Wartime schooling and education policy in the Second World War : Catholic education, memory, and the government in occupied Belgium

This book deals with the development of private secondary schooling during the Second World War in Belgium. It focuses on how the German occupier used education to gain acceptance of the regime, and discusses the attitudes of Belgian education authorities, schools, teachers and pupils towards the German occupation. Suggesting that the occupation forced Belgian education authorities, such as the Roman Catholic Church, to take certain positions, the book explores the wartime experiences and memories of pupils and teachers. It explains that the German Culture Department was relatively weak in establishing total control over education and that Catholic schools were able to maintain their education project during the war. However, the book also reveals that, in some cases, the German occupation did not need total control over education in order to find support for some authoritarian ideas. As such, Van Ruyskenvelde's analysis presents a nuanced view of the image of the Catholic Church, schools, teachers and pupils as mere victims of war. Sarah Van Ruyskensvelde is a post-doctoral fellow at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Campus Kulak, Belgium Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Abbreviations -- Chapter 1: Introduction: A Political History of Belgian Education during the Second World War -- A Political History of Belgian Wartime Education, 1940-1944 -- Wartime Education in Historiography -- Catholic Secondary Education and the War -- A (Political) History of Wartime Schooling from the Perspective of Negotiation -- Education and War: A Focus on the Lower Levels of the Educational Pyramid -- Plan of This Book -- Notes -- Chapter 2: Between Pacification and Conflict: The History of Belgian Education and the Challenge of National Socialism -- The Catholic Monopoly over Education and the Challenge of the State -- Catholic Schools as Bastions of Elite Culture and the Challenge of the Public School -- Catholic Schools as Bastions of French Elite Culture and the Challenge of the Flemish Movement -- A New Chapter in Belgian History of Education? The Installation of a German Military Government in Belgium, 1940-1944 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 3: Towards a Gleichschaltung of Belgian Education: The German Education Policy and the Contacts between the Military Administration and the Belgian Roman Catholic Church -- Belgian Culture and Education as a Janus Face: The First Reports of the Culture Department, June-November 1940 -- Education and Kulturpolitik: The Development of a German Education Policy, 1940-1944 -- Tailpiece of the German Education Policy: The Decrees of 13 August and 7 November 1942 -- The Long Process of Negotiation over the Future of Catholic Education in Belgium, 1942-1943 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 4: War in the Classroom: The Development of Catholic School Culture during the Second World War in Belgium -- Education Interrupted: The Chaos of the Early Days of the War -- Under Pressure: The Implementation of the German Education Policy in Schools This book deals with the development of private secondary schooling during the Second World War in Belgium. It focuses on how the German occupier used education to gain acceptance of the regime, and discusses the attitudes of Belgian education authorities, schools, teachers and pupils towards the German occupation. Suggesting that the occupation forced Belgian education authorities, such as the Roman Catholic Church, to take certain positions, the book explores the wartime experiences and memories of pupils and teachers. It explains that the German Culture Department was relatively weak in establishing total control over education and that Catholic schools were able to maintain their education project during the war. However, the book also reveals that, in some cases, the German occupation did not need total control over education in order to find support for some authoritarian ideas. As such, Van Ruyskenvelde's analysis presents a nuanced view of the image of the Catholic Church, schools, teachers and pupils as mere victims of war. --Amazon.com Annotation This book deals with the development of private secondary schooling during the Second World War in Belgium. It focuses on how the German occupier used education to gain acceptance of the regime, and discusses the attitudes of Belgian education authorities, schools, teachers and pupils towards the German occupation. Suggesting that the occupation forced Belgian education authorities, such as the Roman Catholic Church, to take certain positions, the book explores the wartime experiences and memories of pupils and teachers. It explains that the German Culture Department was relatively weak in establishing total control over education and that Catholic schools were able to maintain their education project during the war. However, the book also reveals that, in some cases, the German occupation did not need total control over education in order to find support for some authoritarian ideas. As such, Van Ruyskenvelde s analysis presents a nuanced view of the image of the Catholic Church, schools, teachers and pupils as mere victims of war." Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction: A Political History of Belgian Education during the Second World War....Pages 1-21 Between Pacification and Conflict: The History of Belgian Education and the Challenge of National Socialism....Pages 23-48 Towards a Gleichschaltung of Belgian Education: The German Education Policy and the Contacts between the Military Administration and the Belgian Roman Catholic Church....Pages 49-76 War in the Classroom: The Development of Catholic School Culture during the Second World War in Belgium....Pages 77-130 A School Trip Down Memory Lane: Teacher and Pupil Memories of the Second World War in Belgium....Pages 131-164 Catholic Schools during the Second World War: Victims of German Indoctrination?....Pages 165-180 Back Matter....Pages 181-220