The Salient History of Dalton Education in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands there are 400 Dalton schools, while Dalton education has all but disappeared elsewhere, including in its country of origin: the USA. Following a brief period in the 1920s in which it enjoyed strong international interest, it disappearedfrom the scene. How can it be that the Dalton Plan still exists only in the Nether-lands? This article compares the history of Dalton education in the Netherlands withthat in Britain and the USA. Circumstances were more favourable in the Netherlandsin the 1920s, although the growth was modest. Factors that inhibited the increase of Dalton education in the Netherlands in these early days are similar to those that presumably hastened its disappearance elsewhere. There was a growth spurt in the Netherlands from the 1980s onwards. This seems to be a side effect of the introduc-tion of a new Education Act and the pressure on schools to market themselves.