Political education

Abstract

to thank Carole Hahn, Germ Janmaat and Erika Kitzmiller for supporting my application to the Fulbright program. I am grateful to Tom Fallace and Tom James for their friendly and enriching conversations on the history of Teachers College, democracy and education. Likewise, to Zoe Burkholder and the NYU History of Education Writing Group, for their constructive critical remarks on my work. And a very special thanks to Ansley Erickson, who was kind enough to function as my official host at Teachers College, but moreover taught me a great deal about the history of American education and on how to study and teach educational history in a way that is both rigorous and relevant.Naming those that have supported me professionally comes relatively easy compared to finding adequate terms to describe how my friends and family have contributed to the completion of this project. I would like to say thanks to my friends from the Jelsumer Kring (which is hereby officially introduced in a scientific publication) for the weekends that brought intellectual laughter and personal relief: Annet, Anton, Bas, Harrie, Nick, Machteld and Thomas. And to Madjoe 5, for the good atmosphere during the first phase of my project. A special thanks to Kollin, for our enduring friendship and enriching conversations; to Matthijs, for your critical mind and your gentle heart; to Japke, for your inspiring strength and ability to cheer me up; and to PJ, for your energy and humour: that this dissertation may be a big step towards achieving our financial independence.To Janneke, Roelof, Nienke, Simon, Wouter and Tessa: thank you so much for your love and support. For being my foundation and inspiration, I thank Gooswijn, Carlijn, Einbert and Klara. You have taught me more than all books combined. Thank you for believing in me and being there for me. To Merel, Marius and Theije, for enriching our lives with your wonderful personalities (and providing me with a real deadline to finish). And finally to Sanne, the love of my life, I dedicate this book. I hope I can repay you somewhat for all you did for me in the final phase of this project when it is time for you to finish yours. You have given me more than I could have ever wished for over the last ten years. At the completion of this journey, I eagerly look forward to all the other adventures we will embark on together.14 15 Democracy and education in the NetherlandsIn their overview article on citizenship education in the Netherlands, De Groot, Daas and Nieuwelink (2022) explain how the Dutch Freedom of Education shapes the specific national context for democratic citizenship education in schools. Like the United States, the Netherlands has a decentralized educational system without a national curriculum, but unlike the United States, the vast majority of Dutch pupils attend "privately managed public schools: schools that are based on religious or ideological principles" (De Groot, Daas & Nieuwelink 2022). This remarkable combination of 'privately managed' and 'public school' roots in Article 23 of the D...