Afbeelding
Passion for work
“I’ve worked in the States and Germany, I did my master’s in marketing in Portugal and I’ve had an e-commerce business with a group of friends since 2017. And now, here I am back at NHL Stenden. I’m a lecturer in Content Implementation and the programme coordinator for the master’s in Content & Media Strategy. I love everything that has to do with content and media and, drawing from my bachelor’s in Business Administration, I’ve always worked with branded content and digital media, and I love being able to pass on my passion for the subject to the next generation and seeing how they handle the challenges they face. I had a good relationship with my coach when I studied here and that helped me grow on a professional and personal level. It’s actually one of the reasons teaching appealed to me so much and why coming back to NHL Stenden felt right.”
Taking responsibility
“A master’s is only one year, so we need to make sure students get as much as they can out of their time and really get to learn the skills they'll need in the workplace. That’s why design-based education (DBE) works so well because the students not only work on assignments that take them through the whole process of content strategy development, content creation as well as implementation. They get hands-on experience by being the ones responsible for making the project work, which means they get put in the driver’s seat very early on. Which means they are responsible for their own learning, dividing the roles and the tasks, and filling in for each other when necessary. They basically have a real-world work environment, but with the added advantage of being able to draw on the expertise of some very skilled lecturers and coaches and from the industry connections we have in the programme’s advisory board.”
Real assignments
“The assignments they work on are set by companies looking for solutions or advice for particular situations. It’s great that we get projects from industry that have a value, a purpose, solving problems that are timely. Like how a housing association can best communicate with their tenants about heating and energy in the home. Or how the sports retailer Decathlon can improve its positioning as an employer brand. It’s great practice for the students, but it’s also good for the companies we work with. They get a full content and media package – and access to a pool of talent that are potential employees.”
Team work
“This practical way of learning, our design-based education concept, is a way of learning not everyone is used to or even familiar with. If a student has come from a traditional educational system with, say, 20 lectures in a semester and then an exam at the end, then they often feel a little lost at first. Although we also give lectures, the actual learning happens in our ateliers – and this is where the energy is. Ateliers are workplaces where students and professionals come together, where they get to use their knowledge and apply it to the projects they’re working on. It’s a workplace where everything happens as it would in business but within the safe shell of their studies, where they can make mistakes without too much being on the line, like their job or huge amounts of money. And it’s where they learn the professional and personal skills future employers really value.”
To find out more about the Master’s in Content & Media Strategy, check out the programme page.