How Van Gogh at School Engages Global Classrooms

In 2014, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam set out to transform how educational materials for schools were delivered. Recognising the challenges faced by teachers—a lack of time, growing digital demands, and increasing workloads—the museum committed to creating an accessible, free, and interactive digital platform to bring the story and works of Vincent van Gogh into classrooms worldwide.

This decision led to the creation of ‘Van Gogh at School’, an online educational platform developed in collaboration with the Dutch company LessonUp. Launched in early 2016, the initiative aimed to ensure that teaching materials about Van Gogh’s art and life were not only engaging and curriculum-aligned but also easy for educators to integrate into their lessons.

Fast forward five years, and the platform now boasts over 100 interactive lessons that have been played more than 35,000 times. For example, a particularly popular lesson challenges students to closely observe Van Gogh’s painting The Bedroom and identify subtle changes in a playful, interactive quiz. This activity not only engages students but also deepens their appreciation for Van Gogh’s attention to detail. across classrooms around the globe. In a recent presentation at the Museum Learning Summit, René van Blerk and Sarah Broekhoven, both curators of education at the Van Gogh Museum, reflected on the successes, challenges, and future plans of this ambitious project.

Addressing a Growing Need: From Blackboards to Smartboards

When the museum began exploring the digital landscape for education in 2014, technology in schools was rapidly advancing. Interactive whiteboards and digital learning tools were replacing traditional blackboards and paper-based resources. This shift presented an opportunity for the Van Gogh Museum to align its educational offer with the evolving needs of teachers and students.

Initially, the museum distributed teaching materials via downloadable files, CDs, and USB sticks. However, it soon became clear that a more scalable and sustainable solution was needed—one that allowed global access, interactive elements, and flexibility for educators to adapt lessons to their unique classrooms.

The Power of Collaboration: LessonUp and Q42

To bring their vision to life, the Van Gogh Museum partnered with LessonUp, a digital tool that enables teachers to create and share interactive lessons. The collaboration, supported by the technical expertise of Q42 (developers of the museum’s website), allowed the museum to develop a seamless interface between their website and the LessonUp platform.

This innovative solution ensured that lessons could be easily accessed through the museum’s dedicated education platform while benefiting from LessonUp’s robust functionalities. Teachers gained the ability to:

• Access pre-designed, ready-to-use lessons;
• Adapt and share lessons with peers;
• Integrate multimedia elements such as videos, quizzes, and sound clips into classroom activities.

Interactive and Curriculum-Focused Learning

The team prioritised creating lessons that were flexible, engaging, and curriculum-friendly, covering a wide range of subjects beyond art, including history, mathematics, geography, and language skills. This approach demonstrated Van Gogh’s relevance across disciplines and helped teachers incorporate his work into diverse learning environments.

For primary schools, lessons were crafted to foster close observation, creativity, and storytelling, using games and interactive exercises to keep students engaged. For example, a popular activity challenges students to spot subtle changes in Van Gogh’s famous paintings, encouraging a deeper appreciation of his work.

As the platform expanded to secondary education in 2017, the focus shifted to more in-depth lessons about Van Gogh’s artistic techniques and his remarkable, and at times, turbulent life. These lessons resonated strongly with teenagers, who connected to Van Gogh’s perseverance, struggles, and ambitions.

Overcoming Challenges: Teacher Engagement and Feedback

Encouraging Teacher Co-Creation

One of the initial challenges faced was encouraging teachers to co-create lessons on the platform. Despite the collaborative vision, many educators were unable to participate due to their busy schedules and unfamiliarity with the platform.

Adopting a Hands-On Approach

To address this, the Van Gogh Museum team took a more hands-on approach:

• Visiting classrooms to observe lessons in action;
• Collecting direct feedback from teachers;
• Testing materials with students for honest, unfiltered insights.

Key Insights and Revelations

This hands-on approach yielded valuable insights. A survey of over 2,000 teenagers revealed a strong emotional connection to Van Gogh’s life story. Themes such as resilience, ambition, and vulnerability resonated deeply, serving as powerful entry points to his art and life. These findings underscored the importance of creating lessons that align with the personal experiences of students, making the content both relatable and impactful. While the platform has seen tremendous success, Van Blerk and Broekhoven acknowledged hurdles along the way. Encouraging teachers to actively co-create lessons proved challenging, as educators often lacked the time or familiarity with the platform. Instead, the museum team adopted a hands-on approach—visiting classrooms, collecting direct feedback from teachers, and even observing students as they interacted with the materials.

These insights allowed the team to refine content continually, ensuring it remained both relevant and impactful. A particularly valuable revelation came from a survey of over 2,000 teenagers, which highlighted their strong emotional connection to Van Gogh’s life story. Themes of resilience, ambition, and vulnerability resonated deeply, proving to be a powerful entry point into his art.

Evolving with the Times: Plans for the Future

The success of ‘Van Gogh at School’ has paved the way for future growth. With 150 lessons now available in Dutch, English, and French (thanks to support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation), the museum is exploring ways to make the platform even more dynamic and inclusive.

Future plans include:

• Developing more video-based content to cater to the increasing demand for multimedia learning tools, which have proven to engage students more effectively and align with emerging trends in digital education;
• Expanding into additional languages;
• Partnering with contemporary creators, such as musicians and artists, to draw new connections between Van Gogh’s legacy and modern cultural themes;
• Introducing lessons on topics like mental health, inspired by Van Gogh’s own experiences.

A Model for Museums Worldwide

‘Van Gogh at School’ has become a shining example of how museums can harness digital platforms to engage audiences beyond their physical spaces. For museums looking to replicate this success, the Van Gogh Museum’s journey highlights the importance of collaboration, responsiveness to feedback, and creating resources tailored to user needs.

By embracing digital tools and partnering with educators, museums can create impactful programmes that inspire students and expand their reach worldwide. By addressing practical challenges faced by educators and remaining responsive to feedback, the Van Gogh Museum has successfully created a resource that inspires students, supports teachers, and brings the story of Vincent van Gogh to life in classrooms around the world.

As museums continue to adapt to the digital age, projects like this offer valuable lessons: collaboration, adaptability, and a focus on audience needs are key to creating impactful, long-term educational programmes.

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René van Blerk and Sarah Broekhoven from the Van Gogh Museum spoke about their work at the Museum Learning Summit 2023.