Two weeks ago Frank Steeghs (ACE) started as Hybrid Teacher at Fontys Eindhoven. We asked him about his motivation and his goals in his work as a Hybrid Teacher.
First of all: what is a Hybrid Teacher?
Frank: "A Hybrid Teacher combines a job with teaching within his field of work. Im happy that ACE allows me to explore this!"
How did you get in contact with Fontys to do this?
Frank: "That was an organic path. In recent years I have had various projects with Engineering students. For example for the TU/e Contest where I was one of the coaches and for our TURTLE-5k soccer robot on which we worked with Fontys and TU/e. But an even more important reason is that one of my tasks in my work is to coach our engineers. Because I enjoy coaching and working with students it was an easy decision to make when Fontys asked me if I was interested in taking on the Hybrid Teacher roll and to help develop the Professional Skills of their students."
What is the subject of your classes?
Frank: "The first module of my classes Professional Skills is presenting. I feel really passionate about this subject. At ACE we ensure that our engineers become more visible in their work for our customers so that more people get te see which knowledge and passion they have as an engineer. They don't have to become sales men, but it is important that they know how to get their message across. In the future I will be focussing more on other subjects of Professional Skills"
Which best practices from your work at ACE can you use as a teacher?
Frank: "Because I'm myself am a former Fontys Engineering student and also worked as an (automotive) engineer, I understand the issues that students and beginning engineers are confronted with. This enabled me to understand and coach ACE engineers. This experience is also valuable for students. Furthermore I like to reflect on communication when I'm coaching and try to understand the roll of personalities in communication. I learned a lot in this domain at ACE. In my first year I have taken a communication course and a DISC training. That was a real eye opener for me, seeing my own influence in communicating and interacting with other people."
What do you think about the level of Professional Skills that Fontys students have?
Frank: "In the first lessons with 2nd year students I explored the existing knowledge about their presenting skills. Subconsciously they already knew a lot. My aim is to make them aware of these skills and to find ways to enhance them. To make it more interesting we looked at presentations from TEDx and Dragon's Den, which worked really well. But there is still a challenge in bringing the students skills on presenting to the next level. I intend to use my knowledge from my work environment and to involve my professional network as well."
What are the first reactions from your students?
Frank: "Haha. I think they are positive, however a couple of students did not seem to appreciate me pointing out to them one should not show up late in class! From my professional experience I know that it is not done to arrive 10 to 15 minutes late. And well, Fontys did hire me to prepare students for their first job as young professionals!"
