you also simply have a course to get through. How do you make room for that?
Koevoets: “By not placing ‘preparing students for the world’ alongside your subject, but within it. It really doesn’t have to be something big straight away. What questions do you ask? How do you make students curious? How do you get them to start asking questions themselves? Sometimes it starts with how you welcome students. How do you draw them into a topic? What kind of example are you setting? How do you spark a sense of wonder? You can do that in almost any subject. And yes, even in statistics.”
La Faille: “Exactly. For example, I taught Historical Pedagogy to first-year students for many years. A thick book, a tough exam. My challenge was: how do I design my classes so that they are interesting for students? What worked, for example, was starting with what students already knew and getting them to engage with the material themselves. Vivid examples from visual art and music made the subject more tangible. When preparing, the question is: how do I, as a lecturer, make the content accessible and meaningful to students? Which assignments encourage students to study? Reading, looking and listening are important. And thinking, having conversations and engaging students’ capacity for inquiry are just as important.”
‘Agency’ is central to the guide: helping students make their own judgements and take action. Why is that so important?
La Faille: “To me, agency is about responsibility and the ability to act. Can you make distinctions? Can you make your own choices? You need knowledge and experience for that, but also the ability to look beyond your own bubble. In Environmental Studies, for example, students explored food production and organized the most sustainable potluck they could together. Suddenly, such a huge issue becomes very concrete: okay, what can I do within my own sphere of influence? Large systems change slowly, after all. That can be quite frustrating. But at the same time, you discover: I’m not completely powerless.”
You also invite lecturers to reflect on their own role as global citizens. What do you hope that kind of reflection sets in motion?
Koevoets: “That lecturers dare to show themselves. You really don’t need to have all the answers; students are allowed to see that you have doubts. By showing how you ask questions and explore other perspectives, you model that behaviour yourself.”
Waelen: “And discomfort is part of that too. Take a look at your own practice: where does it feel uncomfortable? But also: when do you suddenly see students becoming curious or really working together? You can build on that. Ultimately, it’s about this: we do it together.”
La Faille: “Exactly. If I want students to listen to each other, then of course I have to do that myself as well. Bring current events into the lecture hall, start the conversation and make room for differences. That way, students learn to put their own thoughts into words and really listen to someone else.”
What would you like lecturers to take with them into their next class?
Waelen: “Don’t forget yourself as a lecturer. You are also your own instrument: what you say, how you respond and what you model all matter. That undercurrent has a great deal of influence on what happens in your teaching.”
La Faille: “I hope lecturers get to experience what happens when a class is really well designed. You look around and see students simply working with their full attention. And ultimately, I especially hope that both students and lecturers enjoy everything they learn together.”
Koevoets: “I’m always happy when a lecturer says ‘we’ instead of ‘you’. Something that small already makes a difference. What you’re really saying is: we’re in this together, and we’re going to learn this together.”
