Through her research within the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Barbara explores how education can be both renewed and better connected.
Making space for diverse voices in education
“When I started working in higher education,” Barbara says, “I noticed that we mainly build on academic knowledge. Yet outside the university there’s so much valuable experiential knowledge. From local residents and especially from people with disabilities or with life-changing experiences. Those voices are still underrepresented in education.”
In her research practice, Barbara often works with people who know societal issues from first-hand experience. “Then I thought: why don’t we give that knowledge a place in education? I wanted to change that.”
Not just as guest speakers
How do we make sure people from different ‘bubbles’ really meet? That question led Barbara to her SoTL project, with a clear focus: invite people with lived experience more often into the classroom or other learning settings. “Not only as guest speakers,” she explains, “but also as clients for student projects or internships.”
“And why not involve MBO students as well? They bring in another type of professional and experiential knowledge. Often overlooked in university education. If you connect their expertise with that of HBO and WO students, groups can genuinely learn with and from each other.” This idea became the basis for a follow-up SoTL study.
Fewer silos, more exchange
According to Barbara, it’s high time to move away from the bubble mentality in education. “People from different backgrounds see the world differently. A community nurse, someone with a practical education, or a youth worker observes things a university student might miss. Those perspectives complement each other beautifully.”
Such encounters between students from different backgrounds can feel awkward at first, Barbara admits. “Students suddenly become aware of their own bubble. But that’s where the real learning happens, you shouldn’t avoid that discomfort.”
She sees education as a practice ground for social exchange. “And that exchange is badly needed, not just in classrooms, but on a national and political level too.”
Students’ own experiential knowledge
That exchange doesn’t only happen between different education levels, it also happens within the university itself. During a session on intergenerational poverty, Barbara noticed that experiential knowledge doesn’t always come from outside.
“Some students recognised the stories from their own lives or families. That puts everything in perspective. It’s something I’d like to explore further in future research.”
SoTL grant as empowerment
With support from a SoTL grant, Barbara collaborated with colleagues Marianne Donker, Judith Bosmans and others, and with student assistants Aleyna Akyuz and Femke Kooyman-Kool, to put this social exchange into practice. Her research produced valuable insights for educational design, especially on how students learn from meeting experiential experts and how collaboration across educational levels can be improved.
“I had the freedom to conduct two projects and explore the complexity of education and collaboration,” Barbara explains. “It led to insights I’d never have gained otherwise. For me, SoTL is a form of academic empowerment. It puts topics on the agenda that might otherwise go unnoticed in education. And it connects you with colleagues who help you shape something meaningful together.”
