Pieter Oostrom is fresh out of college benches when he starts as a law lecturer at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA). However, his long-term ambition is to attend law school. Pieter calls the top moment the TopLunch with a former judge. 'How the person came across, but also how he talked about the profession: this was who I wanted to become.' He was told that it is more convenient to become a lawyer first. But that is not the route he wants to take. 'One of the criteria for judge training is knowing what is happening in society. Gaining the necessary work experience as a teacher would be more rewarding. That's the main reason I'm following this path.'

Practical jurists

'I know how I liked teaching myself,' says Pieter. The HBO law course has a more practical approach than the university law course. 'At WO law, you learn more about how to take a stand on the development of law yourself. We do that much less at HBO. We train practical jurists who know how to make the law accessible to law seekers in a simple way.'

One of the spearheads of the HvA law school is legal tech. 'We want to use technical tools responsibly in the legal sector. Think, for example, of making a decision tree based on logic. Many legal rules are also structured this way. If condition x is met, then y is the certain legal consequence.' Such digital tools have been used in municipal bodies for some time. For example, citizens can use simple questionnaires to determine whether filing an objection makes sense. 'Developing, maintaining and analysing such a tool is something HBO jurists do. It now involves more and more digital skills, but also the responsible use of AI. Because AI offers many possibilities, but these are also not infinite. An HBO jurist must then be able to converse with an IT person, for example. They learn that with us.'

Most valuable lessons

Helping students move forward is what Pieter enjoys most about his job. 'If students expect that they can't do something and then succeed, I'm glad I've contributed. I hope my students learn something that they think: I will take that with me for the rest of my life. Because those are the most valuable lessons I have had from my teachers.'

In secondary school, he had a teacher who could gauge the class's level. At the same time, that teacher employed a light-hearted witticism in his contact with students. 'I try to adopt that as a teacher.' Pieter sometimes finds it challenging to teach someone else something evident to himself. 'Then you have to be creative and approach it differently. Those are the nicest challenges in teaching. It goes a bit easier one time than another time.'

At the beginning of his studies, Pieter attended a lecture with someone who had been wrongfully detained for several years. 'That lecture has always stayed with me. Mainly because there was tremendous motivation and interest in the other person. That's what I hope to instil in students. Being genuinely interested in someone should be one of the core values of a jurist. You have to want to make an effort to understand another person.'

Teaching has many interesting facets. 'I am interacting with people, talking about the content of the law. I am supposed to be able to shift gears quickly. I can have a bad day occasionally, but I always have a certain responsibility.' He sees this reflected in the profession of judge he aspires to. 'You have a heavy responsibility and play a vital role in society. You do work that matters.'