Highlights−Constitutional freedom of education affects democratic citizenship education policy.−Citizenship education legislation in 2006 and 2007 placed little demands on schools.−Legislation introduced in 2021 has further specified what is expected from schools.−Studies of citizenship education in practice are largely critical of the extentto which schools teach about, through and for democracy.Purpose:This paper discusses developments in citizenship education policy and practice in the Netherlands, and outlines key challenges as faced by the different stakeholders involved.Design/methodology/approach:Our discussion is based on existing research and policy documents in the Netherlands. The authors, from three Dutch universities, are experts in the field of research on citizenship education.Findings:Promoting citizenship education in primary, secondary and vocational tertiary education in the Netherlands has been challenging, particularly in light of the constitutional freedom of education in the Netherlands. Five issues are discussed in this regard: the contents of CE legislation, the normative character of legal requirements, integration of CE legislation in national curriculum aims, clarifying expectations from schools in teaching CE, and teacher education and professionalization.
Highlights−Constitutional freedom of education affects democratic citizenship education policy.−Citizenship education legislation in 2006 and 2007 placed little demands on schools.−Legislation introduced in 2021 has further specified what is expected from schools.−Studies of citizenship education in practice are largely critical of the extentto which schools teach about, through and for democracy.Purpose:This paper discusses developments in citizenship education policy and practice in the Netherlands, and outlines key challenges as faced by the different stakeholders involved.Design/methodology/approach:Our discussion is based on existing research and policy documents in the Netherlands. The authors, from three Dutch universities, are experts in the field of research on citizenship education.Findings:Promoting citizenship education in primary, secondary and vocational tertiary education in the Netherlands has been challenging, particularly in light of the constitutional freedom of education in the Netherlands. Five issues are discussed in this regard: the contents of CE legislation, the normative character of legal requirements, integration of CE legislation in national curriculum aims, clarifying expectations from schools in teaching CE, and teacher education and professionalization.
Keywords: citizenship education, democratic education, teacher training,national curricula, social sciences- Citizenship education is in teacher training in the Netherlands linked to boththe pedagogical and didactic tasks of teachers.- The task of teachers to stimulate the development of values in students isaddressed a lot less often.- The idea of democracy and rule of law as a framework for citizenship is notmentioned in most knowledge bases.- As a result, some knowledge bases seem to lack direction, as if all opinionsand all ways of ‘dealing with diversity’ are desirable.Purpose: With this article we aim to provide insight into how citizenshipeducation receives attention in the formulated national curricula for teachereducation in the Netherlands and to what extent the different domains ofcitizenship and the different tasks of teachers with regard to citizenshipeducation are addressed.Method: For this study the knowledge base for all teacher training curricula atBachelor and Master level in the Netherlands were analysed. We looked at theextent to which citizenship (education) is addressed in teacher training and theways in which this takes place.Findings: The results of the study show that several domains of citizenship arementioned, albeit not often together in one knowledge base. Citizenshipeducation is linked to both the pedagogical and didactic tasks of teachers. Thetask of teachers to stimulate the development of values in students is addresseda lot less often. The fact that citizenship also involves moral development is onlymentioned in some knowledge base. Also, the idea of democracy and rule of lawas a framework for citizenship is not mentioned in most knowledge bases. As aresult, some knowledge bases seems to lack direction, as if all opinions and allways of ‘dealing with diversity’ are desirable.
