{"id":129500,"date":"2022-01-26T08:52:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T07:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/institutleder-paa-psykologi-vores-kommunikation-har-ikke-vaeret-god-nok\/"},"modified":"2022-01-26T10:37:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T09:37:10","slug":"psychology-head-of-department-our-communication-has-not-been-good-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/psychology-head-of-department-our-communication-has-not-been-good-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychology head of department: Our communication has not been good enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Communication. This is the one word that management at the Department of Psychology uses to describe the problems there.<\/p>\n

And if department head Vibeke Koushede has to elaborate:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI have to admit that the communication and dialogue with the students has not been optimal. And I, of course, take my part of the responsibility for this,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

The Head of Department is making her first public statement since the students issued eleven demands to the management at a general meeting in November. The demands came with a warning: If management does not listen to them, the students will blockade the department.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Psychology students threaten to blockade department<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

But the management team is listening, according to Vibeke Koushede. They have just not been good enough at informing about new initiatives that are underway.<\/p>\n

She started as head of department in May 2020, after the corona pandemic forced the university to shut down all in-person attendance. This is, according to her, part of the reason why the dialogue has gone awry between management and students.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere is a difference between sitting together physically, and having a debate via the University Post. This tends to accentuate the differences. We agree far more than we disagree.\u00ab<\/p>\n

She will not respond to questions about the 11 demands that the management is currently negotiating with a group of student representatives.<\/p>\n

The demands are, in general, for a wider academic focus on the psychology programme. The students find that quantitative methods are taking up too much relative to qualitative methods, that empirical data is displacing critical theories, that Anglo-Saxon literature is dislodging Scandinavian texts from the syllabus, and that a natural science orientation is taking over from a humanities and social science orientation in the subject.<\/p>\n

It is a trend which the students demonstrated in a critical study of the syllabus last year<\/a>, and which they fear will turn them into \u00bbworse psychologists\u00ab.<\/p>\n

Brand-new subject in the autumn<\/h3>\n

Vibeke Koushede rejects the idea that the psychology programme is as \u00bbone-dimensional\u00ab as the students claim it is.<\/p>\n

But she says that the department management team takes the students’ criticism seriously and is ready with a number of new initiatives. Not as a consequence of their threat to blockade the department, but due to the \u00bbconcerns\u00ab that the students, according to Koushede, have expressed since she started as head of department.<\/p>\n

I actually don’t think a lot about the blockade threat<\/p>\n

Vibeke Koushede, Head of Department, Psychology<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She points to a new compulsory subject on the bachelor’s degree programme in qualitative methods, which will start from the autumn of 2022, a series of new lectures in critical cultural psychology, also on the bachelor’s degree programme. And she points to several new electives which the department is working with in collaboration with the anthropology and sociology programmes \u2013 in advanced qualitative methods for example.<\/p>\n

The initiatives derive from the department’s new strategy, which, according to the department head, emphasizes the broad academic approach that students want.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe breadth is crucial in psychology, because the subject is so complex,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

\u00bbNo one is interested in running it as a purely natural science programme. It won’t be. We are, first and foremost, a social science programme.\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe are not lacking in terms of breadth\u00ab<\/h3>\n

When Vibeke Koushede speaks of initiatives to broaden the department\u2019s academic approach in psychology, it could occur to you that she agrees with the students that it is this breadth that is absent at present. But she repeatedly rejects this idea.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI don’t think we are lacking in terms of breadth. When we look at the employees we have, they range, I think, between different methods and perspectives. Both the management and the instructors share the students’ wish to ensure a broad, academically well-founded and critically conscious education programme.\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbBut we could be better in terms of teaching our students to navigate the complexity of the subject. We have spoken, for example, of setting up panels where students can meet their instructors and discuss psychological issues from different perspectives.\u00ab<\/p>\n

We agree more than we disagree<\/p>\n

Vibeke Koushede, Head of Department, Psychology<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Vibeke Koushede repeats that a lot of it is about communication. To show the students that management has listened to, and reacted to their criticism.<\/p>\n

But the criticism is based on the fact that students actually experience that their courses have become more homogenous. This is not about communication?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00bbI think you should look at the students who are starting on the bachelor’s degree programme now. They will find that we have taken these concerns seriously, and that this is reflected in a number of new initiatives.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Doesn’t think about blockade threat<\/h3>\n

The department\u2019s management team has held its first meeting with the critical psychology students, and a working group has been appointed consisting of students and employees that will agree on a so-called action plan for the department’s future.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Vibeke Koushede says she will participate in several academic council meetings within the psychology department and be better at inviting students to a dialogue.<\/p>\n

She says that she is \u00bbreally sorry\u00ab that the department has ended in a place where the students threaten to blockade it if their requirements are not accepted.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI actually don’t think a lot about the blockade threat. I think that we now have to strengthen our collaboration and our dialogue about how we can create the best study programme for the students together.\u00ab
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students are threatening a blockade, but Head of the Department of Psychology Vibeke Koushede says that the two sides are close to agreement. She hopes that a number of new initiatives will prevent an impending conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":129278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[5215],"class_list":["post-129500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-vibeke-koushede-en","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nPsychology head of department: Our communication has not been good enough \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Students are threatening a blockade, but Head of the Department of Psychology Vibeke Koushede says that the two sides are close to agreement. 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is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Communication. This is the one word that management at the Department of Psychology uses to describe the problems there.<\/p>\n<p>And if department head Vibeke Koushede has to elaborate:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI have to admit that the communication and dialogue with the students has not been optimal. And I, of course, take my part of the responsibility for this,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>The Head of Department is making her first public statement since the students issued eleven demands to the management at a general meeting in November. The demands came with a warning: If management does not listen to them, the students will blockade the department.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/psychology-students-threaten-to-blockade-department\/\">Psychology students threaten to blockade department<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>But the management team is listening, according to Vibeke Koushede. They have just not been good enough at informing about new initiatives that are underway.<\/p>\n<p>She started as head of department in May 2020, after the corona pandemic forced the university to shut down all in-person attendance. This is, according to her, part of the reason why the dialogue has gone awry between management and students.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere is a difference between sitting together physically, and having a debate via the University Post. This tends to accentuate the differences. We agree far more than we disagree.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>She will not respond to questions about the 11 demands that the management is currently negotiating with a group of student representatives.<\/p>\n<p>The demands are, in general, for a wider academic focus on the psychology programme. The students find that quantitative methods are taking up too much relative to qualitative methods, that empirical data is displacing critical theories, that Anglo-Saxon literature is dislodging Scandinavian texts from the syllabus, and that a natural science orientation is taking over from a humanities and social science orientation in the subject.<\/p>\n<p>It is a trend which the students demonstrated in a <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/psykologistuderende-har-afdaekket-en-markant-udvikling-i-deres-pensum\/\">critical study of the syllabus last year<\/a>, and which they fear will turn them into \u00bbworse psychologists\u00ab.<\/p>\n<h3>Brand-new subject in the autumn<\/h3>\n<p>Vibeke Koushede rejects the idea that the psychology programme is as \u00bbone-dimensional\u00ab as the students claim it is.<\/p>\n<p>But she says that the department management team takes the students’ criticism seriously and is ready with a number of new initiatives. Not as a consequence of their threat to blockade the department, but due to the \u00bbconcerns\u00ab that the students, according to Koushede, have expressed since she started as head of department.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I actually don’t think a lot about the blockade threat<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Vibeke Koushede, Head of Department, Psychology<\/p>\n<p> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>She points to a new compulsory subject on the bachelor’s degree programme in qualitative methods, which will start from the autumn of 2022, a series of new lectures in critical cultural psychology, also on the bachelor’s degree programme. And she points to several new electives which the department is working with in collaboration with the anthropology and sociology programmes \u2013 in advanced qualitative methods for example.<\/p>\n<p>The initiatives derive from the department’s new strategy, which, according to the department head, emphasizes the broad academic approach that students want.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe breadth is crucial in psychology, because the subject is so complex,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbNo one is interested in running it as a purely natural science programme. It won’t be. We are, first and foremost, a social science programme.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>\u00bbWe are not lacking in terms of breadth\u00ab<\/h3>\n<p>When Vibeke Koushede speaks of initiatives to broaden the department\u2019s academic approach in psychology, it could occur to you that she agrees with the students that it is this breadth that is absent at present. But she repeatedly rejects this idea.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI don’t think we are lacking in terms of breadth. When we look at the employees we have, they range, I think, between different methods and perspectives. Both the management and the instructors share the students’ wish to ensure a broad, academically well-founded and critically conscious education programme.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbBut we could be better in terms of teaching our students to navigate the complexity of the subject. We have spoken, for example, of setting up panels where students can meet their instructors and discuss psychological issues from different perspectives.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We agree more than we disagree<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Vibeke Koushede, Head of Department, Psychology<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Vibeke Koushede repeats that a lot of it is about communication. To show the students that management has listened to, and reacted to their criticism.<\/p>\n<p><em>But the criticism is based on the fact that students actually experience that their courses have become more homogenous. This is not about communication?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI think you should look at the students who are starting on the bachelor’s degree programme now. They will find that we have taken these concerns seriously, and that this is reflected in a number of new initiatives.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Doesn’t think about blockade threat<\/h3>\n<p>The department\u2019s management team has held its first meeting with the critical psychology students, and a working group has been appointed consisting of students and employees that will agree on a so-called action plan for the department’s future.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Vibeke Koushede says she will participate in several academic council meetings within the psychology department and be better at inviting students to a dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>She says that she is \u00bbreally sorry\u00ab that the department has ended in a place where the students threaten to blockade it if their requirements are not accepted.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI actually don’t think a lot about the blockade threat. I think that we now have to strengthen our collaboration and our dialogue about how we can create the best study programme for the students together.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get a weekly email with our top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":42,"name":"Education","slug":"education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":42,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":661,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":5215,"name":"vibeke koushede","slug":"vibeke-koushede-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5215,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11488,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/vibekekoushede1-1280x851.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129500"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129510,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129500\/revisions\/129510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}