Oude en nieuwe fundamenten voor onderwijs en schoolidentiteit in Nederland

Between 1966 and 2024, Dutch schools have experienced significant changes. Due to processes of secularization, individualization and pluralization, many confessional schools now find that most students no longer base their life perspectives and personal identities on Christianity. The rise in mental health issues among young people might be partly linked to these processes. Confessional schools have been developing new fundamental principles to shape their educational identity. By grounding their school identity in Christianhuman values, the authors suggest that these schools can be viewed as part of ‘civil religion’. Religious education has also undergone major transformations: most schools no longer adopt the ‘learning into religion’ approach and instead focus on ‘learning from religion’. It is interesting to observe emerging trends among Generation Z. This generation appears somewhat more religious than previous generations. Providing religious education for the diverse students in the classroom seems more relevant than ever for society’s future.