This article looks at how social movements in francophone Belgium shaped the institutional contours of adult education 'from below'. It focuses on the integral role played by progressive social movements in the creation of a regional state-based system of adult education in 1976, known as the "Service de l'Éducation Permanente" (SdEP).…

The public dimension of the body became paramount in the first half of the 20th century, when the image of the modern man, with his virile stereotypes, became a cliché, in strict connection with nation building first and totalitarian ideologies later. Yet, different cultural and educational trends advocated for life reform and liberation of the…

Over half a century since the last wave of political decolonisation, the handling of "dark" colonial histories remains topical. Influenced by the postcolonial turn, this study aims to examine, from a novel historical and comparative perspective, evolving textbook representations of Belgian colonialism and its legacy in Belgian and…

This article examines one of the first children's libraries in continental Europe, founded by Belgian feminists in Ghent around 1910. The transnational cultural transfer and transformation of the American children's-library paradigm is studied from the perspective of "entangled history". The authors reveal a history entangled in…

Starting from the Belgian historiography about the Congo, the article raises the question of the nature of image formation in the mother country as regards the psychological characteristics and intellectual potential of the Congolese. Two domains of study may already provide information in this regard. First, the image of the psycho-pedagogical…

Belgium's progress in rehabilitation has been the most marked of all the countries devastated by the World War. In resumption of operation of the iron and steel industries, of coal mining, of railroad rebuilding, of the sugar factories, of cotton spinning, of rebuilding residences and communal buildings, the Government, private initiative,…

Focuses on the choreography of schooling and the social interactions between teacher and student. Draws upon evidential data samples of primary teachers during the 1880s and 1930s noted in Belgium educational reviews. Concludes there was a transition from 1880s teacher-is-master classroom to a conforming 1930s educator-mentor role. (MER)

After 20 years of experience, comprehensive education in Belgium is characterized by many compromises. Pedagogically, positive results have been achieved. Curricular and structural reforms have been largely successful. However, too much is being expected of it as a lever for social change, and the system may fail as a result. (MSE)