From telling to engaging: Instructor Perry Groenewegen on “Train the trainer”

Professional experts who love to share their knowledge: that is the strength of PAOTM’s teachers. Even instructors who have been teaching successfully for years can give their classes an extra boost. That is also the experience of Perry Groenewegen, who teaches in two PAOTM courses. In 2024, he took part in “Train de trainer voor de ingenieur,” a Dutch-language course that helps our instructors develop their teaching skills. To this day he keeps applying what he learned there in his own courses. He shares what the training gave him and why every instructor should invest in pedagogy and effective teaching.

Perry works at Haskoning, formerly Royal HaskoningDHV, where his areas of expertise in hydraulic engineering include bed protection and its design. He contributed to the Dutch CROW guideline in this field. At PAOTM, he teaches the bed protection module in the course Kademuren, which he will be teaching for the fourth time this fall. Since January 2026, he has also been an instructor in the new Dutch course Bodembescherming nabij kademuren en damwanden. That first edition was so well received that the course is planned again in January 2027.

Good can always get better
Perry came across the ’Train the trainer’ course in PAOTM’s course offer. He receives positive feedback on his teaching and yet remains ambitious when it comes to sharing his knowledge. After each course, the course leader reviews the evaluations with all the teachers, and his module consistently scored well. Still, he is eager to keep growing: “What I do, I apparently do well, but it can always be better.” Becoming an even better instructor as a result, both for PAOTM and for the in-house courses he teaches for junior and mid-level colleagues, means a great deal to him.

New insights
During the training, trainer Maya de Waal often sees instructors realize how much they are already doing well. Perry had the same experience. As the feedback he receives shows, telling his story with enthusiasm and conviction has been his strength for years. “Telling the story and getting it across convincingly, that has never really been lacking, considering the feedback I received.” Above all, the training showed him where there was still something to gain. “You always gain completely new insights into how to improve your own teaching.” The first thing he tackled was his visuals. “After the Train the trainer course, I really trimmed down and simplified my slides and made them clearer.” By not showing too much information at once, the key message sticks better.

From telling to engaging
For Perry, the biggest insight was about interaction. Looking back on how he used to teach, he says: “Before, it was mostly: I tell my story.” Now he is making the shift that trainer Maya de Waal describes as 'from broadcasting to learning'. To do so, he also uses small interventions with a big impact , an essential part of “Train the trainer”. For example, he uses questions or a short quiz to get an idea of how much the group already knows. Asking questions up front makes participants curious about what is coming. When someone in the room asks a question, he likes to put it back to the group. He also adjusts his approach where needed. In the Kademuren course, his session is just one hour long: there is no room for a full case study, but with targeted questions he keeps the group actively engaged.

Learning by doing
The new course Bodembescherming nabij kademuren en damwanden takes it a step further. Working in groups of two or three, participants tackle a case study using a calculation spreadsheet. They determine the input themselves and assess whether the outcome makes sense, while Perry and the other teachers help the groups as needed. “Then you do indeed see them start discussing it among themselves.” This allows participants to practice the kinds of decisions that they will later face in their own projects. It makes the step towards appyling their knowledge very concrete.

A laugh that sticks
These days, Perry also tries to use humor more deliberately in his classes. He gives an example: “fenders” and “bollards” are technical terms for “quay furniture,” so Perry used AI to generate an illustration of a quay full of chairs and tables. It keeps people’s attention and helps the message sink in. For Perry, humor, interaction, and clear slides all serve the same goal: a lesson that sticks. And it is not only the content that sticks, but the instructor, too. “If you do it well, people know your name." That makes it easier for participants to reach out afterward, so the learning continues after the course as well.

Learning beyond the course
Perry thinks it is important that participants know where to find him once the course is over. After the January course, former participants reached out to him with questions from their own work, one of them even with a critical comment. Perry welcomes that: “That’s just something I learn from, too." It shows that teachers learn from participants as well, and that together you always achieve more.

Your teaching makes the difference
Are you a PAOTM instructor who, like Perry, wants to make your classes even more interactive and effective? “Train de trainer voor de ingenieur” was developed specifically for PAOTM teachers and you can take part free of charge. You’ll work with your own course materials and walk away with practical tips you can put to use right away in your next course. Whether you’re just starting out or have been teaching for years, there is always a lot to gain. The next edition will be scheduled soon. Currently we offer the course in Dutch., but if you are interested in the possibility of an English course or have other questions, please feel free to contact us at info@paotm.nl or +31 15 278 4618. We are happy to help!

Also read the full interview with trainer Maya de Waal: Expert and effective teacher - the power of didactics. Not an instructor yet but keen to share your knowledge? Find out more about what teaching at PAOTM entails and why other instructors enjoy sharing their expertise through PAOTM.