24-UUrs Education Conference: socialisation and community building

On Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 June, the annual 24-UUrs Education Conference took place. This year, the conference focused on our role as a university in the socialisation and community building of learners. The theme ties in with the implementation of Open Education in the actualisation of the Utrecht Education Model: the students/professionals acquire knowledge, learn to relate to that knowledge and develop themselves as a person in the process.

Keynote: What purpose does the university serve?

The conference kicked off with a keynote by Ronald van Raak, professor of 'Erasmian values' at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. A discussion on values seemed taboo for a long time. Values were something for people themselves, but at the same time there is a need for shared values. This also applies to the university, which is why a debate on 'Erasmian values' was launched at Erasmus University. How do we, as empowered people, establish shared values? What does this mean for academic education? Or: what purpose does the university serve?

Students just starting university are still in their formative phase, so not all their values have yet surfaced. In addition, there is a chance that they have not yet encountered clashing values because they have always been in the same environment. Ronald argues that values only emerge when discomfort becomes a factor. Also, there is a duality in students: one group wants to study in a safe environment where they do not encounter confrontation, and the other group thinks they should be allowed to say what they want, even if it causes conflict and discomfort. So the latter, according to Ronald, is important to bring values to light.

We do have values, but they need to come to the surface. That only happens when discomfort comes into play.

Ronald van Raak

Ronald identifies tolerance as an important concept in this. According to him, tolerance is about the duty to delve deeper into the thoughts and values of another person; if you disagree with each other, you should allow each other to speak out. Only when you engage in discussion do you learn that there are perspectives other than your own, can you also discover agreement, and can you learn to accept each other. And because you yourself value being able to express your perspectives, it becomes easier to grant that space to another. So the university has a role in teaching students to have these conversations, not to judge too quickly and to listen to each other.

Workshop sessions

Six different workshops focused on how students develop, and various methods of conversation for dealing with sensitive topics with many perspectives.

Development of the student

One of the workshops was about identity formation in young adulthood and adolescence. When students start university they are still in the process of developing their own identity. Until then, and even from this point on, they are mostly shaped by the people around them; identity is created through the interactions they have with others. They are therefore still searching for their own identity: what do I really care about? Where do I want to go in my life? It is good to realise that students are in the midst of this development, and therefore still searching for what their perspective on the world actually is.

Another workshop dealt with the concept of self-regulation. Complex learning environments, such as Community Engaged Learning and Challenge Based Learning, are challenging for students and make great demands on their self-regulation skills. Participants discussed what self-regulation means and what it takes to help our students with it, especially in these complex learning environments. The discussion focused on what makes a learning environment complex and how this affects student learning. The importance of making the learning of self-regulatory skills explicit and providing a relevant context in which students can master these skills was highlighted here.

And how do we continue to promote the development of professionals driven by academic and democratic values aimed at independent opinion formation? During the workshop on academic freedom and democratic values for professionals, the focus was on how everyone's values can be shaped in the process of forming the assignment of Continuing Education (OvP). Within OvP, professionals are fed with expertise, but this happens in reciprocity, professionals also feed us with their experience, knowledge and skills to apply in our teaching. Collaborations for OvP require academic freedom in choosing with whom and around which subjects to collaborate. In this, the conversation about what is considered important in the curriculum can and may be held.

Various methods of conversation

During the workshop on ‘Het Vlak’, participants were taken through a dialogue step-by-step, using different objects to create a conversation. In turns, participants added objects to the white surface in the centre of the room, or objects were moved around. In doing so, the objects symbolised an addition or turn in a conversation. The symbolism of putting down and moving objects, helps to take different perspectives and create an overview of the different turns in the conversation.

The workshop aimed at the dialogue on controversial and/or sensitive issues in the academic context, which explored the differences between debate and dialogue, evoked a lively discussion on various forms of engaging in the conversation. It was also interesting to note that the various disciplines already brought different starting positions with them. Within the field of Law, it appears that the argumentation asked for in jurisdiction is a kind of fixed anchor point, which is alternated with dialogical working forms in which students learn to take up positions personally, while within political sciences, for example, the fact that you argue from a certain position is a given. Understanding the different forms to enter into the conversation gave participants more confidence to do so and make choices in this.

In another workshop, the Utrecht step-by-step plan for dealing with a moral case was highlighted. The phases of the roadmap consist of making the moral issue explicit, identifying the values and stakeholders, weighing the values and arguments, making the decision and identifying the concrete steps that follow. The roadmap helps to make the best possible decision on a complex moral issue that does not seem to have a right answer.

Project: Encouraging open-mindedness and open attitudes in higher education through games and art

Day two of the conference highlighted the theme of the conference through the Comenius Leadership project by Gönül Dilaver and Leoniek Wijngaards-de Meij. Their project aims to teach students and teachers to adopt different perspectives through the use of creative learning activities (games, design processes, art), and to participate in open dialogue.

After a brief explanation of their project, participants were tasked with looking at how the creative learning activities that the project will produce, can be incorporated into teaching. Insights that came out of this, for instance, were that the infrastructure between faculties in terms of incorporating these learning activities varies a lot and that space is needed to incorporate these activities. It was emphasised that the necessity to introduce these activities needs to be felt in order to create this space and set up an appropriate infrastructure to bring about an institutional change to an open culture.

Wrap-up

In short, it was another valuable 24-UUrs Education Conference with plenty of room for open dialogue, exchange of perspectives and new insights we can actively use. Henk Kummeling concluded by expressing his confidence in our educational community to work on the further development of education with an open attitude and open dialogue.

Embrace discomfort, because from that discomfort you can learn.

Henk Kummeling