"The Comenius Circle is a nationwide group of teachers who want to actively contribute to the personal development of students" explains De Greef. "We exchange knowledge and experiences on how to actually realise this in education. We also try to strengthen each other in our shared desire to renew education, by experimenting together, reflecting and developing new forms of education that make students' personal development more central."

The focus of the Comenius Circle IDG is specifically on the Inner Development Goals (IDGs). These goals aim to support students in their inner growth, self-awareness and resilience, so that they not only gain academic knowledge, but are also better prepared for personal and professional challenges. De Greef, who himself recently received a large Comenius grant for the Empowered Minds project, sees it as an opportunity to further integrate affective learning in (higher) education. "We not only want students to acquire knowledge, but also to develop as a person. Students need both cognitive and affective skills to tackle complex social problems.''

The Comenius Circle IDG consists of teachers from a variety of educational institutions, such as the Koning Willem I College in Den Bosch, the University of Groningen, the Medicine Department at the UMC Utrecht, and several universities of applied sciences, including Saxion. De Greef: "The IDGs can be applied in education in many different ways, depending on the student, but also on the discipline or domain in which is being taught. Nevertheless, teachers can gain a lot from each other by exchanging insights and practices and working together to integrate these goals into various forms of education."

One of the first initiatives under her chairmanship is to develop a common “language” for Inner Development. ‘At the moment, everyone uses their own terms, depending on the course or institution,’ says De Greef. ‘By unifying this language, we can act more strongly externally, for example towards the ministry, to emphasise the importance of personal development in education.’

The Comenius Circle IDG organises four to five meetings every year. The next one is scheduled this February.