‘Students learn from me, but I also learn from them’

Henk Kolenbrander originally started grading theses at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Nowadays he mentors students working on group projects, and he is involved in teaching various courses. ‘What I teach them comes directly from my own experiences. I help them with the next step in their development, which is very rewarding work. As soon as I start speaking about the practical aspects of my work, the students perk up.’

‘As we all know, there are a lot of skills you cannot learn during your education, but which you are expected to have once you have graduated. The task to “systematically handle a logistics project” can mean something else in each organisation’, explains Henk. He is now involved in these minors:

• innovative Logistics & IT – Consultancy project
  distribution in and around Rotterdam – Model shift
• intermodal Distribution – Hinterland logistics

Stepping out of your own patterns
Even though Henk is involved in teaching, he is not a teacher. ‘The division of tasks is very clear. The official curriculum is the domain of the subject teachers, while I tell the students how things work in the business world. But I also ask them a lot of questions, for example why they are choosing a particular approach. Their answers very clearly show that students look at the world with different eyes. I find this very interesting and it helps me to step out of my own patterns. This is a real bonus for me.’

A new perspective on issues
‘There are even further benefits to this construction, as it also very useful for the subject teachers to have a sounding board from within the business community. Because of this interaction between the generations, I sometimes get a new perspective on issues that my customers are dealing with.’
Henk has now also been asked to mentor students graduating on various logistics topics.