dr. MTW (Jet) Vervoort MSc

My main involvement in education at WU is in teaching courses of the programmes BSc Plant Sciences, MSc Plant Sciences, and the MSc Plant Biotechnology.

Education development and

As societal challenges are becoming increasingly complex and job requirements everchanging, students need to develop a Lifelong Learning (LLL) attitude to keep updating their knowledge and skills after graduating. An LLL attitude can be described as the willingness to actively look for and use opportunities for self-development in different settings (both formal and non-formal). My ambition as a teacher in the BSc Plant Sciences, MSc Plant Sciences, and the MSc Plant Biotechnology is to work on what I perceive to be main components and skills connected to LLL.

The willingness to take an active role in self-development is related to students’ degree of ownership in their learning. Ownership is a complex concept that encompasses a range of skills that can vary from students’ levels of study and planning abilities to skills involved in leadership and communication. A key aspect in the development of ownership involves self-regulation. Self-regulation entails identifying personal drivers, setting goals, developing self-efficacy, and active self-monitoring. To train students to become self-regulated learners, a setting is needed that allows students to clearly recognize the elements and strategies that they have mastered and have yet to master. In addition, to motivate students, we need to make ’the why’ of skills development clear to students. To contribute to improving self-regulation in skills development, feedback literacy, skills trajectories and career orientation play a central role in my current and future educational activities.

In addition to ownership, the development of humility is, in my opinion, another prerequisite for an LLL attitude. Recognizing and using opportunities for self-development requires openness to the complexity of issues and to the value of other perspectives (e.g., other disciplines or society). Humility or lack of a superiority mindset, in this context of LLL, contributes to an openness to other perspectives (‘Boundary crossing’), critical thinking, adaptability, and self-reflection. In my teaching, I focus on supportive tools for critical thinking and the design of perspective-seeking activities that contribute to Boundary crossing skills development.

Education

• Manouk Gulikers
• Lisa van Sluijs
• Jessica Vervalle