Crossing borders in educational innovation: Framing foreign examples in discussing comprehensive education in the Netherlands, 1969–1979

Polemik och pedagogik under strecket: Wilhelm Sjöstrand som skoldebattör och vetenskapskritiker

“…Den bild som spreds var att Sverige i större utsträckning än andra länder lyckats formulera en långsiktig, forskningsbaserad plan för hur en grundskola kunde utvecklas, och att denna kontinuerligt utvärderades under processens lopp. 5 Denna relation mellan forskning och politik kom i efterhand att plockas upp i historiska verk som Sixten Marklunds Skolsverige, eller i artiklar av Torsten Husén. På många sätt kan man säga att de utbildningspolitiska reformerna kommenterades av aktörer som själva sympatiserade med dem.…”

Rise and fall of the comprehensive school idea in the Netherlands. Political and educational debates on the Middle School project (1969–1993)

“…The comprehensive school idea fitted the optimistic belief that society could be engineered and the academic field of educational sciences should provide scientifically founded recommendations for educational policy and educational practice to improve education (Amsing, 2014). The educationalists found inspiration for their plans to change the Dutch school system in the foreign systems of comprehensive schooling in Great Britain, Sweden and Norway (Greveling et al, 2014).…”

“…The Social Democrat Jos Van Kemenade, the new Minister of Education, although politically a novice, brought along much knowledge about scientific research on education as a former professor of the sociology of education. He was also a member of the educational committee of the NVV labour union, and for many years the chairman of the WBS (Greveling et al, 2014). With this experience and knowledge he was able to immediately start developing his educational policy, including the Middle School plans, which he based upon the work of his non-social democratic predecessors.…”

“…The Dutch comprehensive school was known as Middenschool or Middle School. Although supporting the international debate on ‘going comprehensive’, the Dutch Middle School was never realised, with the exception of some experimental ones (Amsing et al, 2013; Greveling et al, 2014).…”