Music Education in The Netherlands

I. Political Framework. 2

II. School System and Structure. 3

III. Music Education in Schools. 8

IV. Music Curricula. 9

V. Critical Comment and Future Development 14

I. Political Structure

The Netherlands has a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance aim to achieve broad consensus on important issues, within both the political community and society as a whole.

Major political institutions are the monarchy, the cabinet, the parliament and the judicial system. There are three other high colleges of state, which stand on an equal footing with parliament but have a less political role, of which the Council of State is the most important. Other levels of government are the municipalities, the water boards and the provinces. Political parties and the social partners are organized in the Social Economic Council and are important political institutions as well.

Education policy is coordinated by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. This ministry has one minister and two state secretaries.

Compulsory education in the Netherlands starts at the age of five, although in practice, most children at the age of four attend school. There is a partial compulsory education from the age of sixteen, which means that a pupil must attend some form of education for at least two days a week. Compulsory education ends for pupils at the age of eighteen.

There are public, special (religious), and private schools. The first two are financed by the government and officially free of charge. Most schools however ask for a parental contribution. Special schools should not be confused with special needs schools.

Public schools are controlled by local governments. Special schools are controlled by a school board. Most of the special schools are based on a particular religion e.g. Catholic or Protestant. There are some Muslim and Jewish schools as well. There is little difference between special schools and public schools, except in some traditionally religious areas. Private schools do not receive financial support from the government. A considerable number of financed public schools are based on a particular educational philosophy, for instance the Montessori Method, Pestalozzi Plan, Dalton Plan or Jena Plan. Most of these are public schools, but some special schools are based as well on any of these educational philosophies.

All school types (public, special and private) are under the jurisdiction of a government body called “Onderwijsinspectie” (Education Inspection) and can be required to make changes in educational policy or risk closure.

II. School System and Structure

Fig. School system in The Netherlands

Primary Education

Between the ages of four to twelve, children attend “basisschool” (elementary school; literally “basic school”). This school has eight grades, called “groep 1” (group 1) through to “groep 8”. School attendance is compulsory from group 2 (at age five), but as mentioned before almost all children attend school at four (in group 1). In general from group 3 onwards, children learn how to read, write and do mathematics. In group 7 and 8 many schools start with teaching English. In group 8 the vast majority of schools administer the “Citotoets” (developed by the “Centraal instituut voor toetsontwikkeling” to recommend what type of secondary education should be followed). Although this test has gained authority, the opinion of the school is still an important factor in the recommendation.

Secondary Education

Secondary education, which begins at the age of 12 and is compulsory until the age of 16, is offered at several levels. “Vmbo” programmes (four years) combine general and vocational education, after which pupils can continue in senior secondary vocational education and training (“mbo”) lasting one to four years. Two programmes of general education give admission to higher education: “havo” (five years) and “vwo” (six years). The “vwo” curriculum prepares students for university (only a “vwo” diploma gives access to universities). The “havo” diploma is the minimum requirement for access to “hbo”. The last two years of “havo” and the last three years of “vwo” can be seen as a second part of secondary education. During these years, besides the general education requirements, pupils focus on one of four subject clusters (“profielen”). Each cluster is designed to prepare pupils for programmes of study at the tertiary level. A student can choose from the following subject clusters:

·      Science and Technology (“Natuur en Techniek”)

·      Science and Health (“Natuur en Gezondheid”)

·      Economics and Society (“Economie en Maatschappij”)

·      Culture and Society (“Cultuur en Maatschappij”)

Dutch secondary education has a norm for the minimum number of hours a pupil has to have lessons. This norm is determined by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. In the first phase (first three years) the norm is 1040 hours. For the later years (up from year 4) this norm is lower (e.g. 1000 or 700).

Senior Education and Training (“mbo”), Secondary Vocational

Senior secondary vocational education and training (“mbo”, “middelbaar beroepsonderwijs”) includes the areas of economics, technology, health, personal care, social welfare and agriculture. “Mbo” programmes vary in length, from one to four years, and in level (1 to 4). Graduates of “vmbo” programmes have admission to “mbo”, and a completion of “mbo” programmes at level 4 gives access to “hbo”.

Higher Education

Higher education in the Netherlands is offered at two types of institutions: research universities (“universiteiten”) and universities of applied sciences (“hogescholen”). Research universities include general universities, universities specializing in engineering and agriculture, and the Open University. Research universities are primarily responsible for offering research-oriented programmes. Universities of applied sciences are primarily responsible for offering programmes of higher professional education (“hoger beroepsonderwijs”, “hbo”), which prepare students for particular professions. Since September 2002, the higher education system in the Netherlands has been organized around a three-cycle degree system consisting of bachelor, master and PhD degrees. At the same time, the ECTS credit system was adopted as a way of quantifying periods of study.

III. Music Education in Schools

Art, Culture and Education

Music education cannot be seen as an isolated domain or subject. In the Netherlands music education should be seen in a general context of education in art and culture. Culture and school has the aim to make pupils familiar with art and cultural heritage. By offering more education with and about culture, pupils learn to know the value of art and culture. This will widen insight and activate creative talents. To provide this the ministry is working together with local and regional governments, cultural institutions and educational organisations. The national government is concentrating on structural provisions for schools, teachers and pupils, knowledge development and communication about cultural education.

Primary Education

Core Aims

All seven thousand primary schools work with core aims (“kerndoelen”). These aims describe the minimum of what schools have to offer in the different subjects. With orientation on art (“kunstzinnige orientatie”), pupils are made familiar with artistic and cultural aspects in their living environment. Children should become familiar with those aspects of cultural heritage which have been given form and meaning by society. In this domain it is also important that pupils attain some knowledge of modern art and cultural diversity. This takes place not only in school, but by a regular interaction with the outside world as well. Children learn to be open: they observe paintings, listen to music, and enjoy language and movement. With orientation on art they learn to appreciate the cultural and artistic expressions in their world. Besides this they are actively involved in making music, dancing, making fine art objects, etc. and learn to express themselves with artistic materials and tools:

·      they learn to explore the materials of fine arts from examples of aspects like colour, form, space, texture and composition

·      they make drawings and three dimensional objects

·      they learn songs and learn to use musical instruments as accompaniment

·      they play and dance.

Where possible, subjects are used which have connection to those in other domains. In this way education will be more coherent and meaningful.

In 2005-2006 68 new core aims were introduced of which three are concerned with the arts. Schools were given a long transitional period in which to incorporate these aims which are compulsory from 2009-2010:

54) Pupils learn to use images, language, music, play and movement to express emotions and experiences and to communicate.

55) Pupils learn to reflect of their own work and that of others.

56) Pupils obtain some knowledge of and appreciation for aspects of cultural heritage.

These aims are global and do not indicate how the content and aims are organised. Suggestions for this are formulated by an educational organisation (SLO), a national institute meant to support curriculum development and learning tools. In a document “Tule, guidelines for sub-aims and learning courses” the core aims are described in more concrete steps. These guidelines do not describe a method or plan but give possible solutions. Below under “Music curricula” you will find a concrete description for music.
More recently the government is focussing policy on cultural education on primary education in particular. In principle the most citizens will be reached here and culture education is  most effective during this age range. Cultural activities in primary education are stimulated by a series of regulations.

Strengthening Culture Education in Primary Education
This regulation will anchor culture education in schools. The aim is that children will get acquainted with culture in a continuous way. To realise this, schools cooperate with cultural institutions. This regulation runs from 2004 to 2007. Participating schools receive € 10.90 per pupil per school to spend on cultural education. After 2007 all schools will receive € 10.90 as part of the total finance (so it will not be  ring-fenced anymore).

GrassRoots Culture (www.grassroots.nl)
The government wanted to stimulate the use of ICT. One of the projects was GrassRoots Culture, an incidental regulation for primary education. GrassRoots Culture worked with supportive institutes, so-called location holders. Teachers proposed ideas for a culture project. If the project was positively accepted, the teacher received € 500 or another kind of reward (e.g. digital camera). When the project was carried out, a report was written which was put on the website of GrassRoots Culture as a case study and stimulus for others. This regulation ended in December 2005.

PROPOSO (www.proposo.Koncon.nl)
PROPOSO was a concrete consequence of a political action. This financial investment of € 1,9m was meant to improve the quality of music education in primary schools and schools for children with special needs. PROPOSO started in 2002 under the coordination of the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague. In June 2005 eleven projects were presented, amongst others: music and ICT, teacher training music specialists, singing class, etc.

BIK
Since 2002/2003 the project Professional Artists in Schools (“Beroepskunstenaars in de Klas”) is running. Artists are generally educated to teach arts in primary education (it is not a teacher training qualification ).

Secondary Education

All of the approximately 800 secondary schools work with the national agreed subjects and exam programmes. However, every school has the freedom to arrange the curriculum as it likes. Currently all subjects are undergoing changes due to the overall changes in secondary education: a new first phase (12-15 years), the streams in preparatory middle-level vocational education, and the second phase (15‑18 years).

Arts and cultural education is a key instrument to promote cultural participation. Students in secondary education visit museums, theatres and concerts, mostly as a part of voluntary extra-curricular activities. In the past decades the government created opportunities to intensify the contacts between schools and professional artists. In 1998 this policy became more solid when "Arts and Cultural Education" was introduced as a compulsory subject at “havo” and “vwo” (second phase). In “vmbo” a similar subject was implemented in 2003.

The introduction of arts and cultural education has the aim that students learn to make a motivated choice of cultural activities that are meaningful to them. The intention of such participation in school is that young people will grow up at ease with taking part in cultural activities throughout their lives. The government supports these cultural visits by providing each student with vouchers worth € 22.50 which can be used as payment in museums, theatres, cinemas, etc. Besides this the student receives a CJP-card which gives a discount on tickets, etc.

Arts and Cultural Education in secondary education is preferably taught by a team of teachers of different subjects, such as mother language, foreign languages, visual arts, music and drama.

First Phase

Since 1 August 2006 a new first phase is in force. Instead of a uniform basic programme, the government dictates 58 core aims for seven learning domains. A school is obliged to spend at least 2/3 of the time on these aims and learning domains. For the remaining 1/3 of the time the school can determine the curriculum.

The arts are placed in the domain Art and Culture. The general aim of this domain is ‘a broad orientation on art and culture’. The other domains are: Dutch language, English, mathematics, human and nature, human and society, sports.
Art education is generally offered by two subjects e.g. music and fine arts. Some schools also offer drama and/or dance. There are schools which profile themselves as arts schools. In these schools much emphasis is put on the arts by offering more hours of lessons and extra activities. In general arts teachers are striving for active, receptive and reflective approaches.

Second Phase

All of the approximately 800 schools for secondary education are working with the national agreed subjects and exam programmes. However, every school has its own interpretation. The developments in the arts subjects are directly influenced by the general changes in education: a renewed first stage (12-14), the differentiation in “vmbo” (preparatory middle-level vocational education) and the second stage (15-18).

IV. Music Curricula

Primary Education

As mentioned earlier in the document “Tule, guidelines for sub-aims and learning courses” the core aims are described in more concrete steps. Below you find this description for primary education. This document is a still being revised and gives an example of how music education can be arranged.

Core Aim 54

The pupils learn to use pictures, music, language, play and movement, to express their feelings and experiences and to communicate this.

Core Aim 55

The pupils learn to reflect on their own work and that of others.

Core Aim 56

The pupils obtain some knowledge of and learn to appreciate aspects of cultural heritage.

Secondary Education (Basic Education / First Phase)

A new curriculum for the first part of secondary education

The basic education (“basisvorming”) was introduced in 1993 at all schools for secondary education (“vmbo”, “havo” and “vwo”). In this programme pupils in the 12-15 age range  received the same subjects and programmes, including two subjects in the field of arts.

From August, 1^st 2006 this has changed. Instead of a uniform programme, the government prescribes 58 core aims for seven domains. The school is obliged to spend 2/3 of these aims in the first two years, 1/3 of the time is for own choices and tailoring.

The arts are placed in the domain Art and Culture. The general aim of this domain is “a broad orientation on art and culture”. The other domains are: Dutch, English, Mathematics, Human and Nature, Human and Society, Exercise and Sports.

The new arts subjects

The new core aims for the arts subjects are less precisely formulated than the previous ones. The current ones describe per area (music, dance, drama and fine arts) the elementary skills pupils must develop. The new aims give schools more freedom in deciding curriculum content. They are not split up in domains like “working process, tools, etc.” Creating an integrated approach to the arts subjects, the new aims focus on the active, receptive and reflective skills as well. Through this, a connection is made between the art education in primary and secondary schools. The domain “Art and Culture” has the following five core aims:

48) Pupils learn by using elementary skills to research the expression of different art forms in order to express own feelings, to reflect on experiences, to give form to imagination and to communicate.

49) Pupils learn to present their own art work, individually or as participant in a group, to others.

50) Pupils learn on the basis of any background knowledge to observe fine arts, to listen to music and to watch and listen to theatre -, dance - and film ideas.

51) Pupils learn with the help of visual or aural means to report on their participation in art activities, as onlooker and as participant.

52) Pupils learn to reflect in an oral or written way on their own work and work of others,

Cultural Activities

Pupils are stimulated to visit cultural and artistic events like museums, concerts, movies, etc. As mentioned before, vouchers are available.

Secondary Education (Second Phase: The Arts)

Profiles

In the second stage, with the revised structure of “havo” and “vwo”, there are three parts: mandatory sections for all apprentices (general part), a part specific to the profile and a part which can be filled by choosing subjects. One of the four profiles is the profile “Culture and Society”. With the simultaneous implementation of the so-called “study house”, in which the apprentices are planning their own study and work independently small groups, a better preparation for higher education is made. Currently there is discussion going on about the real effects of this policy.

CKV

CKV (Cultural and Art) is one of the subjects in the mandatory part of the curriculum. CKV explicitly has cultural participation  as a target. This means a new stage in the relationships between cultural establishments and schools. The content and nature of CKV changes from school to school. Generally there seem to be two approaches: where practical experience in the arts is the main method of delivery or where theory (the book), dominates teaching.

Profile “Culture and Society”: Art and Music

Within the profile “Culture and Society” a student is offered the subject “Arts” and a chosen art subject: music, fine arts, dance or drama.

Arts

Aims of the subject “Arts”

Skills

The student can:

·      use the main terms and concepts from the arts disciplines: fine arts, music, dance and drama that are conditional for proper reception and reflection, and necessary for understanding the relations between the arts and culture;

·      recognise, point to and apply information on arts and culture;

·      use sources in an adequate way;

·      mention and argue similarities and differences considering the arts.

Angles of Reflection

The student can indicate:

·      with which vision, aims, tools and contents the arts express religious and philosophical ideas;

·      the ideas of aesthetics in the arts;

·      the influence of those who commission artists and the role of political ideas on content and position of the arts and artist;

·      form and content are determined by amusement functions of the arts in relation to the audience;

·      how arts and sciences act on each other;

·      how Western and Non-Western arts and culture affect each other.

Subjects

The student can apply the above-mentioned to the following subjects:

·      Culture of the church from the 11^th to the 14^th century;

·      The court culture in the 16^th and 17^th century;

·      The Dutch bourgeois culture in the 17^th century;

·      The culture of romanticism and realism in the 19^th century;

·      Modern culture in the first half of the 20^th century;

·      Popular culture in the 20^th century (e.g. mass media).

Music

The curriculum consists of theory and practice.

Theory

Perception and Knowing

The student is able to:

·      read musical notation and scores;

·      write simple rhythms and melodic phrases;

·      distinguish, recognise and mention played musical examples.

Analyzing and Interpretation

The student is able to:

·      analyze musical structures of played musical examples;

·      interpret musical processes;

·      bring own experience in relation with the musical aspects, meanings and functions of music.

Music and Culture

The student is able to:

·      structure the development of musical genres and styles historically;

·      situate known musical works in the development of music, the geographic region and social context and this in connection to cultural historical periods;

·      situate unknown musical works on the basis of cultural, stylistic, formal and music historical arguments;

·      draw up a topic or problem posing from music history and/or music culture and report this.

Practice

Music Making

The student is able to:

·      sing or play a varied repertoire of unison or homophonic/polyphonic music;

·      sing or play an unprepared melody or piece or music;

·      sight read.

Improvising and composing

The student is able to improvise and compose starting from a problem posing and with a thorough use of musical material and tools.

V. Critical Comment and Future Development

The curriculum for the arts the second stage of secondary education is currently undergoing readjustments. At the moment no information is available.