Why do we need to set up a separate learning line for personal and professional development (PPO) in the first place? Are today's students so terrible that they don't develop otherwise? Twenty, thirty years ago, we all rolled out of our studies on our way to a job, didn't we? Does anyone then develop only if we make a PPO course compulsory in a university course?
No, probably not.
As lecturers, we increasingly have to deal with hours that are fully filled, returns per course are calculated and our time is actually fully scheduled in many cases. Per appointment, we know how many hours you work per year, of which a certain percentage is for teaching, in that you can teach a number of courses of so many hours, and those hours are then broken down into all sorts of things like preparation, testing, teaching meetings and administration time. That means that any activities that arise spontaneously during work, such as a student who would like to talk about the study ends up costing research time or evenings because all the other work still needs to be done.
Well the number of students who do so has also decreased. I notice in lectures that many students are almost out the door before I have even wished them a good evening. You can't blame them, because the same thing happened on their side. The loan system gave extra pressure to get a degree as soon as possible. Student rooms became increasingly scarce and expensive, as legal changes made renting out student rooms less lucrative and many private landlords got rid of their student properties. So, fewer rooms available, high monthly costs, hefty study costs due to student loans... I can understand why students then prefer to stay with their parents and travel back and forth for their education. Which, by the way, in 2020 and 2021 also took place largely online. Surely that saves quite a bit in student debt. (And for those thinking: we have student loans again now, don't we? Yes, it currently stands at 338.68 per month for students living away from home. For comparison: the average room rent in Nijmegen is around 600 euros, according to a national analysis by Kamernet. And then living expenses and study costs are added to that).
At the same time, cultural and club life was being increasingly downsized by the university. No more bands in the Culture Café, fewer students who lingered to have another drink there and talk about that tricky subject or that one muddled lecturer. Fewer students who wanted to spend an administrative year filling out a society. This too was understandable, since board months were no longer reimbursed by the university either, and every month's delay meant extra debt.
It is not my intention to fall into a 'everything used to be better' sentiment. But all these changes have made both students and lecturers very purposeful with their education. The experiences that provided growth often came from those 'extra' things. Student life in that dorm, where you had to resolve the necessary clashes with housemates to keep it livable, the administrative year of a society where you also had to deal with setbacks or dissenters, that after-dinner drink, getting involved in a society or a committee in your study association. It made you think about what that meant to you and who exactly you were then, what your strengths are and where your interests lie (and where not) and how others deal with those challenges.
The conversations with lecturers about studies, just in the corridor or the lecture hall. Getting to know each other better and knowing what drives them, both students and lecturers. When that is no longer possible because there is still an exam to be done and exactly 80 assignments to be looked at in 800 minutes, and because in addition to a 40-hour study, 30 hours must be worked to limit post-study debt.
Yes, then we should indeed set up a separate learning line for personal and professional development. To build in that we talk to each other again, reflect together and find out what questions are going on. Even if that doesn't feel useful, doesn't mean it's not valuable.
Of course, it is difficult to change the big system. In my ideal world, PPO was unnecessary because lecturers and students had more 'nothing time' where they could find each other for good conversations about what they experienced. And in which we had space to explore ideas without a to-do list waiting for hours, where deviation immediately creates pressure on your academic output or your private life. But of course it is not that simple.
Let's make sure PPO becomes what was once so obvious. A little time to find out who you are, what you want to achieve, be seen and heard and hear stories of how others have done it. Then without a final grade, because the whole thing with that development is often that the relevance only becomes noticeable much later. I grant us all a little time.