Transferable skills

Transferable skills are closely interwoven with the subject-related knowledge of the study programme and therefore need to be firmly integrated within courses and curricula. The university has established 13 key skills that are important for all students, such as presenting, collaborating and reflecting.

By explicitly identifying these skills and integrating them within our teaching, we can support students in their development, the preparation for their future career and their awareness in this area. This means that students actively work with these skills, receive feedback and can reflect on their development themselves.

Working with skills

To support teachers in the use of active teaching formats for the development of academic and professional skills within humanities, we offer several useful resources and tools.

Handbook for skills and learning pathways

If you’d like to use active teaching formats or develop new learning pathways for academic and professional skills, this detailed handbook is a good introduction and a practical starting point for implementation within the humanities.

Helping students learn reflection

Although the education provided by the Faculty of Humanities has a strong focus on developing transferable skills, students are often unaware of how important and useful these skills will be for their future career.

You can help your students reflect on the skills they acquire in your course or during their studies, and can facilitate this by using the reflection tool H-You: Humanities Explorer. For more information on how to use this tool, see the developed skills profile on the ASSET-H project website or contact ECOLe.

Academic skills

The Academic Language Centre has video clips on academic skills that can be used directly in your course to support students’ development of skills. There’s also a Teacher’s Handbook with sample assignments. Discussing the learning pathway with colleagues can help to further improve its design.

Digital skills and methods

‘Humanities in a digital world’ is one of the faculty’s key focus areas. Digital data, media and methods are changing fast and students need to have the right digital competences. It’s therefore essential that students learn to use digital research techniques and to apply digital tools in publishing their results.

To find out more about digital skills and technologies, as a teacher, please contact Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities (LUCDH) or check the options for support with video or podcast projects in your teaching.