Is there a need to create a time-out space

and what can it mean in higher education?

Stefaan De Munter

prof. dr. Geert Van

Hove

14.45u naar kiné en om 16u terug

Educo, ergo sum!

The research

• Universal Design for Learning

• Myself

• Utrecht

• Harvard

• Chicago

• (Ghent)

• Conclusion and discussion ?

Creating a time-out spaceAn island in a sea of stressAn island in a sea of stress??

This presentation was originally made in Dutch. I tried to translate it as good as possible.

The start: Universal Design for Instruction

• Witch are the conditions to make (higher) education accessible for all students?

• When we take it a little step further, we can come to udl.

UDL

• Recognition Networks– The "what" of learning

• Strategic Networks– The "how" of learning

• Affective Networks– The "why" of learning

Universal Design for Learning: New Directions in Higher

Education

• What a higher education faculty needs to know about UDL to improve students’ persistence and retention in their institutions.

• Recognition networks

When temperature gets too high, or when I feel tensions (STRESS) of any kind (bad night, feeling dizzy, hungry, thirsty,…), I have to relax.

• Strategic networks (the practical side)

I want to create a time-out space. This is a place where I can relax to deal with my tensions.

• Affective networks

I wonder how it would be to leave that place, filled with fresh energy and ready to take another class?

Are you familiar with non-congenital brain damage?

• Well, in short:– It’s brain damage– during the lifetime– It’s not combined with pregnancy or child-

bearing – It results in an irreversible rupture– So you are relied on guidance, assistance

Multiple problems with practice such as:

• Multitasking

• Need for structure

• A written order is easier to implement than a verbal order

• My batteries last about 3 hours

• I need intense coaching and an adaptation of the examination regulations

What follows is different for everyone

• Specific problems in:– Locomotion– Sensory– Cognitive – Personality changes– Discreet changes– Epilepsy – Posttraumatic amnesia (PTA)

Strategy, how to master myself?

• Every hour, a short break• Eat or drink something on a regular time• Studying (working), maximum 3 hours a day• Alter the way of teaching (keep in touch with the

professor)

• Easy accessible study materials–Visual–practical–AuditoryCan you give any examples how to make materials, theory and examinations more accessible for all students?

• working with copies

• Working together, thinking works better in group than independently

• The way of testing has to match my strengths

• Also optimize my weaknesses by bringing in assistance

• >>> So I want to focus on a time-out space.

Mentor, it’s good to pay attention to

• Structure• Obviousness • A quiet room/environment• Avoid [too much] time-pressure and stress• Regularly take brakes• Support visual and/or verbal• Stimulate independent working (in a well

structured room)

Higher Education

• Where does inclusion has to take place?

• How can we make a description of that place?

• What does that mean for the time-out space I want to create?

• At www.thesauruszorgenwelzijn.nl I found time-out facilities defined as facilities where:

• You are temporarily captured

• To get back to normal life

• Or to mainstream facilities

About inclusion and timeout

• Marjan Merton, studentendecaan, Universiteit Utrecht

• Jolande Vrijmoed, studentenservice, Universiteit Utrecht

• Lydia Cummings, ombudsman, Harvard University

• Geert Van Hove, dr. Prof., Universiteit Gent

They like the idea to create such a place in higher education

What does attract them?

?

The research

• In the Netherlands at the university of Utrecht, I found out that they use stilte ruimtes (quiet rooms). Also in Chicago they use such rooms

• (prof. dr. G. Van Hove, e-mail).

– Places to relax, to pray

Characteristics of quiet rooms

Universiteit Utrecht

• “De Universiteit Utrecht heeft enkele plekken waar studenten naar toe kunnen voor rust of bezinning. Het zijn stilteruimtes en dus niet geschikt voor een groot aantal mensen. Bij sommige is er ook een bed aanwezig, naast stoelen en tafels.”

Universiteit Utrecht

• “[Bij een acute nood om te rusten, te ontstressen] “kan iemand altijd kijken of hij gelijk gebruik kan maken van een rustruimte. Verder is er bij de Universiteitsbibliotheek een grote lounge-ruimte die vrij toegankelijk is. Misschien niet zo rustig als een rustruimte, maar wel een plek waar je goed kunt zitten.”

Harvard University

• “Harvard University has no designated time out space for students.  Theremight be places a student would choose to go that feel safe or quiet, oraway from places of tension.  A museum, library or church might be aplace that one would choose. (…)”

Harvard University

• “Although we do not have a time out space, the ombudsman office is a safe place for students to talk about stress, or to find guidance about how they might deal with stress.  My office is confidential and impartial and people can talk openly about any issue.  We also have disability coordinators in the College and each of the graduate schools who assist people who have disabilities and help with accommodations required by our laws. (…)”

Conclusion

• Impossible to conclude in general

• BUT

• Let’s get to my conclusion

My islandDISCUSSION and BRAINSTORM

• What?

• Where?

• Who?

• When?

• Why?

• How?