Wietske: 'It happens more and more often that in working life you have to deal with new, complex and unexpected situations. Situations, for which you are not or hardly prepared for during your education, for which no protocols or guidelines exist, but in which you still have to act. For the past four years, together with various Higher Educational Institutes, we have been investigating in the research program Adapt at Work, how students can develop that adaptability in work-based settings.’
Tanja: 'That research shows, among other things, that you can stimulate the development of that adaptability by working with 'open-ended', authentic assignments, by offering appropriate guidance and by consciously investing in learning (from) collaboration. We translate these insights into practical tools that you as an educator can apply, together with students. During our interactive workshop we not only explain the content and importance of adaptability, but we also get to work with one of those tools.’
Wietske: 'Developing adaptability requires a different role for teachers and a new way of guiding . After all, you are no longer the only expert when working on such new, complex issues. Take health care as an example: there are more and more patients with complex problems, which no longer require a single solution but a mix of knowledge and expertise. This requires not only the ability to work together, but also to act on the basis of input from other people's knowledge and expertise, and sometimes develop ne ways of working in this. Furthermore, consider the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is having an impact on various professions. What does that mean and how do you deal with it?’
Tanja: 'During workplace learning, students are no longer exclusively in the role of student: they are at work in the role of professional, depending on the issue, often interdisciplinary and always in interaction with stakeholders. This also requires adaptability. To support them in this, educational teams should have attention to characteristics of the work-environment and task characteristics related to guidance to stimulate adaptability development.’
Wietske: 'Although the research program Adapt at Work focuses on higher education, teachers from vocational education are also welcome at our workshop. It seems interesting to enter into dialogue with each other, since their students also encounter new, unusual and sometimes complex issues in practice. The Education Days are all about learning from, with and about each other, from different educational institutions and sectors. Looking at the other workshops, the workshop 'PACE' appeals to me: about a future-proof education concept for healthcare education. Furthermore, the days offer a great opportunity to strengthen educational collaboration in the region and make connections with the professional field.'
Tanja: 'The great thing about The Education Days is that they are organized jointly by the university, the professional and vocational education. The program is close to the context of the various educational institutions, so that knowledge is meaningfully shared and new connections are created. Connections that you can take into your education of tomorrow.'