VU Amsterdam updated its Educational Vision in mid-2021. This educational vision builds on the previous vision. It focuses on VU Amsterdam’s core values: open, personal and responsible. The new vision adds a design principle on active blended learning: "Education is activating. This is achieved through innovative didactic working forms that activate students and help us strive for an optimal integration of physical and digital forms of education (personal)." The vision also focuses on new themes from the VU strategy: sustainability and entrepreneurship. The elaboration of recurring themes such as academic citizenship, the university community and connection with society are unchanged. The vision is intended to inspire and give direction to VU Amsterdam’s education.
The concretised VU Amsterdam Educational Vision offers an elaboration of the Educational Vision to the role of the student, the role of the teacher and the role of the organisation as a facilitator but also as a driving force. VU Amsterdam's three core values: 'open', 'personal' and 'responsible' guide the translation of the Educational Vision into educational practice.
On 5 November 2019, the Executive Board endorsed the update of the Concretised VU Amsterdam Educational Vision. The Concretised VU Amsterdam Educational Vision was prepared by KnowVU, the Education Knowledge Network.
The concretised VU Amsterdam educational vision was elaborated on the basis of two overarching themes: 1) commitment to each other and to the learning process and 2) commitment to people and society.
The first, more internal context-oriented engagement, addresses:
- mutual commitment, between students and teachers and between teachers and students;
- the guidance and support of students and what the organisation contributes to this;
- the pursuit of personal learning experiences by both student and teacher.
The second, more external context-oriented engagement, shows that:
- diversity in the broadest sense is a key concept in understanding and working on academic, professional and social issues;
- an international experience can contribute to this and that students have opportunities to go outside in order to put what they have learned into practice on the one hand and contribute to society on the other;
- for students and lecturers, education is placed in the process of lifelong development.
The document shows what VU Amsterdam stands for as an educational institution, what distinguishes us from other universities and what behaviour and attitudes of students, lecturers and the organisation match this. The document is a guide for everyone working and studying at VU Amsterdam. This is what VU Amsterdam stands for: "this is what you can expect from us and this is what we expect from you as a student/teacher".