Manager Stations; Technical Services, Facilities and Education at Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam, the Netherlands - Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands
Docent psychologie/ Teacher psychology, Docentenopleider/ Teacher trainer
Art & Design naturally bridges cultures and nationalities, both physically and mentally. References, theory and subjects are connected through different practices in which diversityis at the core of our reality. Diversity applies to the city in which we are located and the many disciplines our art school encompasses, as well as the new knowledge we are generating. We embrace differences which lead to new perspectives, new routes of thinking, new possibilities in Art & Design. In this sense we are ‘creating' pioneers.At WdKA we work in project groups with students of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds on small-scale Problem-Based Learning. Exploring and discussing problems from different perspectives and backgrounds generates a unique added value in the sense that students are confronted with different ways of thinking and viewpoints that would remain unexplored if the tutorial group were more homogenous in composition.Students who are educated in an intercultural environment are not only better preparedto work in a rapidly internationalising and globalising market, but are also better equipped to tackle complex interdisciplinary design problems.