Swedish pedagogy: A contested discipline in historical perspective
Academic pedagogy has often been severely questioned in public debates in Sweden, but also considered as central to school and society. Although this contested role has been observed many times throughout its disciplinary history, pedagogy has been much less historically investigated than most other social science disciplines. The aim of this project is to explore the particularity of academic pedagogy and its contested social role in Sweden by historically analyzing the discourse about the discipline since the 1940s. The aim is concretized through three research questions:
1. What has been presented as uses, merits and flaws of academic pedagogy?
2. How has the distinctive features of the discipline been perceived and what has been contested at different times?
3. What are the changes over time and how can these be understood in relation to interests within academic, professional and political contexts?
The project will focus on the 1940s, 1970s and 2000s in three rhetorical arenas: research journals, course literature and public debates. By drawing on theoretical perspectives from science studies, and through its synchronic and diachronic analyses, the project will contribute with new knowledge to the history of educational research and to the general history of science. The results from the project may also contribute with a solid base for a more nuanced and constructive discussion on schooling, education and knowledge in Sweden.
Final report
The project "Pedagogy: A historical study of a disputed discipline" aimed to explore the distinctive features and societal role of academic pedagogy by historically analyzing the discourse on the discipline from the 1940s onwards. The project focused on three periods, the 1940s, 1970s and 2000s, as well as three rhetorical arenas: scientific journals, course literature and the media debate, and was carried out with the help of three research questions:
1. What have been presented as the areas of use, merits and shortcomings of academic pedagogy?
2. What has at different times been regarded as the distinguishing feature of the discipline and what has been questioned?
3. How can these changes over time be contextualized in relation to different academic, professional and political interests?
The project was mainly carried out as planned. On a more concrete level, some significant changes took place. The time period was extended to also include the discipline's establishment period from the beginning of the 20th century. The research period ended in 2001 when educational science replaced pedagogy as the main field name. Not only the selected periods of time were examined, but also the events between, this so that historical continuities and crimes would become clearer and better historically anchored. The choice of arenas remained and helped to keep the research focus at all times. The relationship to the university's other disciplines and especially the humanities were put in focus during the first year of the project, while a broader contextualization was developed over time.
The development of academic pedagogy has been described in three phases,
separated by breaking points or transitional stages marked by specific organizational-academic changes. The establishment phase when pedagogy, primarily as a result of the needs of teacher training, was institutionalized as a separate university subject meant the creation of a academic education and the establishment of professorships. As the first Swedish pedagogy professor from 1910 onwards, Bertil Hammer tried to combine a commitment to the subject's humanistic and philosophical roots with a recognition of the needs of teacher training and the importance of the new psychological pedagogy. But it did not take long until the psychological side became dominant in research and to some extent also in education, although the history of pedagogy and teaching methodology continued to have their given place there. As psychological and experimental educational research gained a dominant position, the philosophical side of the subject came to be weakened and periodically marginalized.
During the following expansion phase, the beginning of which was marked by the division of pedagogy and psychology in 1948, the subject of pedagogy grew in terms of both the number of students and the amount of research. In connection with the development of the welfare state and the related reform of the school system, the demand for educational researchers was strikingly high. In 1956, the Teacher Training College [Lärarhögskolan] was created in Stockholm and soon other teacher training colleges were added around the country. To a large extent, it was to cover the need of the expanding welfare state's need for educational investigation experts that the educational research corps expanded. At the same time, new theoretical and methodological perspectives were discussed, as well as the question of what educators should devote themselves to. Towards the end of the expansive period, many believed that pedagogy risked losing its autonomous academic status through the close connection of research to the needs of the school sector and education policy.
The third phase began with the major university reform in 1977, when the teacher training colleges were incorporated into the framework of the university. This meant that the existing division between pedagogy and practical pedagogy was abolished. In the mass media arena, the subject's role was questioned from various political angles. In the so-called knowledge movement, a type of criticism of both the school and the subject of pedagogy was formulated which has since been varied in different ways, about the need for enhanced subject knowledge, about flum school and so on. Partly as a reaction to this, a pedagogical counter-offensive was established from around 1990 which, together with education being generally attributed a growing societal importance, led to the subject's position being strengthened. Towards the turn of the century, the pedagogical field came to be reformulated and increasingly interpreted in terms of educational science, something that meant both a broadening and a narrowing. New funds were added to research and the research basis of teacher education was expanded, but the discipline of pedagogy lost its previous monopoly of knowledge in the field of pedagogy.
From this, the three most important results of the project can be distinguished:
1. The 20th century history of the discipline of pedagogy in Sweden has three distinct phases, an establishment phase (1907–1948), an expansion phase (1948–1977) and a transformation phase (1977–2001).
2. The relationship with teacher education has always been very central, but in different ways.
3. In relation to corresponding developments in other countries, the Swedish history of the discipline of pedagogy has special characteristics, for example the nature of the academic framework, the periodically close connection to psychology and the periodically close connection to the state and school reforms.
The division into different phases is based on academically administrative events that had great formal and practical significance for the discipline. These events have also been highlighted in previous research, but there often other breaking points have been noticed, depending on what was at the center of the analytical ambitions of the studies. Although the periodization has great explanatory value, it is important to problematize it. First, there are elements of continuity that bind the different phases together. One such inertial factor has to do with the debated status of the discipline. Throughout the century of pedagogy, the subject's identity, strengths and shortcomings were subject to discussion. Second, the respective period is by no means homogeneous. Through our focus on different arenas, we have been able to show that the discussions looked partly different in different contexts. Furthermore, the interrelationships between our three focused arenas – research, education and mass media – have changed over time. During certain periods, the arenas have been relatively autonomous in relation to each other, while at other times they have been more closely connected. As far as the relationship between research and the mass media is concerned, the overall impression is that the two arenas have gradually tended to become disconnected from each other.
The project has generated a lot of empirical evidence that would make it possible to make more detailed analyzes of individual stages, phenomena and people within the history of Swedish pedagogy. Here, research questions arise about why a certain type of research during a certain time arises, is reproduced, or alternatively falls into oblivion. At the same time as an increased level of detail can be of value, the project primarily raises further questions about how the Swedish development can be understood in a broader international context. Most histories of the development of pedagogic research are nationally marked, but given the patterns of collaboration that existed throughout the 20th century, it would be valuable to gain knowledge in a more detailed manner about the mechanisms and effects of this internationalization.
The project group has participated in Swedish and international conferences, seminars and workshops and organized its own symposium to spread and deepen the discussions around the research questions of the project. Results from the project have also been conveyed in postgraduate courses. All publications from the project are freely available online, open access.
1. What have been presented as the areas of use, merits and shortcomings of academic pedagogy?
2. What has at different times been regarded as the distinguishing feature of the discipline and what has been questioned?
3. How can these changes over time be contextualized in relation to different academic, professional and political interests?
The project was mainly carried out as planned. On a more concrete level, some significant changes took place. The time period was extended to also include the discipline's establishment period from the beginning of the 20th century. The research period ended in 2001 when educational science replaced pedagogy as the main field name. Not only the selected periods of time were examined, but also the events between, this so that historical continuities and crimes would become clearer and better historically anchored. The choice of arenas remained and helped to keep the research focus at all times. The relationship to the university's other disciplines and especially the humanities were put in focus during the first year of the project, while a broader contextualization was developed over time.
The development of academic pedagogy has been described in three phases,
separated by breaking points or transitional stages marked by specific organizational-academic changes. The establishment phase when pedagogy, primarily as a result of the needs of teacher training, was institutionalized as a separate university subject meant the creation of a academic education and the establishment of professorships. As the first Swedish pedagogy professor from 1910 onwards, Bertil Hammer tried to combine a commitment to the subject's humanistic and philosophical roots with a recognition of the needs of teacher training and the importance of the new psychological pedagogy. But it did not take long until the psychological side became dominant in research and to some extent also in education, although the history of pedagogy and teaching methodology continued to have their given place there. As psychological and experimental educational research gained a dominant position, the philosophical side of the subject came to be weakened and periodically marginalized.
During the following expansion phase, the beginning of which was marked by the division of pedagogy and psychology in 1948, the subject of pedagogy grew in terms of both the number of students and the amount of research. In connection with the development of the welfare state and the related reform of the school system, the demand for educational researchers was strikingly high. In 1956, the Teacher Training College [Lärarhögskolan] was created in Stockholm and soon other teacher training colleges were added around the country. To a large extent, it was to cover the need of the expanding welfare state's need for educational investigation experts that the educational research corps expanded. At the same time, new theoretical and methodological perspectives were discussed, as well as the question of what educators should devote themselves to. Towards the end of the expansive period, many believed that pedagogy risked losing its autonomous academic status through the close connection of research to the needs of the school sector and education policy.
The third phase began with the major university reform in 1977, when the teacher training colleges were incorporated into the framework of the university. This meant that the existing division between pedagogy and practical pedagogy was abolished. In the mass media arena, the subject's role was questioned from various political angles. In the so-called knowledge movement, a type of criticism of both the school and the subject of pedagogy was formulated which has since been varied in different ways, about the need for enhanced subject knowledge, about flum school and so on. Partly as a reaction to this, a pedagogical counter-offensive was established from around 1990 which, together with education being generally attributed a growing societal importance, led to the subject's position being strengthened. Towards the turn of the century, the pedagogical field came to be reformulated and increasingly interpreted in terms of educational science, something that meant both a broadening and a narrowing. New funds were added to research and the research basis of teacher education was expanded, but the discipline of pedagogy lost its previous monopoly of knowledge in the field of pedagogy.
From this, the three most important results of the project can be distinguished:
1. The 20th century history of the discipline of pedagogy in Sweden has three distinct phases, an establishment phase (1907–1948), an expansion phase (1948–1977) and a transformation phase (1977–2001).
2. The relationship with teacher education has always been very central, but in different ways.
3. In relation to corresponding developments in other countries, the Swedish history of the discipline of pedagogy has special characteristics, for example the nature of the academic framework, the periodically close connection to psychology and the periodically close connection to the state and school reforms.
The division into different phases is based on academically administrative events that had great formal and practical significance for the discipline. These events have also been highlighted in previous research, but there often other breaking points have been noticed, depending on what was at the center of the analytical ambitions of the studies. Although the periodization has great explanatory value, it is important to problematize it. First, there are elements of continuity that bind the different phases together. One such inertial factor has to do with the debated status of the discipline. Throughout the century of pedagogy, the subject's identity, strengths and shortcomings were subject to discussion. Second, the respective period is by no means homogeneous. Through our focus on different arenas, we have been able to show that the discussions looked partly different in different contexts. Furthermore, the interrelationships between our three focused arenas – research, education and mass media – have changed over time. During certain periods, the arenas have been relatively autonomous in relation to each other, while at other times they have been more closely connected. As far as the relationship between research and the mass media is concerned, the overall impression is that the two arenas have gradually tended to become disconnected from each other.
The project has generated a lot of empirical evidence that would make it possible to make more detailed analyzes of individual stages, phenomena and people within the history of Swedish pedagogy. Here, research questions arise about why a certain type of research during a certain time arises, is reproduced, or alternatively falls into oblivion. At the same time as an increased level of detail can be of value, the project primarily raises further questions about how the Swedish development can be understood in a broader international context. Most histories of the development of pedagogic research are nationally marked, but given the patterns of collaboration that existed throughout the 20th century, it would be valuable to gain knowledge in a more detailed manner about the mechanisms and effects of this internationalization.
The project group has participated in Swedish and international conferences, seminars and workshops and organized its own symposium to spread and deepen the discussions around the research questions of the project. Results from the project have also been conveyed in postgraduate courses. All publications from the project are freely available online, open access.