This report provides information on the structure of mainstream European education systems, from pre-primary to tertiary level for the 2020/21 school and academic year. It includes national schematic diagrams and a guide to reading the diagrams. It also contains a map visually showing the main organisational models of primary and lower secondary…

This report provides information on the structure of mainstream European education systems, from pre-primary to tertiary level for the 2019/20 school and academic year. It includes national schematic diagrams and a guide to reading the diagrams. It also contains a map visually showing the main organisational models of primary and lower secondary…

This report provides information on the structure of mainstream European education systems, from pre-primary to tertiary level for the 2018/19 school and academic year. It includes national schematic diagrams, an explanatory guide and a map showing visually the main organisational models of compulsory education. They also reveal that there are…

This report focuses on the structure of mainstream education in European countries from preprimary to tertiary level for the 2017/18 school and academic year. Forty-three education systems are included covering 38 countries participating in the EU's Erasmus+ programme (28 Member States, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, the former…

Schools are expected to fulfil different types of goals, including citizenship development. An important question is to what extent schools can simultaneously promote different learning outcomes. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between language ability and youth citizenship. Using a representative sample of 2429 grade 6 pupils (age…

Dutch comprehensive education eventually failed on a political level, despite support from many politicians, labour unions and branches in the educational practice. In the early 1970s denominational political parties strove for a Middle School to provide equal opportunities of all children by postponing school choice. From 1973 onwards, however,…

Student performance is related to motivation to learn. As motivation generally declines during lower secondary education, one might expect performance to decline as well during this period. Though, until now, it has been unclear whether this pattern exists. In the present study, we examined student performance during the early years of secondary…

This article is based on our own experiences and that of several of our colleagues teaching social and cultural anthropology in different Dutch institutions for higher learning. We focus in particular on teaching and learning in two small liberal arts and science (LAS) colleges, where anthropology makes up part of the social science curriculum…

Background: The Netherlands traditionally has a strong civil society. This has had an impact on the education system through the relatively high degree of autonomy for schools on moral and didactical choices as well as on the curriculum. Such freedom provides ample room for citizenship to develop at a local level. The large degree of curricular…

Using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) video study, the authors compare science teaching practices in the United States and in four other countries that outperformed the United States: Australia, the Czech Republic, Japan, and the Netherlands. Their observations of videotapes from 100 8th-grade science lessons in each…

In 1988, the Dutch Parliament adopted a motion that must result in an improvement of quality and in the integration of environmental studies in education for the 5 to 16 age group within the next few years. Within the scope of basic education, certain committees received a commission from the minister of education to pay explicit attention to…

In 1986 the Dutch government adopted a common core corriculum that would apply to the first 3 years of secondary education. This paper discusses why such a curriculum is necessary, both for improving the individual chances of pupils in the labor market and for society as a whole, and cites the following basic skills as the kernel of the…

This report presents findings obtained from a survey of nine countries and states: Baden-Wurttemberg (Germany), North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), Sweden, France, Scotland, California (United States of America), New York (United States of America), Quebec (Canada), and the Netherlands. The study focuses primarily on a comparison of the objectives…

In 1993 the subject Care was introduced as a compulsory subject in Dutch secondary schools. This paper analyzes the heated discussion preceding the decision. The introduction of the subject Care is regarded as a case study that illustrates the problems linked with feminist curriculum politics. The paper argues that the discussion referred to…

This paper discusses the basic education experience in the United States, England, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and Denmark. The intent of the study was to inform the Netherlands Government on questions concerning the content, duration, and curricular structure of compulsory education through an…