In this paper we focus on the representation of Dutch comprehensive education, called Middenschool (Middle School), in non-fictional television programmes in 1975, which was a decisive year in the history of the Middenschool experiment in the Netherlands. Being part of a broader project that focuses on the representation of the Middenschool in the media (television, radio and newspapers) and how these images influenced the political process of the Middenschool, the research question of this paper, in which we link to theoretical concepts of framing and framing analysis (e.g. Kuhn, 2007), reads: “What frames and images were used to portray the Middenschool in television programmes in 1975?”. 

Educational innovation that aimed on integrating secondary education to unite different educational tracks into one single comprehensive school curriculum was a European phenomenon (Galindo-Rueda & Vignoles, 2007; Henkens, 2004). While most West European countries introduced integrated secondary education in the 1960s (e.g. Britain, Sweden, Belgium), the Netherlands were lacking behind in this process of “going comprehensive”. Discussions about establishing Dutch comprehensive schools did not reach the political agenda before 1969 (Karstanje, 1987).

In 1975 the social democratic Minister of Education J.A. van Kemenade of the coalition cabinet Den Uyl, that is known for its idealism and its ambitious plans to change society (Lindner, 2003; Bootsma & Breedveld, 2000), presented his ideas on comprehensive education in the Dutch parliament. The idea of establishing a Middenschool to postpone school choice, to stimulate equal chances, and to innovate at a pedagogical and didactical level fitted the ambitious plans of this coalition government (Karstanje, 1987).

Although the concept initially was embraced broadly, the political support did not last long. In 1977, only one year after the start of the experiments by Van Kemenade in August 1976, his successor, A. Pais of the centre-right coalition cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel, unfolded an alternative educational system, putting the just starting experiments into isolation (Karstanje, 1987).

Apart from other reasons, the assumption of this paper is that the way the Middenschool was portrayed by the media was highly important in the rise and decline of this innovation. In the period under study television just started to have an enormous impact on people’s attitudes (Kuhn, 2007; Wielenga, 2009). While Britain was one of the first countries in Europe that started to broadcast on television (Hilmes, 2003), with the Dutch in 1956 only owning one hundred thousand television sets, in 1965 a television set could be found in most Dutch households too (Schuyt & Taverne, 2004; Wielenga, 2009).

Due to the development of television broadcasting in West Europe, media started to play a major role in public and political debate. From communication and media studies we know that framing an issue in a particular way can influence the way the public perceives that issue (Dearing & Rogers, 1996; Kuhn, 2007). In this paper we use this theoretical concept to analyze the imaging of the Middenschool in television programmes broadcasted in 1975.

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