Are you a Masters or third-year Bachelor student looking for ways to push yourself beyond the boundaries of your study program? Would you like to enhance your public speaking, coaching or leadership skills? Then becoming a guide for the Broader Mind Course is an excellent and unique opportunity for you!
The Broader Mind Course is an extracurricular, interdisciplinary course for Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam students from all faculties. Its principle aim is to stimulate personal growth while developing a deeper awareness of societal issues. The course invites students to reflect on various themes while actively considering their own roles and possible contributions; focusing on themes such as success & failure, poverty or sustainability.
The role of a guide in this unique course is to facilitate the discussions surrounding these topics and help students to get the most out of the challenging meet-ups around each theme by providing enthusiastic input and helpful feed-back.
Have you been looking for ways to enhance your public speaking or leadership skills?
Becoming a guide for the Broader Mind Course is the perfect opportunity. Before
leading these group sessions, you will receive a specialized training course on
topics such as coaching skills, public-speaking, enhancing your leadership
abilities, building confidence with public speaking, dealing with confrontation, and more. Each part of the training course has been specifically designed to
not only assist you in your role as a guide, but to also build your skills sets for the rest of your academic or professional careers.
The English-taught course will run in periods 4 and 5 (from February to June 2025).
For additional background information on
the Broader Mind Course, please see the following links:
- Broader Mind Course website (Dutch): VU.NL/BROADERMINDCOURSE
- Broader Mind Course website (English): VU.NL/BROADERMINDCOURSE
You as guide will:
• Coach 25-30 students
• Give feedback on the mid-term assignment after period 4
• Give feedback on and assess final assignment
• Check attendance for online and offline activities
• Provide guidance for online and offline activities
• Supervise online activities, such as online discussions and assignments
• Contribute to the further development of the Broader Mind Course
What you can bring to this experience:
• Master’s student (or third-year Bachelor’s student with an openness to learn)
• Good communication skills (or a desire to further develop your existing communication skills!)
• Coaching experience is an advantage
• A good command of the English language
You must be available for:
— Guide trainings on several Thursday evenings mid-November 2024 -- mid-May 2025.
— On campus theme ‘meetups’ (during the course): either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Estimated time for checking student assessments, preparation for meetups/get-togethers, participation in guide trainings, meetups and get-togethers is 8 hours per week on average (not in exam periods).
What we offer you:
• The unique opportunity to take specialized training courses for enhancing your public speaking, leadership, coaching and interpersonal skills. A chance to boost your CV and prepare yourself for a wide range of further academic and professional pursuits.
• Financial reimbursement of approximately €1050 and a certificate for successfully completing guiding the Broader Mind Course.
• Theme-specific coaching sessions during the Broader Mind Course during which you will have the hands-on opportunity to practice facilitating discussions and balancing perspectives surrounding relevant societal topics.
• Broader Mind Course Guide Certificate which you can add to your CV.
