The FRIS Festival: a refreshing afternoon of educational inspiration

Stimulating agenda with room for educators, workshops and moments of rest

A stimulating agenda was compiled for the FRIS Festival to provide space for inspiring lectures, interactive workshops and nourishing moments of rest with interested educators, students, supporting staff and other stakeholders from inside and outside the UvA . Together, they explored innovative ideas and insights for their own educational practice, to contribute to understanding and addressing urgent issues in times of increasing inequality and major social, political and economic transitions.

Connecting half-hour breaks were scheduled between the various agenda items. A FRIS silence room was also set up, for self-reflection or to let things sink in. The festival afternoon ended with a plenary session on the theme Re-thinking education for a FRIS world by Machiel Keestra, Koen Wessels and Mieke Lopes Cardozo. The festival ended with drinks, where participants could connect.

Freshening up the overheated education system

FRIS coordinator Mieke Lopes Cardozo wants to inspire people to ‘refresh’ the overheated education system. “If we, as agents of change, want to have a meaningful impact on systemic change, we cannot do so without changing ourselves. This requires becoming aware of our views of the world, our paradigms, our ways of being, and our interaction with students and colleagues.” The approach in the FRIS community is inspired by regenerative theory and design methods. Therefore, during the FRIS Festival, we set out to work with a dynamic framework called 3 lines of work:

1. Development as educators
2. Working on developmental learning communities
3. Realising educational potential in relation to a FRIS world

Inclusion is also a challenge within our own psyche

Speaker and FRIS grant holder Hülya Kosar Altinyelken reflected on inclusive education during the FRIS Festival with a particular focus on the relevance of shadow-work for promoting inclusion in higher education.

Hülya: “Inclusion is not only a societal challenge, it is also a challenge within our own psyche, and these two are intricately connected. We push the qualities that do not fit our Persona into our unconscious, to so-called Shadow. The deeper this division is and the more unconscious the Shadow is, the more we experience it as a stranger, an Other, or an alien invader. When we project our Shadow to individuals or groups, we reject them, we judge them, we find them alien, undesirable, and even threatening. Another problem with this division is that our actions in the outside world mirror our inner attitude. If we continuously reject and disown our own Shadow, we tend to behave in similar ways during our social interactions as well. Because we simply do not know how to deal with differences. Our identity and sense of self are even threatened by these so-called alien aspects, so we are tempted to exclude and reject them. Such mechanisms naturally hinder inclusion. Therefore, in order to promote inclusion in our society and within our educational spaces, engaging in shadow work is highly important.”

Creating positive learning experience

Speaker and FRIS grant holder Sanjay Bissessur posed the FRIS-relevant question: How do we create an environment that helps all students to have a positive learning experience? We don’t just want students to learn something, we want them to feel that they have had a positive experience and made meaningful connections with each other and the world around them. Education is not just about subject-matter knowledge, but should also make room for student well-being, so that they can develop themselves and their social and professional identity.

Academic challenge in the role of educator

After the lectures, Mieke invited attendees to discuss with the participants next to them how the lectures inspired them. But also, what opportunities they see for their own role, what that requires of them and what support networks they can identify to collaborate with. From the audience came reflections on an academic challenge; that as a scientist, you may choose to work with the best 10% of students (motivated, goal-oriented students, often from more privileged backgrounds). But as an educator, on the other hand, you likely aim to enhance the development of all – including students from less privileged backgrounds. There is a tension there that you have to navigate as an educator, to provide both inclusive and inspiring teaching within a limited timeframe, and also live up to the high demands to publish research. This is why TLC started to offer teaching innovation scholarships like the FRIS grant, yet these only provide some space and time during a short period of time.

Plenary closing with ‘musical chairs’: how can we rethink education?

In the reflective plenary closing, we worked on the theme of Re-thinking education for a FRIS world, which included UvA’s Central Diversity Officer Machiel Keestra, Koen Wessels (Academy of Hope) and FRIS coordinator Mieke Lopes Cardozo. In the centre of a large circle were 2 coloured chairs; 2 red and 2 black. The so-called red hot seats first gave the guest speakers and then several participants a place to share their reflections or contributions. The black seats were for participants who wanted to join the conversation by asking a question or otherwise offering support to those on the hot seats. It allowed for a lively and inclusive discussion format.

Key insights during the discussion

• It helps if you don’t just see the world in terms of problems but think in terms of possibilities. How can you train that skill?
• It helps to be mindful of people’s personal histories and how such stories can contribute to more inclusive learning environments.
• Education that focuses on a just, resilient and inclusive society requires courage and openness from teachers, and from students.
• Committing yourself as an educator or student to a more FRIS world requires self-reflection and working with inner development goals.

Concern, reflection and anger