Learning does not *only* happen in the classroom. I chatted with @niyamirandabond.bsky.social about how we can scaffold & support students' learning before (and after) class. Watch our chat to get some inspiration from this free @onehe.bsky.social resource: onehe.org/resources/wh...

I belive education is about *people*. In my latest newsletter I argue that we should be intentional in nurturing human interaction in education and resist the false promise of convenience exerted by the sadly ubiquitous GenAI. educationalist.substack.com/p/hello-worl...

"Survival often depends on a specific focus: A relationship, a belief, or a hope balanced on the edge of possibility. Or something more ephemeral: the way the sun passes through the hard seemingly impenetrable glass of a window." *** Elisabeth Tova Bailey, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

"It is a serious thing Just to be alive On this fresh morning In this broken world." *** Mary Oliver, "Invitation"

"What helps is that we are not all crazy and hopeless on the same day. One of us remembers and reminds the rest of us thay when it is really dark you can see the stars." *** "Almost everything", Anne Lamott

Coziness is the smell of freshly baked brioche on a cold rainy Sunday.

"The truth is, we know so little about life, we don’t really know what the good news is and what the bad news is.” *** Kurt Vonnegut, "A man without a country"

When using shortcuts, let's consider not only the things we can do, but also the things we can't do anymore. The skills we are missing. The things we stop practicing for convenience. Harder to grasp, yet important.

Walk into the classroom. Give students pens & papers (no, they won't have pens). Ask them to work individually on a reflection task for 10 min. Count until they get bored and start fidgeting. If you're lucky, you reach 5 min. Sad but true. Education became so transactional. #BringThinkingBack

This made my day, after 8 hours of teaching. Reflection from one of my BA students in a skills/ professional development course: "I really liked that this course is *about us*. That's not the case with most of our courses... which is sad." #FocusOnWhatMatters #ReflectivePractice

The wet air bearing earthy undertones; Colours fading away. Bare-bones. A shadow of what used to be. Or maybe The essence of everything. A beginning. Step slowly In silence: The earth is resting. Breathe in. Breathe out. Time to pause Recharge So we can be again.

"Hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to the certainty of both optimists and pessimists." *** Rebecca Solnit

"What do we have to hold on to? Only the certainty that nothing will go according to design; our hopes are newly built wooden houses, sturdy until someone drops a cigarette or match." *** Pico Iyer, "Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells"

Colourful autumn ikebana in my new Korean mini vases.

10 beautiful days exploring South Korea 🇰🇷 🏞 Walked 130 km through the beautiful landscape. 🍲 Discovered the culture and tasted delicious food. 📸 Took over 1000 pictures. 🍁 Enjoyed the most vibrant autumn weather. Will be back!

Beautiful Busan

Going on a food-themed holiday in South Korea be like...

Hello Seoul!

Have been living in beautiful Maastricht for 3 years now and I never get bored of this gorgeous view on my way to work.

"Maybe a self is just a bunch of little stories glued together in some haphazard way that we use to comfort ourselves." *** Siri Hustvedt, "Memories of the future"

"When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all." Hermann Hesse

"Life meanders like a path through the woods. We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Given time, they grow again." *** Katherine May,  "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times"

"We are told that we must always find, generate and consume something new, something unusual, something completely “original”. As a culture, we have been so conditioned in this direction that we neglect to see what is already here, within us." (Elif Shafak) elifshafak.substack.com/p/sacred-riv...

Call for Papers for @ecpr.bsky.social @ecprsgeu.bsky.social section “Teaching in EU Studies in the Digital Age” to explore how AI, digitalisation & new pedagogies are reshaping #EU Studies more info: ecpr.eu/Events/Event... deadline: 10 December 2025

"Worry is a way to pretend that you have knowledge or control over what you don't- and it surprises me how much we prefer ugly scenarios to the pure unknown." *** "A Field Guide to Getting Lost", by Rebecca Solnit

When you hike in the Dolomites and the landscape just doesn't feel real. So much beauty!

Flying above the Alps this morning.

Baking time. I've been baking every Sunday for the past weeks and I remembered why I love it: the process is really cozy, mindful & satisfying and I have tasty home-baked snacks all week. Win-win.😋

Let's remember that how we spend our time⏳ & organise our workload📚 is *our choice*, though it may not feel like it. Growth also means knowing how & where to set our boundaries and managing our (finite) resources effectively. Wrote down some thoughts here: educationalist.substack.com/p/what-do-yo...

Autumn shows us letting go can be beautiful.

"I walk because it confers- or restores- a feeling of placeness. A space becomes a place when through movement we invest it with meaning, when we see it as something to be perceived, apprehended, experienced." Lauren Elkin, "Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London"

Building a chatbot for your course might seem fun & popular right now, but for me it feels like an upgraded version of "talking to the hand". I believe education is about PEOPLE. Human interaction is a crucial part of learning. I won't be convinced to bounce ideas with a (ro)bot. Sorry not sorry!

"To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy." *** Henri Cartier-Bresson

You feel autumn started when you let the sun inside and start chasing shadows.

In transition

This soft early autumn light

As we're going "back to school", let's just remember to: ☀️ Pay attention to each other. 💬 Talk to each other. 🧩 Learn from each other. 🔋 But also, let's not forget to take care of ourselves.

Too early.

First day back at work

Summer nights in Brașov 🌠

Summer vibes

The place I will *always* call home.

Let me introduce you to my birthplace, Timisoara, Romania.

"Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, “Stay awhile.” The light flows from their branches. And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” * "When I am among the trees", Mary Oliver

Monday vibes

Nothing beats the fresh forest air after the rain

Spent a sunny day in the Rhine Valley

Let the weekend begin!

There are 3 things I would like my students to take away from our time together: ✅️ curiosity and openess to new experiences; ✅️ ability to cultivate attention; ✅️ desire to keep learning. Not something we can measure. But something to keep in mind when we are in the classroom & when we design courses.

La vie est belle