How was school?

No one denies it anymore: there are serious problems in our education. Teachers are overextended, young teachers are quitting en masse, the complaints that the level is falling are deafening and the needs of the children are apparently too great and too diverse to be met.

But how did we get to this point? What has happened in recent decades to teachers and students, to the lessons and the approach, to the course of events in the schools and the expectations of parents and society? Why are some solutions proposed and tried over and over again, yet some problems persist?

These are the questions that How was it at school? looking for an answer. Resonant fragments from the VRT archive show what happened, thirteen teachers from the past and present, and twelve students tell their stories. And their stories are revealing, often funny, sometimes shocking.