Professional competence and the classification and selection of pupils for schools for “feebleminded” children in the Netherlands (1900-1940)

This article explores the tensions between medical and pedagogical professionals involved with the classification and selection of pupils for the special day-schools for “feebleminded” children that were established from 1900 in the Netherlands to promote compulsory mass schooling’s efficiency. These are set against the increasing influence of child sciences, including the new technique of intelligence testing. These schools were meant for educable learning-disabled children, the classification of whom involved a child’s (ab)normality and (in)educability. The article discusses the categories d... Mehr ...