Despite the mainstream technological approach of science in academic curricula, with its focus on specialisation, the Dutch history of higher education is an interesting example of an alternative development. The Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam has declared in its mission statement a pedagogical ideal of "broad academic education", oriented towards educating students to become "morally responsible and reflective scientists and professionals". This paper describes a pilot study focusing on organisational dynamics, learning processes involved in value education, and the question of how a philosophical/ethical perspective on sustainability can be integrated into the curriculum. A critical evaluation of this pilot study suggests that students need more insight into the status of values as different from empirical facts.

Career agency is a vaguely defined concept that is usually explained in terms of cultivating self-reliance, while it is at the same time being critiqued as a difficult to reach goal as a result of societal pressures. Instead of viewing agency through the lens of these opposing viewpoints, focused on people either being self-reliant or determined by outside forces, this article proposes a ‘medial’ perspective on agency. People can be assisted to develop agency when it is conceptualized as an emergent phenomenon that can be fostered through imaginative and playful writing, where individuals are invited to engage in a field where an expansion of both symbolic and material space can be promoted. The dangers of an instrumental focus on career management skills are outlined and the philosophical considerations underlying the idea of imagination as fostering agency are explained.

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