The Netherlands

Abstract

In this chapter, Grever discusses the principal controversies that have taken place in Dutch history education since the late 1990s. In the first decade of the new millennium, the Dutch government took some drastic measures to adjust the content of history education. The debate focuses on two influential reports on history education that have been produced by state commissions installed by the Dutch Ministry of Education. With the assassinations of Fortuyn and van Gogh, Dutch identity was propelled to the forefront of heated debates in the public sphere. Grever examines the implications of the ‘De Rooij report’ and the ‘Canon of Dutch History and Culture’, as well as the perceived alienation between historical scholarship and history teaching.