No Issue,No Problem? Co-education in Dutch Secondary Physical Education during the Twentieth Century

This article places the current state of Dutch co-education in physical education into a longitudinal perspective. Occasionally, comparisons are made with Germany and England. The dominant, twentieth-century, co-educational tradition in the Netherlands--including its pragmatic argumentation-- has influenced educational ideals, as well as school practice, with respect to physical education. Due to a historical lack of fundamental discussions about co-education, today's problems relating to nationwide co-education in Dutch physical education programmes are trivialised. This is highlighted within this article by an analysis of the only manual on co-education ever published in the Netherlands. In conclusion, the article suggests that because co-education is not regarded as a controversial issue in the Netherlands, gender problems in physical education are neglected.