For twelve years now, I have not just taught a wide array ofcourses, but I have also developed most of these courses myself, as well as
entire curriculums and educational concepts. In fact, it was this side of my
job that I increasingly found myself most drawn to. More and more, I have enjoyed
creating entire programmes and gearing educational forms, learning outcomes and
assessments to each other.
I have always loved being a professor, but being involved with
the bigger picture of educational policies at an institutional scale has its
own appeal. Over the last four years, my focus has shifted towards curriculum
coherence and I steered my research into the field of educational studies,
publishing about educational concepts and student career counselling. As a
faculty member of several institutes I have developed an insight in the
relations between students’ needs, education and societal developments.
Thus, in a way, becoming an educational policy consultant is
a logical career move for me. In fact, several opportunities to work in
educational consultancy came my way over the past few months. There are a few reasons why I ended up choosing to work for Avans University of Applied Sciences. Most
importantly, Avans has, with the Learning and Innovation Centre (LIC) one of
the most advanced educational development institutes in higher education in the
Netherlands, so this promises to be a very fruitful working environment for me.
That Avans also ranked the top large university of applied sciences in the
Netherlands is an added bonus. Its motto, 'making a difference' appeals to me because I believe that that is exactly the power of universities of applied sciences. All in all, I am very much looking forward to
starting this new phase in my career.
