Main textbooks on the history of Dutch Art Education (in Dutch)

issue/event

Foundation first Dutch Art Institute: The Hague Academy.

The Republic of the (rather independent) seven Dutch provinces had no common art or education policy. If anything can be mentioned it should be some minor influence of Comenius (1592-1670) Orbis Sensualium Pictus, the first "picture book" published with educational intentions.
It was till 1795, during the Bataafse Republiek (French occupation), that the Netherlands had to wait for any central educational governance. 1806: the first national educational law (without art mentioned though), followed in 1817 by the introduction of art as school subject: tool for the improvement for technical (crafts)education.
"Whenever the number of inhabitants this allows there should be art schools in all cities, not only for the youth, but also to train the craftsmen in the foundations of drawing. Specifically human figures and architecture."
In 1829 the law moved from "fine arts" to "applied arts". (Fine arts should be taught at academies.) Visual mathematics, projection and construction-drawing were added to the curricula.

Influence of Pestalozzi's (1747-1827) ideas about "vormleer": children should learn "to see and analyse".
According to Pestalozzi drawing should improve and develop perception. Obviously more than just "useful for certain occupations". Education should be focussed on direct perception, not on copying pictures. Start of the "natuurtekenen"-movement (drawing from nature)
Natuurtekenen learned the student to draw object "in space" (3D). Methods started with simple, straight, object (like a cane) and became more complex due to the course of the curriculum. Because these objects were not always available they were often replaced by plaster-cast models or posters.
Especially for Primary Education these plaster-cast models became too expensive anyhow and were gradually changed for printed methods with pictures to copy.

Due to the painful confrontation during the 1851 London World Fair of Dutch design with the quality of other countries, art was introduced as required subject in...

Rijckens, RG, / Praktische handleiding voor de eerste beginselen der teekenkunde ten dienste van lagere scholen en huisgezinnen.Groningen, Oomkens (1824)

A national exhibition on Dutch design showed the (still) embarrassing level and called upon a national conscience to improve it. A national commission to improve art teaching was installed in 1878
V. de Stuers and W. Molkenboer became the leading persons in this renaissance process.

New educational jurisdiction redefined the definition of the art curriculum on primary level: vormleer was changed by handtekenen
Zwier en Jansma developed a method for art teaching "het teekenen naar vlakke figuren" (Drawing form two-dimensional images). With references to Pestalozzi they offered a course with 125 posters to copy.

Introduction of "crafts" (3D-art) in the curricula of the primary school teachers colleges.

Reform:
Between 1880 and 1933 western society realised that the educational philosophies were based too much on ridged systems.
At the end of the 19th century the first studies on spontaneous children's art were published. The child as educational phenomena was discovered. Supported by new insights from the development-psychologists the reform-movement was born. It took a while though before the more pure versions entered the day-to-day school practice. Methods conserved issues of natuurtekenen for a long time.

Various publications of N.F. Perk on German developments in the field of art education "Art Education should develop pedagogical tools to meet the ideas of Fröbel and the naive way of drawing.."
References to Chr. Schwartz "Neue "Wege. Neue Bahnen" a German translation of Liberty Tadd (“New methods in Education. Art, Real Manual Training, Nature Study”).

Publication of "Geen dag zonder lijn", a political statement on the importance of teaching art. 4

Miss Alice Hunter from the USA (student and assistant at Liberty Tadd’s school) lectured in Amsterdam. Introduction to the Reform ideas.

Foundation of the VEAVO (the association for promoting Aesthtetic Education).

First Dutch contribution to the international research children's art by Wies Belinfante-Ahn. 470 examples of children’s artworks illustrated her research. She introduced the eye-movement-theory.

Exhibition of children’s art work from the Austrian art classes of Franz Cizek made impression on Dutch art educators. Attention for drawing "from fantasy", rather than copying.

Publications of Jan Jordens, art teacher in Groningen, about his new ideas concerning art teaching. Influenced by the German Expressionists.

Influence of the ideas of Richard Rothe (Vienna). Not only made his publications a strong impression on the avant-garde art educators (like the H9-group in The Hague), Rothe himself was invited to lecture in The Hague. (1937)

Foundation of the H9-Group. Nine art teachers from The Hague, introducing the new ideas of Richard Rothe and Jung in The Hague primary Schools.

Publication of Jan Altera: curriculum for Art on Primary Level and a concise history of Dutch Art Education. Altera later on was the first Dutch art educator obtaining a PH.D. (1953) and responsible for a long list of highly valued and used publications.
He refers to the Belgian psychologist M. Denijs (“Tekengids”).

Publication of Bart Merema (Leader of the H9-group) Life-development in form and colour 9 to 13.
Introduced by Prof. Dr. G. A. van Poelje, directeur Generaal van onderwijs, Merema adequately describes the developments in art education till 1938 and shows the results of research after the development of art work of individual students during a longer period of time. Most of them his own.

Wartime: no significant developments, other than the end of the H9-magazine (The Rotterdam bombing of '40 demolished their printing company) and some collaborative attempts to change the focus of art education towards "Folk Art" according to Nazi ideas.

Strong influence of Herbert Read's Education Through Art.
Although not many Dutch art educator devoted textbooks to advocate the Bauhaus ideas, there is a serious influence of Bauhaus in Dutch curricula as well.

Expression:
Herbert Read and Victor Löwenfeld promoted art as a way of expression. Their ideas of free development of children's creativity were well received in post war Holland, but not that easy to implement in the school settings. In fact the "lassez faire" attitude, often the practical didactical variation of this "free expression"- movement, harmed the image of art as serious school subject. Besides the physical situation of the overcrowded Duct post war classrooms didn't invite for experiments with combined art activities too much.
The Werkschuit in Amsterdam was a place were the arts could be taught in a kind laboratory-setting, as was the Werkplaats school community in Bilthoven.
Later on this "free expression"-movement transformed into the "guided expression"- movement (geleide expressie); see 1956 van Gelder & van Praag

Bauhaus:
In the above mentioned guided expression vision influence of Bauhaus-didactics played a major role. After the 2nd World War Bauhaus ideas were used at the Werkakademie in Kassel, Germany. Ernst Röttger was in charge of the Vorkurs there. In his opinion every person should be able to make creative art works, but many youngsters loose their enthusiasm according as they were confronted with their inability to produce the (realistic) images they wanted to make. Röttger wrote a method to develop these abilities.
In fact it gave priority to the training of beeldelementen (visual elements). It gave the secondary art teachers tools to "objectivate" the teaching process.
For Elementary level the method Tekenvaardig had its roots in the same principles.(see 1982)

National Convention on New (Post War) Education. The Ideas of Herbert read were a red thread through the discussions and presentations. Kees Boeke, the art promoting director of an alternative secondary school in Bilthoven ("de Werkplaats") managed to attract much attention for the role of the arts in (new) education.

Lectures by the French art educators Vigé Langevin and Jean Lombard promoting children's group-work, are the Dutch roots for methodological practice with groups.

Paul Citroen, former student of the Bauhaus and teacher at the The Hague Academy published is Bauhaus-related ideas of art teaching in "een tekenles" ( a drawing lesson). Later (1954) followed by an essay "de stip", used as an eight pages addition to the first issue.
Citroen advocated the use of beeldelementen for professional visual art training, rather than working from nature or fantasy.

Jan Altera, art teacher from Rotterdam, obtained as first art educator a PhD-degree with a theses called Art as Expressive school subject.

Publication of L. van Gelder & JE van Praag / Visual expression, a major textbook for art teacher trainers.
They introduced 16 beeldelementen

P. Post : Free Expression and aesthetic education, a publication promoting the free-expression-movement

The INSEA World Congress in The Hague affected the Dutch field strongly.

Phenomenology / dialectical movement:
"The various functions of the human personality influence each other constantly. With as much reason one can say "we can only see what we draw" as reverse "we can draw what we see". We only can draw what we see in reality or in our imagination. Between us and the world around us is a continuous process of dialectic" (Van Lennep, lecture 1958)

Van Lennep referred to the French philosopher Merleau Ponty: man creates his own world through seeing.
This "learning to see" combined with the methods of using the beeldelementen is the characteristic of the dialectical movement in Dutch art education
Wouter van Ringelestein and Toon Gerritse, both teachers at teacher training institutes, were the two main advocates of this movement
Reality originates through experience. Seeing is such an experience. Creating is a way of seeing: a search for visual reality, your relation with you visual world. Good art education teaches you to see better. You will experience better and with the tools of the beeldaspecten you will see better. The circle is closed.

Publication of Wouter van Ringelestein "Art and Reality", one of the major textbooks of the fenomenological movement.

Nation-wide TV-course "Look, as you draw you see more" by J.D. 't Lam, J. v.d. Zouwen and W. van Ringelestein.

Introduction of the Mammoetwet, a total reshuffle of Dutch Secondary Education. LBO, Mavo, Havo, Atheneum/Gymnasium were the four new streams (from lower level to university preparing), with five or six majors to elect. 5
From 1971 Art (2D or 3D visual arts and music) could be one of them.
Introduction of Crafts (handenarbeid) as official school subject on secondary level.

start "3E" (Experiment Eindexamen Expressievakken: official secondary graduation examination in the Arts) for Mavo and Havo
This federal controlled examination forced the field to follow national testing standards and led to various school methods, both for studio art and art history.

Publication of A. Gerritse "Principals of Art Education", the major textbook fort the dialectical movement in Dutch Art Education.
Strong influence on Dutch art teaching from 1970 on.

Publication op the first issue of Zienswijzer, a reader for art teaching training institutes. Issue 2 and 3 were published in '75 and '76

Start "VWO experiment": official secondary graduation examination in the Arts for University Preparing High School (VWO)

Introduction of crafts/textile design as required subject in Elementary schools.

Publication of the Primary school method Tekenvaardig: "Children learn to draw" by Paul Koppers and Willebrord de Winter. A teachers guide and over a dozen thematic issue-books for students like Form, Composition, Space, Nature, Colour/Light, Party, Photography.
Strong influence on the art teaching at primary level.

Introduction of Basic Education (Basisvorming) a new system for 13-14 year old, including national tests for al subjects.
Minimum qualifications were issued for every school subject. Making of art (the productive process) and the reflection on your own work and that of others were parts of the art test.
Art (2-dimensional) and crafts/textile design (3D) gradually lost their separate status.

The exam-status of the arts forces the field to standardise and justify art as one of the school subjects. There are objectives to meet (the qualifications of the national exams), textbooks to accompany that exam-preparation.

From 2000 the government focuses on cultuureducatie (culture education) of which art education is one aspect. Cultural heritage and media-education gain influence.

Introduction of a new secondary system for 15-18 year old (the Tweede Fase)
The Mammoet-Law was changed, as was the position of the Arts.
Dance and drama are introduced as official graduation subject as well.
The new (obligatory) school subject CKV1 (experience with art) was introduced. All secondary students had to attend a number of art activities (visit museums or galleries, see theatre-performances, attend concerts, and write an short essay about their experiences.
Besides a new subject cultural history (CKV2) was introduced.
Schools who prefer the old exam regime (see 1971, "3E") can continue to do so.
CKV3 focuses on the making (performing) of the art discipline.

Schools get more autonomy to choose their own curriculum. Art loses its status as required graduation subject (except CKV1), but schools can obtain the status of art-magnet school (cultuurprofielschool) and devote more time to the disciplines.
In practice about 80% of the art students chooses for visual arts, 18% for music and (less than) 2% for dance or drama.

New Legislature for all art teacher training centres (including music, dance and drama) leads to national directed curriculum standards for all the arts.

Beeldonderwijs en didactiek. Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1999 (2020 6th Edition)
Textbook for Primary School Teacher training. Successor of "Tekenen en didactiek" (1993)

Decor / Wolters Noordhoff, Groningen>