HBS: van modern instituut tot fossiel in 100 jaar

In the history of Dutch education, 1968 is a landmark for several reasons. The introduction of a democratic, or, as some prefer, meritocratic school system, no longer upholding the social classes, and the disappearance of the HBS are among them. This history has been described from a political, socio-economical and from a pedagogical point of view. This paper discusses the same shift as a cultural history. Changing perspectives in the role of the HBS in the Netherlands, 1900-1968 are discussed from two points of view. The first point of view is that of pupils and their parents; the second point of view is that of the teachers. It is shown that according to these two groups, the HBS, certainly in its original form and intention, was decaying during the interwar years, and had already disappeared in the 1950s. For most of them the reforms in 1968 "only" casted into law what had already grown to be classroom practice - for some the new law didn't even achieve that.