Required in stage
Optional in stage
Second term
Both terms
This year
Next year
Alternating years
External
Prerequisites
Identical coursesPersonal Growth (B-UCLL-TPIPIB)
English
First term
Cannot be taken as part of an examination contract
Mertens Katrien (coordinator) | Mertens Katrien Aims
In this course, students will learn to commit themselves to the common good by thinking differently, broadening their perspectives, clarifying what they value, and (re)connect with people. To practice these skills, we provide opportunities for radical listening, we practice on suspending judgment, we discuss shared identities, personal stories, we explore and imagine possible futures. The students also broaden and deepen their connection with the community. This course is an interactive learning experience, a constant process of give and take, not only among the students but also between students, professors and external third parties (organizations and different target groups).
Learning outcomes:
-Being open to other (disciplinary) perspectives, beliefs, values and motivations
-Reflect on their own role, strengths and weaknesses (within the context of the service learning project and within society in general)
-Reflect on their own behavior, actions, beliefs and attitudes
-Further develop and show evidence of power skills
-Professionalize in discovering and learning how to use different methods relevant in different professional contexts (f.i.: photovoice, story circles, solution focused coaching and Appreciative Inquiry)
Previous knowledge
Proficiency in English as a learning medium
Is included in these courses of study
Activities
3 ects. Personal Growth (B-UCLL-T5PIAB)
EnglishFormat: Lecture-practical-assignmentFirst termContent
Learning activities
-This course provides a framework for projects in which students combine actions with structured reflection on these activities. Students will make a sustainable contribution to society, practicing power skills (empathy, deep listening, authenticity, vulnerability, suspending judgement) they developed and experienced throughout the semester.
- Students who have grown up immersed in the high-speed, anonymous world of social media, will be thought how to hold a genuine dialogue with people who are potentially very different from who they are. In dialoguing they will come to understand others’ lives, values and beliefs better, and others come to understand their life, values and beliefs. In different contexts and via a variety of dialoguing methods they will experience the crucial role of power skills and tackle prejudices and stereotypes.
- Students will continuously be encouraged to discover their potentials, to reveal "the treasure within them". Important values for learning and educational contexts will be applied in practical ways to real-life situations. These are the kinds of values that facilitate the process of becoming a holistic person (both as learner and as educator). We will talk about themes such as love and compassion, creativity and appreciation of beauty, peace sustainable human development, global solidarity and dealing with diversity, connecting with nature but also happiness and gratitude.
- Students will be asked to keep a learning report (personal journal) of their targets (and challenges) and experiences along the way.
Course material
Course documents will be made available on Toledo. They include the following key texts:
Cooperrider, DL, PF Sorensen, Jr., D Whitney & TF Yaeger (2000). Appreciative Inquiry. Rethinking organization toward a positive theory of change. Stipes Publishing, Champaign, Illinois.
Watkins, JM & BJ Mohr (2001). Appreciative Inquiry. Change at the speed of imagination. Jossey-Bass.
http://www.iisd.org/pdf/appreciativeinquiry.pdf: Locating the energy for change: An introduction to appreciative inquiry (Elliott, 1999).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXIeFJCqsPs: Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."
Seligman, M. (2002), Authentic happiness: using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment.
-All other materials will be communicated via Toledo.
Format: more information
The course is made up of a series of in-class activities that have been arranged to explore issues and ideas regarding Personal Growth and your impact on the world. On several occasions students will be expected to prepare readings and reflections before coming to class.
Students will engage in, and report on a service learning project.
Evaluation
Personal Growth (B-UCLL-T71314)
Explanation
| Assessment | Grading scale |
|---|---|
| TOTAL | 1-20/20 scale |
First examination period
Grading on successfully completing the the learning report and (if necessary) an oral presentation.
Second examination opportunity
The modalities of the second examination opportunity are communicated on Toledo in the beginning of July.