Visit to Geography Class in a Dutch "Free School"

When I first found out that I was assigned to visit a secondary school in the Netherlands I was disappointed. I work in higher education administration, and wanted to visit a college or university. Having visited the Bernard Lievegoed school, I am delighted to say that things happen for a reason, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Our host, Marcel Notermans, was lively and gracious. He invited us to observe his 5th grade (comparable to 11th grade in the US) geography class, which was taught in Dutch. I could understand about a third of what was taught, which surprised me. (Ce' Oh Tve' = CO2) There were 11 students in the class, and they were highly engaged in discussion of the subject matter. When the teacher asked a question, they answered quickly and in depth. There was no whispering, texting, or goofing off. Students were respectful and attentive. This is different than my experience of US classrooms. Toward the end of the period, Marcel invited us to ask questions. We asked what students planned after university, and one wanted to make films, another to build cities. One hoped to have a career and family (though she didn't know what career yet), and another said he wanted to leave Holland and travel the world for awhile. None of the students drive yet because legal driving age is 18, and cars are more scarce than in the US. Some students ride the bus as far as 3 hours per day to get to this school. All students reported having 2--3 hours of homework per night.

We had a nice lunch with teachers, including two English teachers: one was Dutch, the other English. He said to be sure to say we met an English English teacher! We also met an art teacher. All seemed very happy to be teaching at this school.

The architecture of the school is modeled after American high schools, we were told, though it seemed light and airy. Marcel mentioned that a tradiitonal Waldorf school would have much higher ceilings and more windows, plus more land outside for hiking and nature-related activities. He said that the primary "free school" in Maastricht is constructed of wood, and has a completely different feel to it. The final presentations that students make upon graduation is given in the amphitheatre at the primary school.

Time for a power nap, and then off to share experiences with everyone else from the days visits. Small groups visited 8 or 10 different school and college sites around town. Then we have an evening speaker and late dinner, followed by group practice for a presentation we have to make tomorrow morning on leadership.