Student group’s challenge

“The question was how the environment at the pediatrician in youth care could be built as patient centered as possible. […] The students have chosen a quite conservative approach. I encouraged students to talk to several people who also have experience with healing environment, so who can really provide a substantive background as well. But what came out was quite conservative according to me. […] As a solution, the students chose pictures and furniture that they (students) will use in the healing environment. […] This complemented with wallpaper that looks like a forest or something like that. The students also wanted to use a big screen where a few things would be shown to the patients, and music. […] So, this solution was really limited in terms of innovation, I would say. [..] My feeling is that students had imposed restrictions on themselves, of what is feasible and what is not. I do not know exactly what the dynamics were in the group, but from what I saw, I think the students were a little more reserved than other groups. Let’s say that this group was less active than other groups. So, I often felt that I had to encourage and confirm the students in their own skills. […] Students need to trust in their own crazy ideas, and this trust was missing in this group. […] I think, as teachers, we can support and encourage their trust, but it also depends on the personality of those students, to what extent do the students trust their own ideas? Students need to trust their own ideas, but they (students) also need to trust in themselves and that they (students) can share their ideas within the group. And that they (students) can also make other students enthusiastic about your idea because I think it is enough if there are one or two students who look at it from the sideline. And if students do not have much confidence in their own ideas, it is also difficult to defend your ideas for such a group. […] So, I encouraged students—in that group—to give feedback to each other. In every group, there may be one or two students who are quieter, and some students who speak more loudly. […] Of course, in every group, you have different personalities and different egos” [T11 healing environment].

Teaching activities

“I told the students, ‘if there are already pictures, then it is already made. So how can you go a step further in your idea development?’ […] The students really wanted to do it well. […] And I told the students that perfectionism is their enemy if they are developing ideas. That is really not what you want at this moment, because if you want to do it perfectly, it does not work with your prototype, it also does not work in the idea generation process. So, you have to break away from perfectionism, and to what extent are you open? […] I tried to really emphasize in students’ idea development that it is not about perfect ideas. Students need to generate a lot of ideas first, and there is no wrong way to do that. So, it is just about putting things together, and then you can also use those crazy ideas—that you might never be able to do—to adjust your ideas. So mainly an encouragement process. […] So, one thing is that you try—as a teacher—is to encourage students so that everyone can bring in their own ideas. So, if it happens that students are sitting together, you—as teacher—try to bring the students in the conversation from time to time who do not say anything. As a teacher, you do not want to do that too much, but you also want to feel that everyone can contribute something. The second thing is that as a teacher, you really say to students that they (students) have done a great job and that the students are in the creative process. So really just encourage how their process is going. So, I think that is what students also like to hear from me for confirmation. Because the students put time into it, they (students) do not know exactly what they are going to do. And I think it is very important that students hear that they (students) are actually doing it well, and that you—as a teacher—also appreciate their effort. […] I think what is important, and what I always give back to students when we do these feedback rounds, is that not everyone in the group should behave the same way. It is actually very important to have different perspectives and different people with different skills. So, it is about taking as many perspectives as possible. So, I also tell the students who are a bit quieter that what they are doing is fine. You do not always have to be on stage, but just make sure your ideas are also heard. So, if you feel like you can also contribute to this group, then it is fine. You do not always have to do it as the first person, but you just need to make sure you are heard. So that is important. I tell this to the students in one-on-one conversations, so they have the chance to say what they feel. […] My feeling was that students really thought that their idea was innovative. And this is what I mean, it also depends on your own experience. I said at a certain point to the students that they (students) will find a lot of images, so there are already examples of this, but maybe you can look further. And then I had the feeling that the students could not find any other more innovative solutions. And then I stop, because my role as a teacher is not to say that it is not innovative. Like ‘that is really boring, do something else’. No, my role is to try to stimulate the students, and if they (students) get really excited about developing new things that is fine. But if you see that it is really difficult for the students, and if they feel that it is innovative, even though you think otherwise, then it is a choice that students make. I am not a member of the group, so I only try to support the students” [T11 healing environment].