SIMPLICITY and DECLUTTERING
—‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
La semplicita e la perfetta raffinatezza. / Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’
Leonardo Da Vinci
‘It is very simple
to be happy,
but it is very difficult
to be simple.’
Rabindranath Tagore
“You must avoid that the curriculum gets overloaded and all lose sight of its coherence. That’s why we need a regular ‘curriculum cleansing’ - and we do it way too little” Sluijsmans 2023, Openbare les / Accepting her chair University of Applied Science Rotterdam
If you can’t explain it simply,
you don’t understand it well enough.
Albert Einstein
'Ha um gosto de vitoria e encanto na condicao de ser simples.
Nao e preciso muito para ser muito.'
'There is a sense of victory and delight in the condition of being simple.
You don't need a lot to be a lot.'
Lina Bo Bardi / Italian Brazilian architect,
winner Venice Architecture Biennale’s
Special Golden Lion award 2021
Are you curious for more? Would you like to get in touch? Feel free to contact our lead directly for any questions or inquiries you may have. tikvah@studioblended.com +31 6 42 47 29 69
If you want to uphold quality, you must ensure you review your curriculum on a regular basis. By intentionally promoting the things in your curriculum you value most, and removing anything that distracts from that, you apply the principle of minimalism. As a Studio, we believe such decluttering is one of the ways to achieve ‘simplicity’.
Teaching with clarity requires you to simplify the course/training. Let us lead the way in determining how to prioritize and do less so that students understand more.
A curriculum is never finished, it is always in progress. Internal and external trends and stimuli slip in. These include flexibilisation, internationalisation, digitalisation, new forms of assessment, different learning outcomes, new research projects, even ideas that came up in daily practice.
An overloaded curriculum not only leads to ineffective learning (cognitive overload), it also negatively impacts your wellbeing as coordinator, and that of your teaching team.
Developing a simple curriculum design is actually hard. Allow us to come alongside and partner with you, to ask good questions and help you move forward. Simplicity is part of our value system and resonates with anyone who embraces the beauty and impact of minimalism.
Our design studio
Follows.
Related projects: have a look at the so-called SED methodology by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. (Dutch)
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Prefer to read? Looking for resources? Transcript
Listen to A) dosage on: Acast Spotify Apple
Release March 20 / June 21 ‘23
In this episode on dosage (A), we tackle the problem over so-called ‘overload’ in terms of content in your curriculum. Perhaps to your surprise, we will link it directly to how you prepare for the content in your curriculum design, whether it is a module, course, training or a degree.
We go even beyond that: with technique - you can design for your own human resilience during preparation; your balance, your enjoyment of the simplicity in curriculum design.
Human resilience
Modular
Time dimension
Evidence-based design
Financial health and resilience by (re)design
Innovative and deep pedagogy
Assesment / evaluation
Multi- Inter- and transdisciplinary
Blended
Bichronous
MOOC
Designed to be green (and technological simplicity)
Nature and aspirations
Flexibilisation and personalisation
Simplicity and decluttering
Frontier, Tony 2023 Teaching with Clarity. How to Prioritize and Do Less So Students Understand More.
ScienceGuide 2023 ‘Haal af en toe de bezem door het curriculum’ Openbare Les Dominique Sluijsmans, Hogeschool Rotterdam
Curios? Feel free to contact our senior advisor and teacher trainer directly:
tikvah@studioblended.com
We are here especially for you as unique professional, to come alongside you and partner with you, as you work on a (architecture / urban / development / policy / land / water / climate) curriculum, so that you can offer effective and resilient education in its simplest form.
Teaching with clarity requires you to simplify the course/training. Let us lead the way in determining how to prioritize and do less so that students understand more.
A curriculum is never finished, it is always in progress. Internal and external trends and stimuli slip in. These include flexibilisation, internationalisation, digitalisation, new forms of assessment, different learning outcomes, new research projects, even ideas that came up in daily practice.
An overloaded curriculum not only leads to ineffective learning (cognitive overload), it also negatively impacts your wellbeing as coordinator, and that of your teaching team.
Developing a simple curriculum design is actually hard. Allow us to come alongside and partner with you, to ask good questions and help you move forward. Simplicity is part of our value system and resonates with anyone who embraces the beauty and impact of minimalism.
Our design studio
Follows.Key projects
Follows soonRelated projects: have a look at the so-called SED methodology by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. (Dutch)
Our Audio Podcast
‘Preparing for an effective and resilient curriculum design; two guiding principles that transform how you go about its content in all simplicity’
Prefer to read? Looking for resources? Transcript
Listen to A) dosage on: Acast Spotify Apple
Release March 20 / June 21 ‘23
In this episode on dosage (A), we tackle the problem over so-called ‘overload’ in terms of content in your curriculum. Perhaps to your surprise, we will link it directly to how you prepare for the content in your curriculum design, whether it is a module, course, training or a degree.
We go even beyond that: with technique - you can design for your own human resilience during preparation; your balance, your enjoyment of the simplicity in curriculum design.
Related publications
FollowsMore design angles we use
Technical resilienceHuman resilience
Modular
Time dimension
Evidence-based design
Financial health and resilience by (re)design
Innovative and deep pedagogy
Assesment / evaluation
Multi- Inter- and transdisciplinary
Blended
Bichronous
MOOC
Designed to be green (and technological simplicity)
Nature and aspirations
Flexibilisation and personalisation
Simplicity and decluttering
References
Dominique Sluijsmans & Luc Sluijsmans 2015 Voorjaarsschoonmaak in the toetsenhuisFrontier, Tony 2023 Teaching with Clarity. How to Prioritize and Do Less So Students Understand More.
ScienceGuide 2023 ‘Haal af en toe de bezem door het curriculum’ Openbare Les Dominique Sluijsmans, Hogeschool Rotterdam
Curios? Feel free to contact our senior advisor and teacher trainer directly:
tikvah@studioblended.com
We are here especially for you as unique professional, to come alongside you and partner with you, as you work on a (architecture / urban / development / policy / land / water / climate) curriculum, so that you can offer effective and resilient education in its simplest form.
StudioBlended Foundation 2025
Prefer to have direct contact?
Feel free:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Independent senior advisor, teacher trainer, lead
tikvah@studioblended.com
+31 6 42 47 29 69
Non Profit Foundation
Registration Chamber of Commerce
KvK-number 86242598 (Dutch)
VAT identification number
NL 86 39 07 29 5 B01
Bankaccount
NL40 INGB 0709 6156 04
SWIFT/BIC: INGBNL2A
StudioBlended Foundation
Prefer to have direct contact?
Feel free:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Independent senior advisor, teacher trainer, lead
tikvah@studioblended.com
+31 6 42 47 29 69
Non Profit Foundation
Registration Chamber of Commerce
KvK-number 86242598 (Dutch)
VAT identification number
NL 86 39 07 29 5 B01
Bankaccount
NL40 INGB 0709 6156 04
SWIFT/BIC: INGBNL2A
StudioBlended Foundation
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About us
We are here especially for you as unique course/training coordinator, to come alongside you and partner with you, as you work on a (architecture / urban / development / policy / land / water / climate) curriculum, so that you can offer effective and resilient education in its simplest form.