W.M.M.H. Veugelers

Creating critical‐democratic citizenship education: empowering humanity and democracy in Dutch education

Dutch society and educational policy see citizenship education as being an important task of education. The first section of this paper discusses the concept of citizenship and citizenship education, and analyses educational developments in the Netherlands. Following on from this introduction the second part of the paper puts forward a critical democratic pedagogy of citizenship education. With this proposed democratic pedagogy in mind, the third and final part of the paper goes on to analyse the discourses and developing practices of citizenship education in the Netherlands, and proposes a number of new possibilities.

Teaching strategies for moral education: a review

We present the results of a literature review of studies on teaching strategies for moral education in secondary schools (1995–2003). The majority of the studies focus on the ‘what’ and ‘why’, i.e. the objectives, of curriculum‐oriented moral education. Attention to the instructional formats for enhancing the prosocial and moral development of students (the ‘how’) is relatively sparse. Most studies on teaching strategies for moral education recommend a problem‐based approach to instruction whereby students work in small groups. This approach gives room for dialogue and interaction between students, which is considered to be crucial for their moral and prosocial development. Other studies discuss more specific teaching methods, such as drama and service learning. We conclude that the theoretical discourses on moral education are not reflected on the practice of curriculum‐oriented moral education and its effects on students’ learning outcomes. We recommend that future research on curriculum‐oriented moral education includes the subject areas encompassing moral issues and the social differences between students.

What Goes On in a Network? Some Dutch Experiences.

The collaboration of schools in networks is increasingly regarded as an important means for improving education. In networks teachers experience other educational practices and have the possibility to be part of a broader educational community. Compared with more traditional means of professional development in schools, in networks practice and theory go together. Despite the wide support for networks as a strong vehicle for changing education not much is known about what goes on in networks and what the participants think of networking. In this article we address these questions for our network.

Multicultural contacts in education: a case study of an exchange project between different ethnic groups

One important aim of citizenship education is learning to deal with cultural diversity. To this end, schools organise exchange projects to bring students into contact with different social and cultural groups. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of intergroup contact in educational settings and to understand what the most favourable conditions are. The paper discusses a case study on an exchange between 10th‐grade students of Surinamese and Dutch‐Antillean backgrounds from an Amsterdam suburb with native Dutch students from rural Netherlands. The study included interviews with teachers and students and pre‐ and post‐tests of intergroup attitudes. The results indicate that students become more aware of their own preconceived ideas. The results show that interaction on the individual level is important. Getting students to work together on common goals is an effective way of stimulating interaction.

Networks of Schools and Constructing Citizenship in Secondary Education

For changing upper secondary education in the Netherlands, we stimulate bringing schools together in networks. Schools learn from each other, analyze each other’s practices, develop various joint initiatives, and try to influence together educational policy. In this article we will present our experiences and analyze critical elements in creating and sustaining networks. We will focus on the political, cultural and educational climate that stimulates starting networks, the rise and fall of networks, the internal structure of the network, the pedagogical identity of the network and in particular the kind of citizenship we want to develop.

Teachers and Values regarding labor

ABSTRACT The goal of education is not only to impart knowledge but also to develop certain values. Teachers can try to stimulate the development of specific values in their students. This study gives an account of an investigation of values regarding labour teachers find important for their students. The research population consists of teachers educating 15‐ to 18‐year‐old students in the Netherlands. Both secondary education and senior vocational education have been included in the research. Teachers can not only differ from each other with regard to school type, but also to subject and personal characteristics such as experience, gender and age. This study, on the one hand, investigated the relationship between school type, school subject and teachers personal characteristics and, on the other hand, the importance teachers attach to different aims in the field of values regarding labour.

Dutch adolescents’ narratives of their citizenship efficacy “Hypothetically, I could have an Impact”

Previous educational studies have investigated the impact of skills and contextual influences on adolescents’ citizenship participation and efficacy. Yet, we know little about how adolescents give meaning to their citizenship efficacy. This study explores the narratives of 27 adolescents in the Netherlands on their citizenship efficacy. A thematic analysis of focus groups and individual interviews leads to the distinction of four citizenship efficacy types: the civic efficacy type, the civil and political efficacy type, the civil efficacy type, and the passive efficacy type. This typology reveals how only one type cares about one’s civic efficacy, and how the passive efficacy type does not care about one’s citizenship efficacy. Based on our conceptualisation of citizenship efficacy and the findings of our empirical study, we describe several recommendations for the further development of empirical studies and educational programmes on citizenship efficacy in the Netherlands and internationally.

Philosophy for Democracy

Philosophy for Democracy is a research project that aims to examine whether and how Philosophy with Children contributes to the development of democratic skills and attitudes. In the Netherlands, as in almost all Western countries, Philosophy with Children is linked with the movement for citizenship education. This article reports the research on the practice of Philosophy with Children. Sixteen philosophical inquiries by children in the classroom were recorded, transcribed and analysed. The analyses show that children develop relevant reasoning skills and advanced dialogical skills. The study shows that embedding Philosophy with Children in a democratic practice is necessary for contributing to a critical-democratic citizenship development. The study also shows that Dutch children often give their opinion, but are not often involved in inquiring their own opinions. From a pedagogical point of view, we think that in Dutch culture and in Dutch schools it would be important to stress more a dialogical – community-based – inquiring attitude.

Dutch adolescents’ narratives about democracy: ‘I know what democracy means, but not what it means to me’

In the last decade, educational scholars have studied various aspects of adolescents’ citizenship narratives. This paper reports on a qualitative study into the narratives about democracy of 27 adolescents from an urban area in the Netherlands. The aim of the study was to gain an insight into the type of democratic engagement that Dutch adolescents develop. Fourteen vocational and 13 pre-university students were selected. Each student was interviewed twice. Narrative thematic data analysis revealed that only five students had developed a strong conception of democracy. Our findings suggest that few students had spent time developing and challenging their narratives about democracy, and that few students have developed a greater sense of democratic engagement. Our paper concludes with several suggestions for furthering the study and practice of democratic citizenship education.

Physical education for citizenship or humanity? Freethinkers and natural education in the Netherlands in the mid-nineteenth century

Studies in the history of physical education show that it was often promoted for socio-political reasons: to stimulate nation-building or increase economic productivity and/or military strength. By contrast, a different kind of motivation has received little attention in historical studies: the importance of physical education for the perfection of the individual, as expressed by the German neohumanistic word ‘Bildung’. This article presents a case study in which the debate on the importance of physical education in the Netherlands in the mid-nineteenth century is examined. Ideas on the importance of Bildung in physical education especially existed within the freethinkers’ movement. With arguments derived from their naturalistic worldview, freethinkers contested educational approaches that obstructed the natural development of the child. This case study aims to contribute to a better insight into the history of physical education in the Netherlands and into the diversity of reasons for promoting physical education in the past.