Skill introduction

Taking initiative and exhibiting it on the work floor is definitely not always easy. Especially not when students, for example, start working as trainees at a company. But to what extent are we teaching our students to develop this skill? In fact, we train our students rather passively in that respect. We think of everything in advance, very structured, but give students little room to take the initiative themselves. We train them like an employee who neatly waits for the employer to give him the assignment, but that is not the reality. And certainly not anymore. There are fewer and fewer permanent jobs and the number of freelance assignments is increasing.

What are ways to motivate students to take action in the classroom and at work?
How do you help those who need help in taking the initiative?
In a global marketplace that changes exponentially, change is the only constant. Any industry can change in an instant. New methodologies and ideas are disrupting industries every day. Taking initiative is the ability to make changes and adapt to them. That is why 21st century soft skills are becoming more and more essential.
Thanks to the soft skill ‘taking and showing initiative’, students learn how to respond to changes.

Lecturers who take the initiative are, for example, lecturers who think in solutions and not in problems. They prefer to work forward rather than ‘backward’. They are teachers who like to ask questions. For example, if they can help someone. And they are teachers who dare to speak out about the opportunities and problems they identify, make proposals and propose solutions.