Teaching International Students Enriched Career, Says Dutch Lecturer

31.07.2020

Sport Lecturer Bas Schreurs to Leave Wittenborg as Programmes are Restructured in Line with International Accreditations like AACSB

After two years of sharing his expertise in sport business management with students at WUAS, lecturer Bas Schreurs is to leave the institution for now in the face of the restructuring of programmes at the institute, changes in educational pedagogies and preparation to achieve new international accreditations, especially the AACSB accreditation.

In an interview, Schreurs, who also works as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) manager for premier league football club FC Twente, talked about how his lecturing career was enriched by working with international students at Wittenborg, his optimism about returning at some point and possibly pursuing a PhD exploring the impact of sport on climate change.

Schreurs, who occupied different positions at FC Twente starting as an intern in 2011, was approached by Wittenborg in 2018 about lecturing and says he was immediately drawn to the job. He holds a master's degree in Public Administration and Organisation Science from Utrecht University as well as a master's in Sports Policy and Sports Management.

At Wittenborg, Schreurs taught different modules relating to sport management, while at the same time doing his Post Graduate (PG) Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, which is offered jointly by Wittenborg and its long-term British partner, the University of Brighton, to teaching members of staff. Combining his two jobs while studying required a balancing act of note, but Schreurs pulled it off and said this upped his teaching game to a higher level of professionalism. "It was a huge investment in terms of my free time, but it started paying dividends almost immediately – I was literally applying what I learned in class to my teaching from the beginning of the programme.

"Also, we are always promoting lifelong learning to students – this was an opportunity for me to set an example myself. I feel very motivated to help and support students to be professional business employees in the future, in line with the vision of AACSB to transform business education for global prosperity." Schreurs says he survived the gruelling hours of working two jobs, studying and personal life by prioritising tasks, balancing his different work obligations carefully and being efficient with his time.

Schreurs already had some experience in working with internationals at FC Twente – he was the Head of Player Guidance, which means helping international players to the club settle in. At Wittenborg this knowledge of working with people from different cultures was deepened.

"I learned by observing students' behaviour in class and I believe that increased awareness made me a better lecturer, being aware of the general characteristics of people from different countries. Handling different cultures can be challenging, especially when you have that challenge all in one class."

For the immediate future Schreurs says he will focus on his work at FC Twente, which he enjoys immensely. He is part of the FC Twente Scoring in the Community Foundation that reaches out and gives back to the Twente community and surrounding areas. "It is a great job. We have 15 employees and about 50 volunteers."

He will also look out for opportunities in education and certainly does not exclude returning to Wittenborg in the near future.