Just finished the War of Art by Stephan Pressfield. I liked his concept of Resistance. Resistance for him is a destructive force that disables you from being creative. In his words: ‘with ever tree of creativity that grows; comes a shadow. Being creative for him is about finding ways to overcome that Resistance. In his…
Words I often hear from students during reflection-moment are distractions, procrastination, anxieties, and imposter syndrome. Studying on itself probably would not be half as difficult if it was not for ourselves. There is a title of a book that I often think about: ‘You Are What You Do’. Sometimes we perceive studying as a ritual…
I joined a meeting with people who did not know each other and we had a shared task to bring out a singular verdict. I observed and noted what was said by participants in order to reflect upon how we try to convince others. refer to prior experience others didn’t have: I have been using…
This week I had an individual feedback moment in MSTeams with students. It was the final feedback moment before their deadline. Our tutor team has planned different feedback meetings trough out the project. Our goal is to organize different learning activities related to the project and include a few specific small group feedback moments. In…
“How do I Know if my Students Are Learning (Online)?’ The question was asked by a colleague in the context of online learning due to the corona measurements. I think it’s an important question because we spend so much time on education; it’s important to reflect on what is effective. I also believe it’s a…
Last year I encountered challenges in creating a safe environment for students. When people feel unsafe in a conversation there are two paths: silence or violence. Silence can be used as a means to avoid potential situations by withdrawing (by any means) from the conversation. Violence is when verbal strategies are used in an attempt…
Call III is the third work in a series. Call was executed on July 23, 2016, and Call Again was executed on July 21, 2017.
In September 2018 I had the privileged to visit School of the Art Institude of Chicago (SAIC), and to explore how they have developed outreach-programs for the community of Chicago. I have tried to summarize some of the valuable things I’ve learned in this post. Many thanks for Paul Coffey and SAIC for their support.
This week I have started my first meeting of the Senior-Qualification-Examination (SKE) course at our institute. The ‘SKE’ is a Dutch certification in assessments for higher professional education. This post is a reflection on why this course is important to me.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Joe Sacco at our institute. He was invited to talk about his career as political cartoonist for students of the department of Illustration.
“the goal of education is not to let students ‘fit’ in the future, but to offer them a structure by which they can shape that future”. KAOS pilots Last week I attended a 3 day masterclass hosted by the KAOSpilots. The goal of the masterclass is to design a ‘course on pedagogy’ for experienced teachers…
Yesterday I had the pleasure of giving an introduction for teachers of the Willem de Kooning Academy during the opening of the ‘Drive & Development Week’. The event was organized by the Education Station. Our goal was to stimulate the exchange of ideas between teachers beyond the boundaries of disciplines or departments. The topic of…
At the moment I am busy preparing for a trip to the U.S.A to visit 2 art&design academies. We are looking forward to learn from them as well as share our own ideas and experiences. There are several topics that we hope to talk about. I am looking forward to share an overview of the…
Last month I had the pleasure of contributing to an interview for Dude, Dutch Designers Magazine #1 2018, which is out now. The article was about the transition from art academy into the professional design practice. It argues that a smooth transition is rarely the case for many students. There are questions if design design…
Illustration by 2nd year exchange student: Alice Cousely Last Friday I made a visit to Gorssel where our 2nd year WdKA illustration students were spending some days to draw and paint outside, visit musea like Kroller Moller Park. Our goal of the fieldtrip is to strengthen the bond between students and stimulate informal learning. We…
“Sad Satan 2018” The sculpture above was a gift made by Han Hoogerbrugge. He gave it to me for my new job at the WdKA. The title is “Sad Satan’ and it has two holes in his head; where his horns used to be. Since January 2018 my position at the WdKA has changed from…
Rejoice! My Hands are Dirty! I am excited to announce that this Sunday the 11th of November I will present my own freshly printed zines during Zine-camp at Worm in Rotterdam. I am looking forward to show what more than ’10 years of academic studies’ can amount to. The event is exclusive, because my zines…
Yesterday I visited the symposium and departure lecture of profession dr. Saskia de Bodt. Over the last 9 years she has been the Dutch ‘special professor in Illustration’ at the University of Amsterdam. This position was supported by the Fiep Westendorp Foundation. She wrote several publications among which: From Poe tot Pooh; illustration to pay…
Published at: link How to explain your artistic vision during art education assessments Introduction With the implementation of ‘competency assessments’ at the Willem de Kooning Academy (WdKA), students are faced with a new form of evaluation in which they must demonstrate within the setting of a formal portfolio, presentation and dialogue (assessment) that they have…
this is a rough first text on the subject of failing on personal student projects. Any feedback is welcome. “How students can fail in personal projects at the WdKA” Before the summer holidays it’s ‘project assessment time’. When it comes to independent student projects it can be difficult to understand for students why they failed.…
