Regeneration through education? Citizenship education, Flemish teacher training and the legacy of the world wars, 1918–1950

This paper explores the interplay between citizenship education and the promotion of national consciousness in Belgium’s teacher training institutions from 1918 to 1950, with particular attention to the aftermaths of the First and Second World Wars. Analyzing archival materials from two Flemish teacher training colleges—the Episcopal Normal School Saint-Joseph in Torhout and the State Normal School in Lier—this study investigates how post-war educational discourses and practices in Belgium were shaped by —at times conflicting—impulses toward national patriotism, regional nationalism and international solidarity. Specifically, the paper examines the tensions in citizenship education arising from divergent historical perspectives, including patriotic fervor, regional Flemish identity, and post-war internationalism, which influenced the training of teachers as agents of civic and moral formation. Findings reveal that teacher training curricula were not only mechanisms for instilling patriotic values but also sites of ideological contestation, reflecting the ambiguities surrounding national consciousness and identity in a linguistically and ideologically divided country. The study contributes to international scholarship on the role of education in shaping national identity and post-conflict civic recovery, shedding light on the uniqueness of Belgium in the political project of nation-building through the mediation of its schooling system.