Dutch FriendsTo read these...

Ecology of the Child is a network of people and organizations. On this page, some of our Network Partners introduce themselves.

Professor Jan C.M. Willems, Professor of Law in the area of children, is connected with both the University of Maastricht and the Free University of Amsterdam.

Jan Willems’ main purpose is to stop the abuse of children in society, amongst other things by undertaking the following measures:

  1. The school curriculum should include lessons on how to relate and communicate with other people; pedagogy should also be a subject on the school curriculum.
  2. We must acknowledge that the preparation of people for parenthood is a human right; this should be laid down in laws and worked out in concrete policies.
  3. There should be a consistent policy framework for the governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in children’s welfare.
  4. There should be a new article in the Dutch Constitution stipulating that children have the right to be properly brought up and that parents have the right to be supported in their parental role.
  5. The psychological health of Dutch citizens should be supported by a professional organization similar to what we created in the past 150 years for our physical health. Both organizations should work closely together and, where possible, be integrated in the same organization. There should be adequate funding and adequate training of staff for this new organization.
  6. There should be a policy to support families in carrying out their parental role and to support emancipation of the family.
  7. There should be a Minister for Emancipation, Children and Families in the Dutch Cabinet.
  8. It should be laid down by law that it is forbidden to strike or humiliate a child (this objective was achieved in the Netherlands in 2005). This law should be supported by educational campaigns directed at parents in general, and it should convey the message that children can be brought up without violence.
  9. We should strengthen the social framework of our neighbourhoods and the parental role of parents, and we should stimulate the participation of young people in all kinds of neighbourhood networks.

For more information, you can mail me at: j.willems@ir.unimaas.nl

Peter van der Vliet, father of five children, started his career as a school teacher and pedagogue.

“Children are in contact with their inner centre when they are young. Through the years, many children lose this contact. They build up an ego and develop all sorts of patterns. Then they spend the rest of their lives trying to reconnect to this inner centre.

My quest is to rediscover how to reconnect with my inner centre. It is my dream that we reorganize and restructure society in such a way that children no longer lose contact with their inner centre. This is my contribution to the Alliance for Childhood European Network Group.

Email: info@vandervliet.nu. For more information, visit: www.vandervliet.nu

I’m curious about your answer to the question: “How do I keep in touch with my inner centre and how can we help our children to do this?”

Michiel Matthes took the initiative for this website.

I think that each human being has the right to grow up in an environment that is conducive to helping the developing person to really be/become a true human being.

In practice and scientifically, we already know so much about healthy physical, psychological, paedagogical and educational environments for children. However, this knowledge is only being partly implemented in society because citizens have only recently started to push for this.

It is my aim to acquire an ever-deeper understanding about the above mentioned questions and, at the same time, to push for improvements in our societies in a systematic way.

Justine Mol (1949) is an internationally certified trainer Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg, www.cnvc.org . She practises the process of non-violence in her personal life and spreads the word in workshops and lectures, as a personal coach, and as a writer. She is especially drawn towards working with adults who bring up their own or other people’s children. In June 2005 she published her book ‘OPGROEIEN IN VERTROUWEN, opvoeden zonder straffen en belonen’ (GROWING UP IN TRUST, bringing up children without punishing and rewarding).

It is her dream that her book, which has less than 100 pages, is translated in other languages and is spread and read all over the world. If you can help her fulfil that dream, please contact her at info@justinemol.nl. You can read about her at www.justinemol.nl. The website is partly in English.

Nannet van der Kleijn is an industrial design professional, a creative manager and a teacher of the subject RESPECT at the famous Eindhoven Design Academy. The design subject RESPECT is mandatory for first-year students at the Academy. Recently she also became creative director of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute where she will introduce the principle of master x apprentice, to enhance self-respect in students on their way to professionals.

RESPECT is more than a word. It’s philosophy is the foundation for any (design) principle that follows. When form follows value – emotional design is created. Everybody can discover and develop his/her passion for a subject and implement this passion in his/her practical life and work.

CORPORATE HEALTH
ERIK R.ROBERTSON
070-5118385
0624.899252
erobertson@xs4all.nl
www.CORPORATEHEALTH.nl

Erik R. Robertson (1962) graduated as an orthopedagogue and now works as a business coach and a psychologist focusing on relationships. Working for his own company, called Corporate Health, he holds ‘Leadership Development and Team Building’ workshops to help companies make their human values explicit .

In schools, Erik holds ‘Dynamic Education’ workshops. This is a programme for parents and professional educators aimed at making them conscious of their own behaviour to their children. Erik also gives lectures on the subject of ‘Innovation in Education’.

Erik is convinced we should re-establish a balance in our educational system between the development of rational capabilities on the one hand and the development of our intuitive / creative / spiritual capabilities on the other hand. He pursues this through his support for the group OSN (= Onderwijs Samenleven Nederland, or, translated: Netherlands Association for Education in Society), of which he is the Chairman.

A brief quote from an article: “In the mid 1990’s, I was already advocating the abolition of the term ‘problem children’ because it stigmatises and condemns children that are thus labelled. There are no problem children (in the same way as we do not speak about problem adults).”

There are, of course, children (just like adults) who experience all kinds of difficulties in their life and education. The latter is very much geared towards cognitive learning, which reflects the general approach of people to strive for certain objectives. And because of this educational environment, some children just cannot cope any more. When Erik is confronted with such cases, he will look not only at the child but also at all the factors that played a role in bringing about the situation. For him, that entire situation is the starting point and it will give him the clues to successful ways of improving the situation.

“Education could be so much more fun.” That is the dream that I hold deep in my heart.

Ruud Bakhuizen is Chairman of the Board of FEMI, Foundation to Earth, Mankind through Inspiration and Initiative. This foundation supports a number of development projects in Brazil, India, Sudan and Tanzania, amongst others. FEMI also supports projects in the Netherlands and Belgium, including the Alliance for Childhood European Network Group.

For more information, visit the website at www.femi.org.

Professor Dr. Jaap Schouten

Weegbreestraat 26
2153 EC Nieuw Vennep
Tel: +31.252.672147
e-mail: jaapschouten@hetnet.nl

I graduated as a biologist, but due to the path my career took I developed above all into an educational expert.


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