Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
"The Way Out Is In" – Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master and Poet In my work, I believe the key to creating meaningful change begins with a dance between introspection and connection. This dance knows two intertwined movements: first, looking inward to cultivate self-awareness, and then turning outward to engage deeply with others and the world 🌍 Moments of contemplation through Zen meditation, dance, or walks in nature, energize my work as a teacher educator, coach, and trainer at the VU Centre for Teaching and Learning. As part of a wonderful team of experienced teachers, trainers, educational specialists, and coaches, I design and facilitate programs that foster teacher professionalisation, educational innovation, and team- and leadership development. In addition to my work in academia, I offer support to individuals and organizations across sectors in uncovering hidden dynamics, gaining new perspectives, and tackling complex challenges. Drawing inspiration from mindfulness, embodied learning, pedagogy, and systemic coaching, I invite people to slow down, observe, and make a first step towards a more life-affirming future. In 2020, I started my journey as a writer working on the book "The Happiness Experiment", and since 2024, we have been offering an undergraduate course building on the ideas of the book. Let’s co-create a world grounded in peace, compassion, and courage: One step at a time.
As an educator and coach at the VU Centre for Teaching and Learning, I design and facilitate programs for: Senior Teachers / Leadership - Building Strong Teams in Education - Senior Teaching Qualification - Inclusive Leadership - Art of Engagement: Team Development (Junior) Lecturers - University Teaching Qualification for Junior Teachers, and fast track for experienced teachers; - Intervisie / Peer-Consultation - Mixed Classroom in Practice - A Broader Mind in Practice Students - Honours Course: "The Happiness Experiment Cultivating Individual and Collective Wellbeing" I am also involved in various education- and research-focused innovation initiatives aimed at strengthening the formative role of higher education. Projects focus on supporting students and teachers in introducing arts- and nature-based pedagogical models to prepare them for an uncertain future.
I support individuals and organizations across sectors in uncovering hidden dynamics, gaining new perspectives, and tackling complex challenges. Drawing inspiration from mindfulness, embodied learning, pedagogy, and systemic coaching, I invite people to slow down, observe, and make a first step towards a more life-affirming future. My work is grounded in Theory U, Deep Ecology, and Systemic Work.
I am working as an e-learning consultant in a NUFFIC project, which is a public-private partnership to develop a center of excellence in the field of medical skills training in Kenya (pre-service, in-service and postgraduate). My role as an e-learning consultant is to advise, train, and coach teachers from the participating universities and medical colleges to activate and engage their students in an online environment.
Providing and Designing interactive lectures and workshops on: > Me, myself, and I (Acceptance based therapy) > Digital Detox > Self-confidence > Resilience > Creativity > Stress management > Boost your happiness
Assigned by the University Library and the Maastricht University Institute of Education Innovation (EDLAB), I contribute to projects, research, policy, and training on learning in a rapidly changing information landscape. My work is defined by the following activities: Research: I authored and co-authored scholarly papers on information literacy in relation to curriculum and instructional design theory. Teaching and Instructional design: - Academic skills education for bachelor and master students from different disciplines. I am mainly in charge of teaching and (re)designing academic skills workshops (e.g. systematic literature search) as part of students study programmes. - Consulting faculty teachers to embed skills training into their courses - Individual- and group coaching for students to support them in succeeding in their research assignments Project roles: Artificial Intelligence in Education project - With a mixed group of teachers and experts from the field, we developed Artificial Intelligence technology based use-cases for inside the classroom. LMS tender process: Advisory role for the didactical requirements (e.g. learning analytics) of the selected learning management system. Assisting project leader (setting up meeting agenda, taking minutes). Others: - Introducing ICT-tools and modern ways of communication (e.g. slack, vlogs) - Event planning and organization (summer and winter academy, digital literacy event): Agenda design, marketing and communication campaigning, learner experience and stakeholder mapping, logistics, facilitation of sessions
Leading an university-wide educational innovation project (collaboration between EDLAB and the University library) to enhance academic skills education at Maastricht University. The project is split into two work-packages: 1) Identifying bachelor students' struggles and needs to effectively use information in the learning process; 2) Based on these findings, amongst others, building and testing an university-wide information/digital skills programme for bachelor students. For more details, see link below or shoot me a message ;)
Together with a multidisciplinary team of consultants from K&S, we explored the landscape of Highly Integrative Questions (HIQ's). Our research concluded in a publication.