Intelligens och ideologi i skolan : Intelligensforskningen och den svenska efterkrigstidens skoldebatt i ett ideologiskt ljus

Sammanfattning: Intelligence and Ideology in School: The Science of Intelligence and the Swedish Postwar School Debate in an ideological light. In the 1940’s, Swedish progressives and conservatives alike embraced the study of human intelligence and psychometrics as a key science in the quest for improving modern society through comprehensive school reform. The Swedish school system was one of the primary targets of reform, and widespread testing of personality and cognitive traits was an important tool. Sweden had a relatively strong tradition of research in the field of experimental psychology, with good international renown. But by the 1970’s, psychometrics was shunned in progressive ideology, largely as a result of its misuse in eugenics. Meanwhile, the swedish school system had been transformed into a comprehensive and uniquely egalitarian entity, which placed great emphasis on compensating for the social ills believed to be at heart of school achievement problems. But the results for student were mixed; while average achievement was fairly strong, turmoil in schools increased, and particularly the achievement and wellbeing of gifted students suffered noticeably. This study traces the development of the science of intelligence and the ideology surrounding it, to show how a perceived conflict between a radical concept of democracy on one hand, and individual cognitive variance on the other helped mould a school based on ideology, rather than scientific best practise.