Page 12 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema

CHAPTER 1
2. Research topic
2.1. The Dutch educational system
In the Dutch educational system, a school is either a nongovernment school or a public school. A public school is neutral in terms of religious affiliation. This means that a public school cannot define or motivate its education from any religious point of view. This principle is applied in practice by admitting every student and staff member, regardless of cultural, ethnic or religious background or sexual preference (Bakker and Ter Avest 2014; Ter Avest 2003; Zoontjens 2003). Such a school also actively engages the religious backgrounds of its students. This approach to religious diversity is called ‘active multiformity’ (Veugelers and De Kat 2005) or ‘active plurality’ (Bakker and Ter Avest 2014). The approach can be interpreted as a way of paying attention to religious diversity in classes and in society based on equality (Faber 2012; Bakker and Ter Avest 2014).
A nongovernment school is defined as a school that was originally founded by private organizations or persons and is based upon a religious or philosophical orientation (Zoontjens 2003). The Dutch constitution confers the right for every nongovernment school to receive governmental subsidy, to the same extent as public education (Zoontjens 2003). Therefore, the authorities of the nongovernmental school have to belong to an acknowledged religious or philosophical orientation, and education and teaching staff have to meet standards of quality and virtue (Zoontjens 2003; Noorlander and Zoontjens 2011; Glenn and De Groof 2012). About 67% of all primary schools are nongovernment schools: most are confessional schools based on the Protestant tradition or the Catholic/ Roman-Catholic tradition (from orthodox to ecumenical) (Bakker 2011). Other denominations include: Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, General-Nongovernment, Humanistic, Anthroposophical. In our research, we call this type of schools nongovernment, because they originate from a private initiative by a government- acknowledged religious or philosophical orientation. Public schools are funded by the government, in such a way that every child in the Netherlands can receive public education (Zoontjens 2003).
In most public schools as well as in nongovernment schools, the student population is differentiated based on religious affiliation (Bakker 2011; Ter Avest et al. 2007).
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