Generic competences
During my internship, a number of generic competences must be taken up. These competences are set up by the HIS. Managing these competences is important for independent management. Below it is explained how each competence has been developed and why it is on level.
SHM14 Developing and guaranteeing uniqueness of sport (sport awareness)
Due to this generic competence, the SHM-professional is able to respond to opportunities in his environment in an appropriate manner.This competence will be declared in different points, starting with how I reach the competence followed by what I still can improve in this competence.
First, in this internship, I have developed my own unique research by using the tools of an already developed research of JOGG Drenthe. The research that I developed is mainly focused on what moments of the week children are more physically active, during weekend days or during school days. There is no other known research done with this target group in the same region. There are similar researches done in other regions with an almost similar target group that could be used as comparison.
Second, in order to develop my own research, I had to respond to what could be useful to further researches and what could possibly contribute to researches like the one of JOGG Drenthe. To create this, I had to communicate with my colleagues regarding what they are developing and what they thought it was worth it on what I was developing.
What I can still develop in this competence and what I learned is that when I start developing a research it is important to be very clear about what I want to research on. As much as I think I know what I want to research it is also important to know how to communicate it to others and to let them understand what I exactly want. Since I was not clear enough in the beginning of my research, I created some delay that gave me a lot of pressure until the deadline.
SHM15 Collaborating and learning in partnership
Due to this generic competence,the student is able to collaborate with others in an appropriate manner (inside and outside of the organization).This competence will be declared in different points, starting with how I reach the competence followed by what I still can improve in this competence.
In collaboration between me and my colleagues, we made a planning in this internship on how to finish all the tasks of the internship together, as these tasks were not able to be done individually. In the bigger tasks, the collaboration was fluent and everybody did their tasks to come to a collective and good performance of the responsibilities. Also, we did not have much friction in the group and specially in the beginning of the internship everybody did the tasks that were needed and help out others when it was necessary.
Moreover, I had to collaborate with my both field supervisors and other employees in the JOGG Project. Silvia Brouwer was in the first part, my field supervisor, and together with her I developed the basis of my research. She leaded us in what tasks we had to do and helped us to divide the tasks between the other employees of the group working on this project. In the second part of the internship Cindy Bethlehem was our field supervisor and together we collaborated to finish the internship as good as possible. This was less fluent than with Silvia, because there were some problems in the communication, but we always tried to talk the friction out in a professional way. In the and we managed to sufficiently finish the collaboration.
In order to finish my own research as good as possible I collaborated with Silvia Brouwer, which was also my first research supervisor, in order to lead my research to success. Silvia checked my process and gave me advise when I needed it. Also, I asked her questions whenever I got stuck in my research.
I also learned how to collaborate with the staff of a primary school in the province of Drenthe, and with the JOGG director that is working in that region. Together with them we planned and coordinated everything for the measurement days at the school that had to be measured in good lanes. Even if there were some minor problems, this collaboration was mostly fluent and the problems were tackled fast to solve them.
What I can improve in this competence is that I have to be clear from the beginning on what I am willing to do, in comparison with what others want me to do. In the end, this leaded to some friction in the group, because me and another colleague did already many work for the internship while another colleague failed on doing the tasks that had to be done. Because we did not make clear agreements about this and these tasks still had to be done, we had some friction in the group on who was going to do what. In the end, we agreed to help this person in some parts to be able to finish this internship.
Also, I learned that when there is a switch in the management of the project, I should directly have contact with the new supervisor in other to avoid misunderstandings.
SHM16 Communication
Due to this generic competence,the student is able to communicate in an appropriate manner.This competence will be declared in different points, starting with how I reach the competence followed by what I still can improve in this competence.
First, a fluid communication was the key factor for a good cooperation among the students working on the same project. We had to communicate about what tasks we had to do, about when we wanted to do it and make sure nothing would be forgotten. We communicated mostly by having meetings on Monday and Thursday for at least 30 minutes to discuss the progress and what we had to do in the following days. We also communicated by making use of a WhatsApp group to have fast communication between us when it was needed. In the beginning of the process of the internship the communication was not very intense, but the more we came to the end of the internship this communication became more and more powerful to keep the process of the project in the right way.
For checking the process and receiving orders of what had to happen in the first half of the internship I communicated with my field supervisor Silvia Brouwer. In the second part, Cindy Bethlehem was my field supervisor. Together with the field supervisor we checked the progress of everything that had to happen in the internship and, when I had question about it, I would go to them. If I needed a fast response, I called them, and for the rest I would send an email. Normally, I could just find them in their office and communicate directly.
In this internship, I had the task to direct the measurement days of one school: “de Bosrank”. To make sure this would be a success I had to communicate with the director of the school and I also had contact with the JOGG-director of that region. Together with them we made a plan by mailing and calling. Also, I went to visit the school to create a better view of the school and make the bond with the director closer. During the measurement days all the teachers, parents and kids were aware, because of the communication we set up. The only thing that did not go well in the communication with the director is that I said in the beginning that I would show him some results of the first measurements, but in the process, I always had to disappoint him because I did not have the data. I communicated this to him, but I should have also communicated this with my field supervisor in order to find a solution. Next time I have to be more aware of this, because it could potentially damage the relationship with the school. Because of that, I can say there is room for improvement.
To make sure I would deliver a good thesis, I communicated with Silvia Brouwer, since she was my first thesis supervisor and with every question or idea I could have a talk with her by mail, phone or by a small meeting. Also, she gave me feedback on what I showed to her in meetings and we discussed what would be the best ways to develop a successful thesis.
SHM17 Reflecting and learning
Due to this generic competence, the student is able to self-manage and correct himself in an appropriate manner on the basis of reflection.This competence will be declared in different points, starting with how I reach the competence followed by what I still can improve in this competence.
The goal of this internship was to deliver an applied research and a professional product in the end. It was important for myself to self-manage my tasks as satisfactory as possible. Because the internship itself took a lot of time, I had to find the right moments to work on my applied research. Because I knew in the beginning of the internship that close to the end we would have a lot of tasks to do for the internship itself, I tried to do some work in advance for my thesis. However, because my research proposal was not sufficient in the first two tries, I ended up having to do my thesis and all the tasks for my internship more or less at the same time. I experienced this time as very stressful. Luckily, under pressure I normally perform at my best, and as a result I managed to finish everything and almost passed everything at once.
Every time I got blocked and did not know how to continue this process, I searched for help to get me on the right track again. Mostly, I asked for help to the students I cooperated with and my field supervisors.
Also, I learned how to manage a part of the project itself. I had to manage everything for the measurements days of the primary school “de Bosrank”. From the communication to preparing everything and make everybody ready and aware of their tasks that I suggested them to do. Overall, I think I managed this quite well, but because there was some misunderstanding about in what clothes the children had to be measured, and in the end some data of the altigraph got lost because of computer failure in combination with probably our own mistakes because of being in time pressure, it didn’t go perfect. Nevertheless, for the future I should be more aware of the possible mistakes and learn from every one of them.
SHM18 Self-management and self-motivation
Due to this generic competence, the student is able to see himself as an enterprise: investing in himself, setting objectives, learning from experiences. The student is able to reflectively consider, develop and make more effective his professional competences and their development in a targeted-oriented, appropriate and motivated manner.This competence will be declared in different points, starting with how I reach the competence followed by what I still can improve in this competence.
In the process of my internship it was not difficult for me to manage all the tasks I had to do and being motivated about it because this felt for me as a job and I could disappoint a lot of people if I didn’t do my parts in this. Also, this internship motivated me because I really enjoy to work with children, because they give me a lot of energy.
What also motivated me in this process was that I got a lot of freedom to think about how I wanted to approach my thesis. In the beginning, this was hard for me because I never did an assignment like this before. I really did not want to fail in this and I knew that I could make it if I put all my energy on it. I had to do my research proposal 3 times and in the end of my 3rd proposal I knew almost completely how I wanted my thesis to make shape. I managed this with the help of Silvia and my colleagues in my internship. In the end, I delivered my thesis with a satisfied feeling.
Third, it was important to self-manage myself as satisfactorily as possible, because of the limited time available to conduct the tasks for the internship and develop my own research and product. I took the research step by step to not get confused with what I was doing and also to keep in line with the deadline at the end of the internship. Resulting from the good time management, I did experience less stress than expected and I am more satisfied with the results obtained, more than I actually thought at the beginning of this research. During this research, I really started to enjoy what I was doing, because I also really understood and liked what I did. Thus, what I really learned regarding this competence is that, whenever I do everything in a logical order and step by step, I will experience less stress and I will feel more satisfied when achieving the final goals.