Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap

The 'Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap' (literally translated: "workplace children's community") is a school based in Bilthoven that relies on a Progressive education 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, a primary and secondary school.

History[edit]

Boeke, who opposed militarism and violence and advocated peaceful coexistence, organized congresses on international reconciliation and cooperation. Of growing importance for him was the question of education as a prerequisite for fundamental changes in society, as it emerges from the educational conferences of the years 1920 to 1925, which he organized in Bilthoven. Since he did not agree with the use of the school fee (it had to be paid to the state, which provided part of it to the War Department), he brought in January 1926 his eldest children from the school and began to teach them. Through the increase with children of like-minded people it became the "Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap". The funding was partly made possible by Boekes' wealthy wife Betty Boeke-Cadbury. Her family owned the British food factory Cadbury and was a member of Quakers, whose ideas also passed to the Boeke couple.

Boeke had the young people participate in the general event of the 'Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap', for which the architect Frants Röntgen had designed a new separate building on Frans Halslaan, a street in Bilthoven, in the late 1920s. Tasks and works such as the maintenance of the building, the materials and equipment, the furniture, the instruments and teaching aids were performed. It was cooked and washed. It was checked whether the tasks and work were carried out and whether agreements and obligations had been met. During the Monday meetings, decisions were taken that did not have a majority of votes but required unanimity.

In the daily "work distribution" the tasks and work to be carried out were divided, which consisted of central management, cleaning and tidying up, the meeting, the school meal, the school's own publication "De Bij" (the school magazine) and various things. The teachers were referred to as the "fellow workers" of the students, who in turn were in the school's name as "workers". The goal was the ideal image of a community life in the sense of a large family circle.

Boeke and his wife hoped to realize their ideals with their vision of teaching: coexistence where people lived together peacefully and on a basis of equality. Since Boeke did not develop a specific teaching method (he took elements from the Jenaplan schools and Dalton Plan and the Montessori education), this type of school remained.

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

In the 1940s, the school building was given a design by architects Arno Nicolaï and Lotte Stam-Beese. In the following decade another building designed by Arthur Staal was built at Jan Steenlaan, the adjacent garden was designed by Mien Ruys. In 1968, this building complex was significantly expanded and the original building on the Frans Halslaan left. The latter still exists today and is now used for educational purposes.

Today's situation[edit]

The buildings from the 1950s, including the expansion from 1968, no longer exist today. Instead, since 2006, there is a 9200 m² building designed by architects Janneke and Michiel Snelder at the Kees Boekelaan.

The teaching methods are no longer in line with those of the 1920s, but Boeke's original ideas are still used. The children's mind is given great attention, as well as the teaching of dealing with adults. There is no longer traditional teaching within a class, lessons are taught within 'teams' and 'learning domains', meaning that there are no longer separate classrooms, but free-of-use spaces for 75 to 80 pupils can offer. Classes now take place within certain areas of the 'learning domains'.

The former nursery is no longer part of the "Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap". Of the approximately 1,750 apprentices, 550 are in kindergarten and elementary school, while the rest of the students are in general (havo and vwo (Atheneum and Gymnasium)) and vocational (vmbo) secondary education takes up.

Known students ("workers")[edit]

Beatrix (Queen of the Netherlands)
Irene of Orange-Nassau (Princess of the Netherlands)
Margriet of Orange-Nassau (Princess of the Netherlands)
Nouchka van Brakel (film director)
Hermann W. von der Dunk (historians and university teachers)
Gerard Endenburg (entrepreneur and associate professor)
Coen Flink (actor)
Mirjam Koen (actress and theater director)
Bert Natter (writer)
Coen Swijnenberg (radio host)
Eva van de Wijdeven (actress)

Known teachers ("co-workers")[edit]

Marijn Backer (Dutch columnist, teacher, poet and author of children's and youth books)
Henk Dubbink (Theosophist, University Teacher and Old Catholic Bishop), Classical Languages
Hermann W. von der Dunk, history (at the same time former student)
Ida Gerhardt (Poetess), Classical Languages
Andries Hartsuiker (composer of well-known children's songs), music
Monique Jansen (athlete), chemistry
Bram van der Lek (Former Member of the Second Chamber of States General), Biology
Jo Schouwenaar-Franssen (Former Minister, Member of the First Chamber of the States General), Classical Languages
Coen Stibbe (archeology, historian, writer), Classical Languages

References[edit]

Media related to Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap at Wikimedia Commons

"De Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap" [The Workplace Children's Community]. www.wpkeesboeke.nl (in Dutch). 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-14.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
"Explanation of pedagogical concept". www.wpkeesboeke.nl (in Dutch). 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-14.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
Jansen, Rhijja. "The quiet secret of an open learning environment". www.ecophon.com. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
Price, Gina. "WARM Sociocracy: from Quaker Process to a Model of Governance". West Australia Regional Meeting. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
von der Dunk, H.W. (2013-11-12). "Boeke, Cornelis (1884-1966)". Huygens ING - Amsterdam (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-01-14.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
Rawson, Wyatt (1956). The Werkplaats adventure. London: Vincent Stuart Ltd. ASIN B000ZU94HU. Search this book on
Heyting, Frieda; Koppen, Jan; Lenzen, Dieter; Thiel, Felicitas (1997). Educational Studies in Europe. Oxford: Berghahn Books. p. 29. ISBN 9781571819383. Search this book on
Boeke, Kees (1975). Kindergemeenschap: Ervaringen en perspectieven van "De Werkplaats" [Children's community: Experiences and perspectives of "De Werkplaats"] (in Dutch). Koog aan de Zaan: Klaas Woudt. ISBN 9789061830115.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on

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