Psychiatry in the sorting of schoolchildren in Scandinavia 1920–1950 – IQ testing, child guidance clinics and hospitalization

This article explores the role of psychiatry in the sorting of school- children in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from 1920 to 1950. Whereas the role and rise of educational psychology and IQ-testing in the differentiation processes in schooling have been examined through earlier research, the role of psychiatry in the interprofessional collaboration has so far been largely unexplored when it comes to the Scandinavian case. In line with Michel Foucault, the article regards these professional efforts as part of the biopolitics, where psychiatry amongst other disciplines engaged in the development of means to involve strategically in the life of schoolchildren and their families, as part of shaping the future of the population. We argue that psychiatric sorting activities related to schoolchildren did not solely take place through IQ-testing in schools, but involved classification of children through a range of measures in various settings. We further argue that these processes took place due to local agents and initiatives in a broader context of interprofessional collaborations between psychia- trists, psychologists, and teachers, rather than top–down processes initiated by the state. The analysis in the article draws on different sources of the period: journals, articles, and monographs from the key- agents of the period.</p

Two sides to every story: children learn words better from one storybook page at a time

Two experiments tested how the number of illustrations in storybooks influences 3.5-year-old children's word learning from shared reading. In Experiment 1, children encountered stories with two regular-sized A4 illustrations, one regular-sized A4 illustration, or one large-sized A3 illustration (in the control group) per spread. Children learned significantly fewer words when they had to find the referent within two illustrations presented at the same time. In Experiment 2, a gesture was added to guide children's attention to the correct page in the 2-illustration condition. Children who saw two illustrations with a guiding gesture learned words as well as children who had seen only one illustration per spread. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive load of word learning from storybooks

AI som specialpedagogens bästa vän? : Skolans digitalisering, AI och lärarrollen

Det råder delade meningar om digitaliseringen och AI:s allt större utrymme iskolan. Inte sällan leder det till en tämligen polariserad debatt där mänskligavärden ställs mot ekonomiska. I föreliggande artikel problematiseras detta utrymme med utgångspunkt i specialpedagogik, kopplat till tre övergripande teman:digitalisering, AI och maskininlärning och lärarrollen. De frågor som artikeln merspecifikt kretsar kring är: Vilka problem finns det med externa aktörer och enökad digitalisering inom det specialpedagogiska fältet? Vad händer med denspecialpedagogiska professionen i en skola som alltmer präglas av AI? Det är enexplorativ studie som tar sin utgångspunkt i ett Foucault-inspirerat angreppssättför att analysera de konsekvenser som AIed har inom utbildningsområdet.Materialet består av intervjuer, tidningsartiklar, inslag från SvT och företagenshemsidor och rapporter. Resultaten pekar mot att EdTech-industrin får konsekvenser för lärarrollen, inte minst i samband med den specialpedagogiskaprofessionen. I många avseenden är det oklart vem – skolan, forskningen ellerföretagen – som styr vad som händer på såväl policynivå som i det individuellaklassrummet och för den enskilda individen. Det väcker i sin tur en rad frågorkring AI och etik

Att vilja och välja rätt - att konstruera produktiva medborgare

För ungefär hundra år sedan fanns en livlig diskussion kring samma rättigheter till utbildning för alla. Kraven ökade på en gemensam bottenskola. En sådan skulle göra det möjligt att nå samhällets topp oavsett social bakgrund. Utbildningsmeriter skulle väga högre än att komma från "rätt" landsända. Men hade verkligen alla kapacitet att tillgodogöra sig undervisningen? Och kunde man låta unga välja livsväg på egen hand? Artikelns centrala frågor är hundra år gamla, och trots det oerhört aktuella.</p

Intelligence testing, ethnicity, and construction of the deviant child: Foucault and special education in Sweden

In this article, I discuss how Foucault may help us to reach a different understanding of special education. This article primarily draws on two analytical tools from Foucault’s ‘toolbox’: genealogy and governmentality. These tools are used to analyse three different cases of intelligence testing from the debate concerning the Swedish school organization in the early twentieth century. It is possible to see intelligence-quotient (IQ) testing as an overarching tool for controlling social behaviour. Intelligence-quotient testing was an important tool of power, with the aim of establishing certain regimes of truth on a societal as well as on an individual level. This article shows through a Foucauldian analysis that we should be careful in interpreting this entirely as an expression of state power from above or as different experts’ intentions. Rather, by using a genealogical approach, we can attempt to (re)write the history of interpretations, or problematizations, and then we can utilize a perspective of governmentality that focuses on the techniques and their effects

Intelligence testing, ethnicity, and construction of the deviant child: Foucault and special education in Sweden

In this article, I discuss how Foucault may help us to reach a different understanding of special education. This article primarily draws on two analytical tools from Foucault’s ‘toolbox’: genealogy and governmentality. These tools are used to analyse three different cases of intelligence testing from the debate concerning the Swedish school organization in the early twentieth century. It is possible to see intelligence-quotient (IQ) testing as an overarching tool for controlling social behaviour. Intelligence-quotient testing was an important tool of power, with the aim of establishing certain regimes of truth on a societal as well as on an individual level. This article shows through a Foucauldian analysis that we should be careful in interpreting this entirely as an expression of state power from above or as different experts’ intentions. Rather, by using a genealogical approach, we can attempt to (re)write the history of interpretations, or problematizations, and then we can utilize a perspective of governmentality that focuses on the techniques and their effects