Universiteit Leiden

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Personal Development Centre

The Personal Development Centre (PDC) at the Faculty of Social Sciences represents life-long learning put into practice. Our approach is the concrete fulfillment of Leiden Universities’ promise to its students and staff. We assist students and professionals in realizing their full potential connecting intrinsic motivation to study or professional work context. Our mission is to help people identify and monitor their direction in study and life, to develop the competencies needed to attain this, and to hand our participants tools to deal with adversity and obstacles they inevitably encounter.

Learning My Way

Our flagship program, Learning My Way, guides participants to discover their unique talent and to find purpose, helping them become a meaningful contribution in professional contexts and society at large. The Learning My Way method offers interactive seminars, embedded within a unique secure online personal environment that combines self-assessments, 360 degree feedback, personal coaching, and peer learning. This ensemble guides participants in articulating their vision and motivation in life and profession. Learning My Way focusses on personal empowerment, talent identification, resilience, and stamina. Our research-led interventions, supported by professional coaching psychologists, help professionals and students to make informed decisions aligned with their personal and professional goals. Learning My Way exemplifies our vision for integration of personalized, evidence-based development trajectories. Our interventions are offered as meta-curricular, multiyear tracks as well as intensive summer-school programmes. The Learning My Way methodology is integrated in- and complements major bachelor’s and master’s degree programs at several Dutch universities, hospitals, colleges and primary schools.

Supporting growth

The PDC provides:

  • Personal reflective assessments and coaching to elicit each individual's unique talent and contribution to the world.
  • Informational resources and practical tools focused on purpose identification, vision casting, focus enhancement, and meta-cognitive skill-building.
  • Progress monitoring to help integrate and maintain personal goals across professional learning experiences with the help of integrated, secure and smart Artificial Intelligence application.
  • Flexible blended-learning pathways Modular trajectories to be in sync with disciplinary curriculums, tailored to enhance students’ personal motivations in relation to curricular demands.
  • Training for faculty and staff to facilitate self-discovery for across the university.

The PDC aims to make talent and competence-centered, transformational learning accessible to all students and professionals. We set a new standard for learner-centred education.

Want to learn more? Please contact us at learningmyway@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.

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