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“Alternative” education in Flanders, 1960–2000: transformation of knowledge in a neo‐liberal context

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 45; Issue: 4-5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00309230903100999

1477-674X

Tom De Coster, Frank Simon, Marc Depaepe,

Global Educational Policies and Reforms

Abstract Dans la présente contribution, nous examinons l'évolution des savoirs (comprise comme évolution des interprétations de l'interaction entre théorie et pratique) telle qu'elle apparaît dans les initiatives "émancipatrices" de l'après‐68 en Flandre. Pour étudier cette évolution, nous nous appuyons sur des récits de vie (Life History interviews). En nous fondant sur la littérature concernant la genèse de systèmes de croyance (belief systems) (et ses conséquences pour le rapport entre pédagogie "supérieure" et "inférieure"), les modèles des phases de la carrière enseignante, Rezeption et Wirkung, ainsi que la périodisation des réformes de l'enseignement (Ivor F. Goodson), nous formulons d'abord l'hypothèse selon laquelle l'insertion des savoirs "émancipateurs" dans un contexte néolibéral (années 1980 et 1990) a donné lieu à la construction de savoirs hybrides. Nous distinguons trois types de savoirs qui ont été de premier plan à des moments différents de l'histoire et que nous élaborons ensuite à l'aide du matériel oral recueilli et à l'aide de sources provenant des réseaux d'enseignement plus "traditionnels": (1) Une unité révolutionnaire de la théorie et de la pratique (fin des années 1960–début des années 1970). Dans ce premier type, les savoirs sont considérés comme une unité révolutionnaire, la pédagogie "supérieure" dirigeant idéalement la pédagogie "inférieure". La valorisation d'une théorie dépend de sa pertinence pour les praticiens dans le renversement des rapports de production. Néanmoins, comme la révolution tardait à se produire, les praticiens étaient vite déçus et – dans l'élaboration ultérieure de l'héritage pédagogique progressiste – l'unité de la théorie et la pratique perdait son caractère révolutionnaire et utopiste. (2) Une unité de la théorie et de la pratique prescrite à l'intérieur des structures "alternatives" et "progressistes" (années 1970 et début des années 1980). L'unité de la théorie et de la pratique n'est pas abandonnée, mais elle est de plus en plus structurée et prescrite par les nouveaux mouvements sociaux et par les écoles "alternatives" (dans la marge de la société et de l'enseignement). Dans ce contexte, les savoirs émancipateurs reçoivent une interprétation spécifique (par exemple Freinet, la pédagogie institutionnelle) et à l'intérieur de cette interprétation, certains éléments sont accentués (par exemple l'engagement communiste de Freinet). Le résultat est un canon figé qui ne se montre plus que peu dynamique pour laisser de la place aux préoccupations de nouveaux venus. (3) Un type de savoirs composé d'éléments variés sélectionnés à différents niveaux de l'enseignement dans un contexte néolibéral (à partir du milieu des années 1980). La transformation des savoirs se fait à trois niveaux: la Didaktik, la Pädagogik et la Erziehungswissenschaft. Chaque niveau agit de façon différente sur la pratique de l'enseignement, en raison de sa relation spécifique avec cette pratique. La naissance et le succès de ce troisième type de savoirs a fortement déçu les défenseurs d'une unité de la théorie et de la pratique (types 1 et 2 ci‐dessus): ils se rendaient compte que non seulement cette unité s'avérait difficilement réalisable, mais en plus que l'héritage pédagogique progressiste pouvait facilement être réparti sur différents niveaux et utilisé dans une logique néolibérale, dans laquelle la récupération des écoles "alternatives" risque surtout de créer une image trompeuse, vendue aux clients: les parents. Keywords: alternative educationFlanderslife historybelief system Notes 1The audiovisual media have brought the attention of the general public increasingly to these schools (see, e.g. http://www.mediargus.be); Roger Standaert, "Kamperen voor Freinet. Reflecties bij een merkwaardig verschijnsel," Persoon en Gemeenschap LVIII, 4/5 (2005–2006): 169–92; Jan Saveyn, "De katholieke school en haar verhouding tot methodescholen en vernieuwingsbewegingen in het onderwijs." Reference: ond.vsko.be/pls/portal/url/ITEM/EDC3229BB4F0450B9A149F5B0C314ABA, 2006; Rita Hofstetter and Bernard Schneuwly, "Proposal for a symposium: What transformations of knowledge (concepts, reference theories and school disciplines) does New Education put forward? (first decades of the 20th century)". Paper presented at the conference Transforming knowledge, 13–16 September 2006, organised by ECER/EERA in Geneva; proceedings in press; Redactie Onderwijskrant, "Waar ouders en kinderen baas zijn in eigen school," Onderwijskrant II (1977): 13–28; Onderwijskrant, LXIII (1990) [Themanummer: De alternatieve school.]; See also, interviews with Jos Geudens and Ronni Hermans (these interviews constitute our own primary source material, which will be described later in the text, see section "The Flemish Progressive Education Heritage"). 2 Leefscholen: literally stands for "Life Schools". Standaert, "Kamperen voor Freinet," 172; Saveyn, "De katholieke school," 20. Unless mentioned otherwise, the statistics in our text about "alternative" schools (also the graph and the accompanying table) are the result of our own research. On the basis of the literature, various search strategies on the Internet, extensive inquiries in the field, the study of the inspection reports of alternative schools on the primary education level (consulted at the Department of Education), and our own questionnaire to all the schools (with questions regarding the present and previous school data, the method, the school system, the foundation of the school, and the school population), we have counted and described the "alternative" schools as at 1 February 2006. On 1 February 1990, Lieven Viaene counted 15 alternative schools for his licentiate thesis (Lieven Viaene, "Kiezen voor een niet traditionele basisschool. Een exploratieve studie naar het recruteringsveld van de alternatieve basisscholen in Vlaanderen en naar de keuzemotieven van de ouders" (unpublished MA thesis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1992); published as: Lieven Viaene, "Alternatieve basisscholen in Vlaanderen," Persoon en Gemeenschap XLV, no. 8 (1992): 289–317. 3Carl Medaer, Een leefschool, een school om in te leven (Brugge: Die Keure, 1993), 12–13, 19 and 23; Carl Medaer, "Methodescholen van de ARGO," AKO, onderwijstijdschrift van de Aktiegroep Kritisch Onderwijs and De Freinetbeweging Vlaanderen XIII, no. 5 (1995): 9–14. It is important to note that 76% of the "alternative" schools are situated in the state‐run school network (Gemeenschapsonderwijs) and the subsidised official school network (Gesubsidieerd Officieel Onderwijs) whereas the protagonists of the pedagogical mentality in Flanders are traditionally to a large extent situated in the dominant Catholic educational network. Flanders, traditionally, is mainly a Catholic bulwark and has a privileged link with "denominational" education. With 60% of all schools, Catholic education dominates the educational field in Flanders. Their ideological dominance is thus important for filling in the pedagogical ideas in pedagogical opinion formation: after all, the pedagogical project was mainly supported by this ideological group and the context within which it functioned (cf. Tom De Coster, Marc Depaepe, Frank Simon and Angelo Van Gorp, "Dewey in Belgium: A Libation for Modernity? Coping with his Presence and Possible Influence," in Inventing the Modern Self and John Dewey: Modernities and the Traveling of Pragmatism in Education, ed. Thomas S. Popkewitz (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). 4Dirk Dieltjens, "Tussen utopie, rebellie en seculiere religie. Een biografisch onderzoek naar belief systems bij emancipatorische onderwijsvernieuwers in de Werkgroep Basisschool van Aktiegroep Kritisch Onderwijs," (unpublished MA thesis, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, 1990–1991), 22. 5Tom De Coster, Marc Depaepe and Frank Simon, "Emancipating a Neo‐liberal Society? Initial thoughts on the progressive pedagogical heritage in Flanders since the 1960s," Education Research and Perspectives (Essays in honour of Professor Emeritus Richard Edward Aldrich, Crawley: University of Western Australia) XXXI, no. 2 (2004): 160: "Oury updated Freinet's ideas for the large urban 'barrack schools' of the 1960s. That adaptation was named Institutional Pedagogy (IP) in which 'institution' stands for the execution of arrangements (rules) by the class collective. IP is based on the 'tripod' Freinet techniques, the unconscious and the group. The core concepts are freedom, responsibility, control and pedagogical and social composure." 6On the basis of the individual issues of Werp: Werp 1, Werp 2, Werp 3 and Akolade 9–10 and Werp 4; Chico Detrez and Walter Lotens, "20 jaar kritische onderwijsbeweging of de Aktiegroep Kritisch Onderwijs (A'pen) en de Werkgroep Revolutionaire Pedagogiek timmeren twee decennia lang aan de weg van de onderwijsvernieuwing," AKO‐Berichten VIII, no. 5 (1990): 10; Tony Van Den Heurck, "30 jaar onderwijsverandering, ‐vernieuwing, ‐verbetering?," Colloquium 30 jaar onderwijsverandering, ‐vernieuwing, ‐verbetering, October 9, 2004, organised by AKO. Proceedings in press; Chico Detrez, "Het circus en de clown met de te korte beentjes," AKO‐Berichten VIII, no. 5 (1990): 41–42. See also: De Coster, Depaepe and Simon, "Emancipating a Neo‐liberal Society?" 7Marc Hooghe and Jaak Billiet, "Inleiding: tussen vernieuwing en continuïteit. Sociologen en historici over nieuwe sociale bewegingen," Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis, XXXIV, no. 3 (2004): 320–22 (cf. De Coster, Depaepe and Simon, "Emancipating a Neo‐liberal Society?"); Gerd‐Rainer Horn, "The Belgian contribution to global 1968," Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis/Revue Belge d'Histoire Contemporaine XXXV, no. 4 (2005): 597–635. 8In Flanders, we should further mention Jozef Emiel Verheyen. As teacher, principal and cantonal inspector, he led an "experimental" school in Zaventem and would set up later, at the State University of Ghent, a "laboratory for psychological and experimental pedagogy" and a genuine "experimenting school" where ideas of the New School Movement could be tried out in practice. Verheyen, however, did not question the function of the school as a socialisation and selection institution. In Belgium, he achieved renown as the spiritual "testamentary" of Decroly. The Freinet adepts, N. Van Schoor, E. Moritz, A. and E. Wouters, also worked in this line. Freinet pedagogy, however, was found mainly in Wallonia (and then primarily in the large cities). Although the new official curriculum for Belgian primary education of 1936 (the inspiration was very Decrolyan) "praised some Freinet techniques, these techniques never really achieved a breakthrough in our educational system. Moreover, the interpretation and design of Freinet's ideas in that curriculum actually fell short of what was of interest to the first adepts up to then" (Paul Vanthournout, De Freinetpedagogiek in België voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Leuven: Hellicon, 1936, 7). Montessori education seeped slowly through pre‐school education. Finally, during the First World War, the Fleming Edward Peeters set up a "pedagogical laboratory" in the Netherlands based on "experiential pedagogy" that – in the line of the international "new education" – respected individual growth (Marc Depaepe, Gesplitst of gespleten? De kloof tussen wetenschappelijke en praktische kennis in opvoeding en onderwijs. Leuven and Leusden: Acco, 2002, 37). 9Charles Magnin and Rita Hofstetter, "Introduction: Education nouvelle et changements éducatifs: éléments de définition et pensées d'une influence," Paedagogica Historica XLII, nos 1–2 (2006): 12–14 [Special Issue: New Education: Genesis and Metamorphoses]; Dominique Grootaers, "Belgische schoolhervormingen in het licht van de 'Education nouvelle' (1870–1970)," in Reformpedagogiek in België en Nederland [Jaarboek voor de geschiedenis van opvoeding en onderwijs], ed. Nelleke Bakker, Pieter Boekholt, Hans Van Crombrugge, Marc Depaepe and Frank Simon (Assen: Van Gorcum, 2001), 9–33. 10FWO‐project G.0324.04N: [Marc Depaepe and Frank Simon]. Wat is er in Vlaanderen met het progressief pedagogisch erfgoed gebeurd? Receptie‐ en implementatiegeschiedenis van emancipatorische opvoedingsmodellen in de neoliberale context van na de jaren 1960. Project text, 2002. 11Quotations: Marc Depaepe et al., Order in Progress: Everyday Educational Practice in Primary Schools: Belgium, 1880–1970 (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2000), 47; cf. De Coster et al., "Dewey in Belgium." 12The question in this text is in line with our research project (FWO‐Vlaanderen) "What has happened with the progressive educational heritage in Flanders? Reception and implementation history of emancipatory educational models in the neo‐liberal context of after the 1960s". In it, we verify the observation that the so‐called progressive education in the interbellum period was gradually encapsulated in the regular education and that the child orientation had primarily symbolic significance (Depaepe et al., Order in Progress). In addition, we have studied the attractive power of renewals in the ideology of the "new" school, also in the neo‐liberal context of the 1980s and the 1990s. Flexibility in the integration with the existing system seems here to have gone hand in hand with contradictions caused by the complexity of the embedding of reform‐pedagogical ideas in the sociohistorical context. The interrelationships between theoretical points of departure, ideological operationalization, and practical specification or between "higher" and "lower" pedagogy, are central in our study. In the first segments of our research, we study (1) the authentic roots of the reform pedagogical body of ideas at the basis of contemporary alternatives and (2) the transformation processes of those original ideas toward the Flemish educational developments after the 1960s. Then we go deeper into the (3) more factual reconstruction of this progressive stream within Flemish education, (4) the "agency" and the accompanying "belief system". Finally, (5), we examine the systematic significance of the "progressive" pedagogy in Flanders. The framework for the methodological approach of our study is reception and implementation research (Depaepe et al., Order in progress; [Marc Depaepe and Frank Simon], Wat is er in Vlaanderen met het progressief pedagogisch erfgoed gebeurd?; in connection with reception and implementation: De Coster et al., "Dewey in Belgium". In an article on the first two segments (De Coster, Depaepe and Simon, "Emancipating a neo‐liberal society?"), we studied the generally known starting points of the emancipatory educational models – we speak, for example, of "Freinet" schools and "Montessori" schools – but also the more obscure sources of inspiration. We tested them against the Flemish primary sources (1960–2000), which also were in line with higher pedagogy. The article in this journal, however, is in line with the fourth segment, which poses the question of "agency" and the accompanying "belief system". How did people implement concretely the divergent progressive educational ideologies or emancipatory educational models on the work floor? With this question, we hope to obtain a picture of the dilution and reversal processes that actually played out in practice and also to help explain the assumed distance between theory and practice. The formulation of the question of this segment is in line with "lower pedagogy," the ideological operationalisation of the body of thought in the reality of education. The third and fifth segments are being worked out in more detail at present. 13For further references in this and the following two alineas, see: De Coster, Depaepe and Simon, "Emancipating a neo‐liberal society?" Jürgen Oelkers, "Break and Continuity: Observations on the Modernization Effects and Traditionalization in International Reform Pedagogy," Paedagogica Historica XXXI, no. 3 (1995): 713. 14For the section: Geert Kelchtermans, De professionele onwikkeling van leerkrachten Basisonderwijs vanuit het biografisch perspectief [Studia Paedagogica 17] (Leuven: Universitaire Press Leuven, 1994), 114, 133–34; Louis M. Smith, Paul F. Kleine, John J. Prunty and David C. Dwyer, Educational Innovators: Then and Now. Book 1 of the Trilogy: Anatomy of Educational Innovation. A Mid to Long Term Re‐Study And Reconstrual (New York, Philadelphia and London: Falmer, 1986); Ardra L. Cole and J. Gary Knowles, Lives in Context: The Art of Life History Research (Walnut Creek: AltaMira, CA, 2001); Christopher Day, James Calderhead and Pam Denicolo, eds, Research on Teacher Thinking: Understanding Professional Development (London: Falmer Press, 1993); Bruno De Wever, Praktische handleiding voor individuele en collectieve projecten mondelinge geschiedenis (Antwerpen: Archiefen documentatie centrom voor het Vlaams‐Nationalisme, 1988); Ivor F. Goodson and Patricia Sikes, Life History Research in Educational Settings: Learning from Lives (London: Routledge, 2001); Ivor F. Goodson and Andra L. Cole, "Exploring Teachers' Professional Knowledge: Constructing Identity and Community," Teacher Education Quarterly XXI, no. 1 (1994): 85–100; Ivor Goodson, ed., Studying Teachers' Lives (London: Routledge, 1992); Geert Kelchtermans, "Getting the story, understanding the lives: from career stories to teachers' professional development," Teaching and Teacher Education IX, nos 5–6 (1993): 443–56; John Loughran and Geert Kelchtermans, eds, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice XII, no. 2 (2006) [Special Issue: Teachers' Lives]; Peter Woods, "Life histories and teacher knowledge," in Educating Teachers: Changing the Nature of Pedagogical Knowledge, ed. John Smyth (London: The Falmer Press, 1987), 121–135; Paul Thompson, The voice of the Past, Oral History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000); Dieltjens, Tussen utopie, rebellie en seculiere religie. 15Near the end of the 1960s and at the beginning of the 1970s, they were inspired mostly by neo‐Marxism and the Frankfurterschule and "focused on breaking through the traditional power structures and on the liberation or emancipation of the individual": Jan Masschelein, "Kritische theorie en kritische pedagogiek," in Grondslagen van de wetenschappelijke pedagogiek. Modern en postmodern, ed. Paul Smeyers and Bas Levering (Amsterdam: Boom, 2002), 94 (for the paragraph: pp. 93–111); Marc Depaepe, De pedagogisering achterna. Aanzet tot een genealogie van de pedagogische mentaliteit in de voorbije 250 jaar (Louvain and Amersfoort: Acco, 1998), 214; Kathy Hytten, "Education for social justice: provocations and challenges," Educational Theory LVI, no. 2 (2006): 222–23; Detrez and Lotens, "20 jaar kritische onderwijsbeweging," 10; Walter Lotens, "Enkele filosofische achtergronden van het begrip emancipatie," De moralist pedagogisch tijdschrift voor morele problemen XXXI, no. 3 (1986): 356–67. 16Marc Depaepe, Gesplitst of gespleten? De kloof tussen wetenschappelijke en praktische kennis in opvoeding en onderwijs (Leuven and Leusden: Acco, 2002), 33; on didacticising: Nicholas Beattie, The Freinet Movements of France, Italy, and Germany, 1920–2000: Versions of Educational Progressivism (Lewiston, Queenston and Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002), 367. 17Ivor F. Goodson, "Long waves of educational reform: extract from 'Report to the Spencer Foundation'," in Learning, Curriculum and Life Politics: The Selected Works of Ivor F. Goodson, ed. Ivor F. Goodson (London and New York: Routledge, 2005), 106. 18After having contacted and obtained permission for an interview with the respondents, they were sent a questionnaire with closed and open questions. This questionnaire provided us with personal data, an overview of the jobs and organisations as well as a first impression of important professional events in the life of the respondents. The semi‐structured life‐history interviews were subsequently conducted at home or at school, depending on the respondents' preference. They were asked to describe the evolution of their interpretations – and the interpretations around them – of the progressive pedagogical legacy in their reasoning and acting within the cultural‐historical context of their lives. The interviewer had an interview guideline in mind but allowed each respondent to relate as much as possible about that interpretation by stimulated autobiographical self‐thematisation (first interview); the interviewer had the opportunity to elaborate (possible further interviews) on facts, opinions, emotions and social identity. Critical persons and "critical phases" (within which intrinsic, extrinsic and personal critical incidents occurred) were assessed. The data were recorded digitally, transcribed and presented to the respondents for correction. Extra information (e.g. on the circumstances) was written down in a notebook. 19Self‐presentation of the respondents throughout the interviews: Armand De Meyer and Luc Heyerick are doctors in psychology at the State University of Ghent. Within their function at the Educational Assistance Service of the City of Ghent (since 1976), in 1985 they formed the first experimenting school of the City Network (it was renamed the Freinet School in the second year). Patrick Stubbe is an educator (Catholic University of Leuven). At the end of the 1990s, he was a member of the Educational Assistance Service of the state‐run school network (Primary education: supplementary assistance, method schools – PBG) and important for the development of the FBV. Ronni Hermans was a teacher in the Appeltuin, which he oriented towards a Freinet school in 1979. He was important for the formation and development of the FBV. Paul Gillis was a teacher, and in 1985, founder and head of the first Flemish Montessori school in the 1960–2000 period. Carl Medaer was a lecturer at the State Normal School in Ghent when, in 1976, he helped to launch the experience‐oriented project school De Buurt. In 1992, he set up a new type of school (Leefscholen) within the state‐run school network for which he provided educational monitoring (PBG). André De Fré was a teacher in alternative (De Wase Freinet School) and traditional schools before assisting and later succeeding Carl Medaer in the mid‐1990s in the PBG. In 2006, he was the head of a "life" school. Ludo Merckx had been a teacher in De Buurt since 1983 and member of Alle Macht Aan De Arbeiders (AMADA) (later the Partij van de Arbeid or PvdA). Marleen Van der Beeken is a psychologist. She was a teacher and founder of the experience‐oriented school, 't Speelscholeke (1982). In 2006, she developed a secondary school in accordance with the principles of 't Speelscholeke. Walter Lotens is the founder of the AKO (in that initial period he was also the chairman). He had a particularly fluent pen and was an author. He taught Dutch in lower secondary school from 1963 but took a refresher course in ethical sciences in the 1980s and thereafter worked again in a traditional school within the state‐run school network. Bob Paulus was a monitor for the training of the self‐employed and a very well‐read man who, within the AKO‐WERP, was known as the expert on "emancipatory" education in general and IP in particular. Chico Detrez was a teacher in a traditional school within the Antwerp city network and chairman of the AKO‐WERP (after Walter Lotens and until 2006). Diane De Laet studied moral sciences at the State University of Ghent and taught ethics in a traditional school within the state‐run school network. She was politically active, also within the Socialist ACOD labor union, and was seconded to the AKO‐WERP (1989–1991). In 2006, she was associated with an adult education centre. Fons Verbeeck was a teacher in a traditional school within the state‐run school network and probably had the most important IP class practice in Flanders. He was also a prominent member of the FBV and (since the middle of the 1970s) of the Primary School Working Group of the AKO, which was occasionally identified with him. Jos Geudens was a teacher in a traditional school within the Antwerp city network and, from 1978 to 1984, was seconded to the AKO. He combined commitment to the AKO‐WERP with membership in the Trotskyite party, the Revolutionaire Arbeiders Liga (RAL, later Socialistische Arbeiders Partij, SAP) and the ACOD. Paul Otte was a head in a traditional school within the Antwerp city network, a member of the Primary School Working group, and also combined the AKO‐WERP, the RAL (later SAP), and the ACOD. Sylvia De Ridder studied ethical sciences at the State University of Ghent and was an ethics teacher at a traditional school within the state‐run school network. Her thesis (1973) was particularly inspirational for the AKO‐WERP. Tony Van den Heurck has been associated since 1972 with the State Normal School in Ghent and is a member of the WERP, the AKO‐WERP, the RAL and the ACOD. He is a very well‐read man and his insights often guided the AKO‐WERP in overcoming existential crises. We also interviewed Franz‐Peter Van Boxelaer (closely associated with Dhaenens's commune in the wake of May 1968, but, at the time of the interview, a hermit), Marcel De Smet (teacher within the traditional networks), Magda Michielsens (university scientific researcher) and Wim De Poorter (teacher in the traditional networks) primarily because they participated in the WERP. Of the Jena Plan schools, nobody was interviewed because these schools are too recent in the alternative educational landscape as regards the period studied. Finally, due to illness, an interview with one of the founders of De Weide (the very first Flemish alternative school) could not be conducted. 20For the section: Geert Kelchtermans, "De professionele ontwikkeling van leerkrachten basisonderwijs vanuit het biografisch perspectief" (unpublished PhD thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 1993); Ralph Fessler, "Dynamics of career stages," in Professional Development in Education: New Paradigms and Practices, ed. Thomas R. Guskey and Michael Huberman (New York: Teachers College Press, 1998), 171–192; Ivor F. Goodson, "Long waves of educational reform" Patricia Sikes, Lynda Measor and Peter Woods, Teacher Careers: Crises and Continuities (London and Philadelphia: Routledge, 1985), 57; Smith, Educational Innovators; Dieltjens, Tussen utopie, rebellie en seculiere religie; Patricia Sikes, "The Life‐cycle of the Teacher," in Teachers' Lives and Careers, Stephen J. Ball and Ivor F. Goodson (London and Philadelphia: Falmer, 1989); Michael Huberman, La vie des enseignants. Evolution et bilan d'une profession (Neuchâtel and Paris: Delachoux and Niestlé, 1989). 21Sikes, "The Life‐cycle of the Teacher," 57. 22Huberman, La vie des enseignants, 23. 23Cf. De Coster et al., "Dewey in Belgium," 85–91; the concepts of Erziehungswissenschaft, Pädagogik and Didaktik (cf. Beattie, The Freinet Movements, 334–35, 369) are further explained later in this text. 24Goodson, "Long waves of educational reform," 127; cf. Kondratieff and AKO: Walter Lotens, "Onderwijs en postmodernisme," in De krisis van het denken. Het onderwijs in de jaren negentig. 'Back to Basics' of 'Back to the Sixties'?, ed. AKO (Antwerpen, 1991), 30–40; Detrez and Lotens, "20 jaar kritische onderwijsbeweging," 5–30. 25Ibid., 110. 26Ibid., 106–107. 27Ibid., 110. 28For example the content of the concept of "experience‐oriented" changed over the decades from 1979 to 2000. This change differed from school to school, and the website of De Weide (the first Flemish "alternative" school, founded in 1973 with Neill as the important source of inspiration) gives a good summary of the trend: "In the beginning of the seventies, De Weide took its basic concepts about education from well‐known educational thinkers like Neill [Summerhill!], Rogers, Gordon and Illich. Today, De Weide has evolved to an experience‐oriented school, and the ideas and points of departure of Experience Oriented Education (EGO: Ervaringsgericht Onderwijs) developed at the University of Leuven by Prof. Dr. Ferre Laevers are an important source of inspiration" (http://www.deweide.be/); Alexander S. Neill, Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Education (London, 1962); Redactie Onderwijskrant, "Waar ouders en kinderen baas zijn in eigen school" for more information and literature on EGO according to Prof. Laevers, see http://www.cego.be. 30David Tyack and William Tobin, "The 'Grammar' of Schooling: Why Has it Been so Hard to Change?," American Educational Research Journal XXXI, no. 3 (1994): 471 (in Goodson, "Long waves of educational reform," 118). 29For this section: interviews Tony Van den Heurck, Armand De Meyer, Franz‐Peter Van Boxelaer, Marcel Desmet, Magda Michielsens and Wim De Poorter; Akolade (3, 1), Links, Werp (1, 2 en 3), De Moralist XVI, 5 (1971) [Themanummer: Speciaal nummer van De Moralist met medewerkers van "Akolade‐Werp"]; Jacques Dhaenens, De arbeiders en de macht (Brugge, 1970); Jacques Dhaenens, "La Théorie de la Stratégie Ouvrière dans les Temps Modernes" (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Nanterre, 1968). 31Jacques Dhaenens, "Voor een marginaal militeren," De Moralist XVI, no. 5 (1971): 251. 32See, interview Wim De Poorter. 33See, interview Wim De Poorter. 34Marcel De Smet, Jacques Dhaenens and Franz Van Boxelaer, "Ter oriënt‐ering," De Moralist XVI, no. 5 (1971): 170–71. 35De Smet, "Ter oriënt‐ering," 170. 36Dhaenens, "Voor een marginaal militeren," 250. 37See, interview Tony Van den Heurck. 38Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (New York: Harper and Row, 1951), 10; Smith, Educational Innovators, 11–15. 39Goodson, "Long waves of educational reform," 120. 40Ibid., 127. 41Goodson, "Long waves of educational reform," 120, 127; See also: Smith, Educational Innovators. 43Kelchtermans, "De professionele ontwikkeling van leerkracht