The "Spruitjeslucht" Surrounding Morality and Responsibility is Unjustified: It’s a Prerequisite for Education and Personal Development
Educationalist Marloes Hoencamp researched the concept of personal development in the pedagogical theories of professors Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm and Martinus Jan Langeveld. In both frameworks, personal development is shown to involve teaching children morality and helping them learn to take responsibility for it. While terms like morality and responsibility might seem outdated or conservative ("spruitjeslucht" refers to a stale or overly traditional atmosphere), they do not call for uniformity or dull respectability. On the contrary, these concepts ensure the safeguarding of unique individuality while balancing the needs of the individual and the community.
The Concept of Personal Development
In the past decade, there has been a growing call for more emphasis on personal development, particularly in education. Yet, there seems to be little understanding of what this actually entails. Personal development, however, is not a contemporary ideal or a new phenomenon in education and upbringing. To better understand this "old" ideal, Hoencamp explored its historical roots and connected them to modern contexts. She analyzed the educational theories of the first Dutch academic pedagogues: Kohnstamm (1875–1951) and Langeveld (1905–1989).
Individualism and Performance Pressure
Today's generations, known as Millennials and Generation Z, struggle with mental health challenges like depression and stress. Recent Dutch reports from the Trimbos Institute and the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) highlight unbridled individualism and performance pressure as key causes. Terms like morality and responsibility are not the first that come to mind when discussing these issues. Yet, the core concepts of morality and responsibility, as developed by Kohnstamm and Langeveld, could provide crucial insights for nurturing personal growth.
Insights from Kohnstamm and Langeveld
“Kohnstamm and Langeveld demonstrate that learning to take responsibility for oneself and others creates a healthy balance between individuality and being part of a society. Moreover, their theories preserve the unique personality of each individual. They offer interesting and creative ideas to achieve this. While their insights cannot be directly transplanted into today’s context, as this research shows, they can serve as a source of inspiration,” says Hoencamp.
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