You’re a lecturer, fellow, programme lead, or course coordinator in higher education. You care about your teaching and about what your students learn. But sometimes you reach a point where you’re not quite sure what the next step should be.
Maybe something in your teaching isn’t working as well as you’d like. Or perhaps you want to move forward with SoTL, a teaching qualification, a grant application, or your own professional development.
You don’t need someone to tell you how to teach. Sometimes you simply need someone to think along with you.
Why moving forward isn’t so easy
Somewhere between the intention and the action, things get stuck. There’s no time. No structure. No one to think it through with. And the things you most want to work on keep ending up at the bottom of your list. Where they’ve been for the past two years. (Yes, two years. We’ve all been there.)
You may recognise this:
- You’re already stretched thin. Improving your teaching, finishing that grant application, finally getting that project off the ground — you want to make time for these things. But teaching, meetings and deadlines keep getting in the way.
- Something isn’t quite working in your teaching. You notice it in how students engage, or don’t, and in their results. You adjust things here and there, but you’re not quite sure whether you’re addressing the real problem.
- You want to take a more evidence-informed approach to your teaching. You want to understand what works and why, but you’re not sure where to start.
- You know you should write up your teaching. Maybe for a teaching qualification, a grant application, or simply to make your work visible. But reflecting on your own practice and putting it into words is harder than it sounds. So it stays on the list.
- You want to grow. In your role, your visibility, or your leadership. But professional development can easily become yet another thing on top of everything else.
What Professional Growth Looks Like for Educators
Things feel clearer and more intentional. You know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what effect it’s having on student learning.
Instead of endlessly tweaking your teaching, you make deliberate choices grounded in evidence, reflection, and experience. Your courses feel more coherent, and you have more confidence in the direction you’re taking.
You’ve also moved ideas forward that had been sitting on the back burner for years. A course redesign, a SoTL project, a portfolio, a grant application, a new initiative.
And somewhere along the way, you start to recognise your own development. Perhaps you become more confident in your teaching, share what you’ve learned with colleagues, or recognise the leadership you already show — with or without a formal title.
What I Bring
I started my career as a researcher in life sciences, not as an educationalist. When I began teaching, I thought it would be straightforward. It wasn’t.
I know what it’s like to stand in front of students and realise that a good lecture and good teaching are two very different things. It made me curious about how students learn and how we can make better educational choices, based on both evidence and experience.
Over the years, I combined teaching with research, curriculum development and educational innovation. I also started supporting other educators in developing their teaching and bringing their ideas forward.
Today, I’m Chair of EuroSoTL, co-author of the Utrecht University Roadmap for SoTL, and co-editor of Routes to Change: Strategic Leadership in SoTL.
I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m here to help you figure out what you want to move forward and then help you do it.
Coaching for Educators in Higher Education
This programme is built around you. Your context, your questions, your pace.
We start with an intake conversation. From there, I design a programme that fits your situation. Depending on your needs, we work on:
- Making your teaching more evidence-informed
You want to make more deliberate choices in your teaching, understand why something works or doesn’t, bring more coherence to your course, or make sure your assessments line up. Grounded in evidence, but always practical and concrete. No jargon. - Taking it a step further with SoTL
You want to explore a question from your own teaching more systematically, understand what is happening in student learning, and perhaps share what you learn with others. I help you turn your curiosity into a meaningful and manageable SoTL project. Small, concrete and doable. And no, you don’t need to become an educational researcher. - Working towards a teaching qualification
You need to reflect on your teaching and make your development visible. I help you find your voice and build a portfolio you’re genuinely proud of. Not just ticking boxes, but saying something meaningful about your teaching. - Teaching and SoTL grant applications
You have an idea for improving your teaching or starting a SoTL project, and you want to apply for funding. I help you sharpen the idea, make the educational rationale clear and build a convincing case. - Growing your educational leadership and visibility
You’re already contributing beyond your own teaching, perhaps more than you realise. I help you recognise it, find ways to build on it, and become more confident in how you contribute and make your work visible.
Every coaching programme looks a little different, but a typical trajectory includes:
- An intake conversation
- A tailored coaching programme based on your question and context
- Three coaching sessions of 60 minutes, in person or online
- Relevant readings, resources and practical tools tailored to your question
- Personal feedback and guidance between sessions, where helpful
- Where relevant, a printed copy of Routes to Change — Strategic Leadership in SoTL and/or the Utrecht University Roadmap for SoTL
Investment
This is a personal, intensive programme, not a course or workshop. You get tailored guidance and someone to think with, challenge you and help you move forward.
Pricing:
Coaching trajectories start from €1,250 excluding VAT where applicable. After an initial conversation, I’ll create a tailored proposal based on your goals, context and the type of support that fits best.
Whether you’re arranging coaching yourself or through your institution, we can shape a format that makes sense for your situation.
Many educators find that professional development budgets within their institution can help cover the investment — worth checking before ruling it out.
Take the first step
Ready to move something forward? Let’s have a conversation. We can meet in person or on Teams or Zoom — whatever works for you.
Just send me an email and we’ll find a moment to talk. No obligation, just a conversation.
Prefer to explore first?
Not ready for coaching, or simply want to explore some ideas in your own time? You’ll find practical resources on teaching, SoTL, educational development and leadership on my Resources page.
“For our Community of Practice – Research into Higher Education at the University of Groningen, we invited Irma to give a workshop on Students as Partners in Higher Education. In an interactive and energetic session, Irma guided us through the theory behind Students as Partners, but especially through its practical translation into teaching practice. The combination of reflection, discussion, and hands-on activities provided plenty of inspiration and new insights. Her experience and passion for co-creation between students and teachers were clearly tangible throughout the session”.
Maaike Engels, Strategy Department Education & Students, University of Groningen