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A Blend of Romanism and Germanism: Experimental Science Instruction in Belgian State Secondary Education, 1880–1914

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Abstract

A case study of secondary experimental science instruction in Belgium demonstrates the importance of cross-national communication in the study of science education. Belgian secondary science education in the years 1880–1914 had a clear internationalist dimension. French and German influences turn out to have been essential, stimulated by the fact that Belgium, as a result of its geographical position, considered itself as the centre of scientific relations between France and Germany, and as actually strengthened by its linguistic and cultural dualism in this regard. This pursuit of internationalist nationalism also affected the configuration of chemistry and physics as experimental courses at Belgian Royal State Schools, although the years preceding WWI are usually characterized as a period of rising nationalism in science, with countries such as Germany and France as prominent actors. To what extent did France and Germany influence Belgian debates on science education, science teachers’ training, the use of textbooks, and the instalment of school laboratories and teaching collections?

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Notes

  1. In addition to ten Royal State Schools, a network of fifty state secondary schools (écoles moyennes—enseignement moyen du degré inférieur ou du second degré) was also established in 1850. These schools offered secondary education to an inferior level, with an explicit practical objective. Due to the fact that experimental science education was more developed at the higher secondary schools, only these schools will be taken into account.

  2. ‘Pillarization’ means that a society is segregated in all domains along ideological lines, with separate political parties, schools, newspapers, societies etc. The two main ‘pillars’ in nineteenth-century Belgium were Catholics and (free-thinking) liberals.

  3. Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Hasselt, Liege, Mons, Namur, Arlon, plus Tournai.

  4. Research on the history of Belgian education is hindered by the loss of documents of the Ministry of National Education caused by a fire in its archives (1947). Furthermore, Belgian school archives are difficult to track. Some of them have been transferred to public archives (national or municipal), while others are still preserved in the schools themselves but are not always accessible.

  5. Archives Royal State School Hasselt, Réunions mensuelles procès-verbaux des séances (9 mai 1881-31 juillet 1883), Séance du 11 Mai 1883.

  6. Athénée Royal de Namur (1866, 1867, 1869); Athénée Royal d’Anvers (1870–1879).

  7. See for example Athénée Royal de Bruges (1889, p. 8), Athénée Royal de Mons (1890, p. 46, 1891, pp. 46, 47, 50, 1892, pp. 46, 47, 51).

  8. Belgian National Archives Headquarters Brussels, Enseignement supérieur. Nouveau Fonds, nr. 636: Relations with Germany, prof. Wilmotte to Minister of Sciences and Arts, 21 July 1926.

  9. Belgian State Archives Department Anderlecht, Archives Athénée de Bruxelles, nr. 44.

  10. Belgian State Archives Department Tournai, Archives Athénée Jules Bara, nr. 107: Conférences mensuelles du corps professoral. Procès-verbaux, 16 May 1895.

  11. I did not find any references to an official catalogue from this period.

  12. University Library Ghent, Manuscripts Cabinet, VLBL/HFI. A.095.01 (Athénée Royal de Gand, correspondance).

  13. Belgian State Archives Department Tournai, Archives Athénée Royal Jules Bara, nr. 108: Procès-verbal des Conférences des professeurs, 9 and 10 February 1911.

  14. Belgian State Archives Department Antwerp, Archives Athénée Royal d’Anvers, nr. 196, Notes of the monthly teachers’ conferences 1878–1883, 21 June 1882.

  15. Belgian State Archives Department Tournai, Archives Athénée Royal Jules Bara, nr. 107: Notes of the monthly teachers’ conferences, 16 May 1895.

  16. Archives Royal State School Hasselt, Réunions mensuelles procès-verbaux des séances (9 mai 1881-31 juillet 1883), Séance du 11 mai 1883.

  17. Archives Royal State School Hasselt, Rapports des conférences professeurs (1900–1906). Compte-rendu de la séance du 28-II-1909.

  18. Archives Royal State School Hasselt, Réunions mensuelles procès-verbaux des séances (9 mai 1881-31 juillet 1883), Séance du 11 Mai 1883.

  19. See for example: Archives Royal State School Hasselt, Inventory of the Teachers’ Library (s.d.); Belgian State Archives Department Anderlecht, Archives Athénée de Bruxelles, nr. 208.

  20. An example of a chemistry textbook published in the Netherlands that was used in classroom teaching at the Antwerp Royal State School from 1890 onwards: W.F. Koppeschaar (1891–1906).

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Dr. Josep Simon for his valuable advice and elaborated comments on earlier drafts of this paper and to the editor and anonymous referees for their helpful suggestions.

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    Sofie Onghena

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Onghena, S. A Blend of Romanism and Germanism: Experimental Science Instruction in Belgian State Secondary Education, 1880–1914. Sci & Educ 22, 807–825 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-012-9512-2

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