Teaching

Once or twice a year I teach a short course on Dutch urban planning legislation. Not the easiest of subjects generally. A lot of rules and regulations, and it seems to get more complicated every year. Today was my turn to teach again, and I had to present the basic principles in about three hours to a class of 14 people. The people taking part are all in some way involved in urban planning, some know a lot already, and some know next to nothing. Every time I teach this course it is different. Sometimes I have just four or five people and I get into detailed discussions on various specific aspects, that people have come across in the course of their work and about which they already know a lot.

Today I had a big group consisting mainly of people who are just starting out, and I spent most of the morning explaining the basics, several times. The questions kept coming from all over the place, and they were not always the kind of questions you might expect. By the end I was completely worn out.....