Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap

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Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap in Bilthoven , Netherlands

The Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap is a school based in Bilthoven that relies on a reform pedagogical concept. It was founded in 1926 by Kees Boeke and his wife Beatrice (Betty) Cadbury and still follows their pedagogical principles. The school is divided into a kindergarten, elementary and secondary school.

history

Boeke, who campaigned against militarism and violence and advocated peaceful coexistence, organized congresses for international reconciliation and cooperation. The question of upbringing became more and more important for him as a prerequisite for fundamental changes in society, as emerges from the educational conferences from 1920 to 1925 that he organized in Bilthoven. Since he did not agree to the use of the school fees (it had to be paid to the state, which made part of it available to the War Ministry), he took his oldest children from school in January 1926 and began teaching them himself. By adding the children of like-minded people, it became the Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap . Funding was made possible in part by Boeke's wealthy wife, Betty Boeke-Cadbury. Her family owned the UK food factory Cadbury Bros. Ltd. and belonged to the Quakers , whose ideas carried over to the Boeke couple.

Boeke let the young people take part in the general events of the Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap , for which the architect Frants Röntgen had designed a new separate building on Bilthovener Straße Frans Halslaan at the end of the 1920s. Tasks and work such as the maintenance of the building, the materials and devices, the furniture, the instruments and teaching aids were carried out. It was boiled and washed. It was checked whether the tasks and work had been carried out and whether agreements and obligations had been met. During the Monday meetings, decisions were made for which a majority of the votes were not sufficient, but unanimity was required.

In the monthly “work distribution”, the tasks and work to be carried out were distributed, which consisted of central management, cleaning and tidying up, the meeting, the school meal, the school's own publication De Bij and miscellaneous. The teachers were referred to as "employees" of the students, who in turn were considered "workers" in the school's own designation. The aim was the ideal of community life in the sense of a large family circle.

Boeke and his wife hoped that their vision of teaching would bring their ideals to life: a coexistence in which people lived together peacefully and on a basis of equality. Since Boeke did not develop a specific teaching method (he adopted elements from the Jena and Dalton plans and Montessori education ), this type of school remained.

For several years, the princesses Beatrix , Irene and Margriet were students of the Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap , but since the pacifist ideas of the school did not match those of the royal family, they continued their education elsewhere.

In the 1940s, the school building received an extension designed by architects Arno Nicolaï and Lotte Stam-Beese . In the following decade, another building, designed by Arthur Staal, was built on Jan Steenlaan; the adjacent garden was designed by Mien Ruys . In 1968 this building complex was expanded considerably and the original building on Frans Halslaan was abandoned. The latter still exists today and is now used for teaching support purposes.

Todays situation

The buildings from the 1950s, including the expansion from 1968, no longer exist today. Instead, there has been a 9,200 m² building on Kees Boekelaan since 2006, designed by the architects Janneke and Michiel Snelder.

The teaching methods no longer correspond to those of the 1920s, but the original ideas of Broekes are still used. Great attention is paid to children's opinions, as well as teaching them how to interact with adults. There is no longer a traditional lesson within a class, lessons take place within teams and empty domains , which means that there are no longer separate classrooms, but freely usable rooms that can accommodate 75 to 80 students. Lessons now take place within certain areas of the empty domains .

The former crèche is no longer part of the Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap . Of the approximately 1750 learners, 550 are spread across kindergarten and elementary school, while the rest of the students take general ( havo and vwo (Atheneum and Gymnasium)) and vocational ( vmbo ) secondary education.

Well-known graduates ("workers")

Known teachers ("employees")

Web links

Commons : Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap  - collection of images, videos and audio files