Expansive Learning in a School Organisation An Activity-based Theoretical Model for Primary Schools

Since the 1990s an increasing number of primary schools in the Netherlands have switched to Developmental Education (DE). The total number is still modest: Of the 7,000 primary schools, approximately 5% have implemented DE. The majority of schools employ Program Oriented Education (POE). The basis of the curriculum and educational methods consists in the application of this approach. An increasing number of school teams consider this approach to have a negative impact on student participation. They claim an incompatibility between a didactic method aimed at motivating children and rigid educational programmes. By contrast, DE schools strive to offer pupils more input regarding learning processes and educational resources, in order to ensure more challenging and effective training. Schools have discovered that the switch from POE to DE requires a change in their organisation. Teachers using the DE approach offer pupils more opportunities to provide input during class. The same principle applies regarding DE school leadership as teachers participate in shared governance. The basis of this dissertation is that the school team needs to be willing to become a learning organisation. This gives rise to the following questions: What does it mean for a DE school to be a learning organisation? And, having established the theoretical framework regarding this concept, how does it surface in actual practice? That is the primary objective of this research.