Girls have found their education; now it is the boys' turn

In 1947 an article was published in Pedagogische Studien in which the Dutch pedagogue Martinus Langeveld expressed his concerns about girls' education. According to Langeveld girls had acquired access to education previously reserved for boys. However, schools had remained tuned to boys. Nowadays, similar concerns are voiced with respect to boys. Girls have redressed their disadvantage in education and it is boys who are lagging behind now. It is being suggested that one of the reasons is that schools do not take boys' needs into account. In this contribution it is argued that Langeveld's plea for taking into account the individual learning needs of students and for more differentiation in education is still topical. On the other hand his ideas about what girls' needs are, based on a female psychology, reflect gender stereotypes typical of his time. Realizing this, may help us take a critical look at pleas for tailoring education more to boys' educational needs.