ABSTRACT
Although the Netherlands are wedged between the spheres of influence, both in a political and philosophical sense, of the Continental (both German and French) and Anglo-Saxon worlds, a space for some specific developments in and interpretations of education that are unique to the Netherlands has existed most of the time. The history and present state of its school system, the curriculum, and curriculum theory and research are all closely connected to the waxing and waning of these spheres as they came to dominance, but they cannot be understood if we do not take into account some specific characteristics of the Dutch mind set and the solutions and structures to which it gave rise.
