`All UT educational programmes will have to be re-accredited one after the other because of the introduction of the Bachelor-Master system. An important criterium used by the accreditors is the extent to which a programme contributes to the academic skills of the student. This is one of the reasons I developed the course,' according to Procee. `But, besides being educational it also has to make enthusiastic', he hastens to add.
`Enjoying to think.' This is how Procee, professor `philosophy in relation to academic development', describes his own most important motivation. And this is also one of the things that his course participants should be able to get across to their students even more, after six sessions.
A little bit of self-knowledge is not that bad for a teacher, Procee feels. `In the first session I will do a simple test, whereby everyone can determine what type of teacher they are. A great many teachers have been teaching to the best of their ability for many years. I want to make them aware of the teaching style, show them what you can do to develop and apply other styles, and what you can achieve in education.'
Except for different teaching styles, different styles in thinking are discussed in the course. `There are a number of ways in which people think. There are, for example people who are clear-cut analytical, or people who think strongly in opposites, in cause and effect, or in stories. If you have insight in this as a teacher, you can help students more if they get stuck somewhere.'
The aids Procee hands his participants are often based on concepts and tricks from philosophy and rhetoric. `With a few simple basic principles from rhetoric you can help students a long way when preparing presentations or writing articles. Therefore this will come up as well. Plus a number of other subjects the participants wish to see discussed.'
transl. DvA
