Will you help spread some courage? I read on the Loesje calendar of the educational advisors.
January is the longest month of the year, in my opinion. The grey skies, the cold rain, no Saint Nicholas or Christmas to distract you. And 2026 could well be a long year for the university. A year of financial cold. How can we keep things fun? And how can we prevent ourselves from collapsing, especially when colleagues leave and more work lands on our shoulders?
The short answer: together.
In many places at this university, when you start teaching a course for the first time, you are provided with all the materials used by your predecessor. Giving someone access to the Brightspace environment for a course is therefore a piece of cake. However, this does not happen in all departments. That is a low-hanging fruit. Just share your materials with your closest colleagues, people. Department heads, programme coordinators: make sure this becomes the culture. Help each other through the winter.
A few doors away
The most accessible form of lecturer development and educational enjoyment is right on your doorstep. It's that pleasant colleague a few doors away. I know there are departments where colleagues routinely observe a colleague's lecture once a year. And vice versa. Not only is this educational, it's also rewarding. Because colleagues don't just see what could be improved in your teaching. They also see what you do well, how much effort you put in and what they can learn from you. (Email me if you are interested in a feedback form for such “behind the scenes” visits.) Recognition for your work: an important factor in preventing burnout.
Or teach a course together with that pleasant colleague. I did that a few years ago. Others thought we were crazy: it takes extra time because you have to consult with each other, while you only get half the hours. But no, that wasn't our experience. We divided the tasks according to what we enjoyed doing. I have never had to answer so few emails from students as I did then, and he was able to rely on me when it came to devising teaching methods. When the viruses struck in February and we took turns being ill, we could simply take time off without having a mountain of work waiting for us when we returned, because the other person took care of everything. We divided up the marking work. Anything we were unsure about, we could discuss with the other, and that way we made decisions faster than we could have done on our own. But above all, it was so much fun to teach together. It gave us energy.
Keeping yourself grounded and inspired through collaboration with colleagues does not have to stop at the walls of this university. At merlot.org, you will find peer-reviewed open education resources. Edusources.nl aims to serve the Dutch-speaking world. If you are at risk of becoming a domino, I would consider having a professor from MIT give your lectures via video. That way, you can use your contact time with students to answer their questions and give them assignments to process. If only those three colleagues had done that.
Come and warm yourself up
Together, that's the key. I try to do this myself. It's so tempting to have lunch at your desk on busy days. But a quick chat with a nice colleague gives me the energy I need to tackle my to-do list. In my experience, the Teaching and Learning Centre is the perfect place to meet friendly colleagues. The new staff lounge is in the Erasmus Building (E1.51, entrance next to the study centre). Come and warm yourself with the enthusiasm of your colleagues, for example at the housewarming on 29 January, around lunchtime. We'll provide soup.
Together we'll get through this winter.