Page 136 - Demo

Chapter 7134understanding of the circumstances under which the future graduates will practise are necessary to determine the extent and content of what the students should learn, and to decide on the theory and methods that will be taught. To subsequently build a good educational programme, one should be aware of the various learning styles and the effectiveness of various learning and teaching methods. Besides, one should have the skills to supervise the teaching staff who execute it. The institutional culture should not be ignored. Staff has to collaborate, and they have to be open for feedback – from various sources – and new insights. To collaborate successfully, transparency is required. It may be helpful to also be transparent about the contribution of the individual team members since this may make them feel rewarded and may help them to feel safe to speak up and share initiatives. The shared goal should be quality education and the institutional culture should be conducive to accomplish this. To keep up the quality of the education, reflection is necessary. Unfortunately, the good intentions of teaching staff do not always turn out advantageous. It is important for all teaching staff to frequently reflect on their performance and think over the – possible – consequences of their choices or actions regarding education. It is important to be aware of the implicit messages one may convey. Teaching staff may ask themselves the questions ‘What do I transmit; what does the student take from this?’ and ‘What would or should I transmit?’. Obviously, the answer to both questions should be alike. However, without continuous reflection, they may easily and unnoticed drift apart. Although it is evident that the education exists for the students and because of the students, it is important to keep this in mind. It can sometimes be challenging to work with students because of their individual or group characteristics. However, the students should never be considered responsible for any ineffective education. Education that turns out to be ineffective should be regarded as a sign for necessary change and as a call for a comprehensive reflection. For the most part, the content in this reflection section may seem unusual in a doctoral thesis. However, collateral insights may have influenced the considerations throughout this general discussion, and may therefore be considered noteworthy. Besides, being the one who started off in our undergraduate education with peer discussion about lessons learned, I felt somewhat obliged to incorporate various insights that I have gained myself. Annemarie Baaij.indd 134 28-06-2023 12:26