Didi Griffioen: Teaching and research – a balancing act
In order to realise their full potential, higher education and research should be in constant dialogue. Connecting curricula to research, can maintain its relevance amidst the rapid advancements of knowledge, and can educate students about the scientific method and critical thought.
While everyone agrees that education and research must co-exist, how to combine them is a tricky question. Synergies do not develop spontaneously with the simple co-existence of the two elements within the same institution. Clear goals, strategies, tasks and processes are necessary. Who should be responsible for these? How can university administrators contribute? Providing answers to these questions is even more relevant now, given the ambitions of the 41 European University alliances to establish meaningful education and research partnerships.
In this new episode of the EAIE podcast, host Laura Rumbley is joined in conversation by Didi Griffioen, Professor and Head of Department of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
About Didi Griffioen
Didi Griffioen is Professor and Head of Department of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. She is a current Comenius Leadership Fellow of the Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO), and is one of the 1000 international Principal Fellows of the British Higher Education Academy.
Her research focuses on the connections between education, teaching and professional practice at all levels. She is the former Chair of the higher education special interest group of the Netherlands Educational Research Association (VOR-HO), and a former member of the governing council of the British Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE).
Further reading
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on achieving the European Education Area by 2025 – European Commission
→ Griffioen, D. M. E., Groen, A., & Nak, J. (2019). The Integration of Research in the Higher Education Curriculum: A Systematic Review. The Higher Education Journal of Learning and Teaching, 10-1, (2019).
→ Griffioen, D. M. E. (2018). Building Research Capacity in New Universities during Times of Academic Drift: Lecturers Professional Profiles. Higher Education Policy, 33, 347–366, (2020).
