The discovery of the social life of Swedish schoolchildren
2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 48; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00309230.2011.644571
ISSN1477-674X
Autores Tópico(s)Social and Educational Sciences
ResumoAbstract This article demonstrates the “discovery of the social life of schoolchildren” by showing how an interest for children’s peer relations emerged in a Swedish educational and medial context. Drawing on historical and sociological childhood studies, the article analyses the concept of schoolchildren’s social life in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in relation to changes in education, society and behavioural science. At the centre of attention is the apparent shift around 1970, observable in new interests in bullying among school children, when peer relations, going from almost unnoticed, became, seemingly overnight, the centre of the Swedish media discussions of children and school. Keywords: pupilsSwedenpost-war periodhistory of childhood Notes 1See e.g. Martyn Hammersley and Peter Woods, Life in School: The Sociology of Pupil Culture (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1984); Peter Blatchford, Social Life in School (London: Falmer Press, 1998); Anthony Pellegrini and Peter Blatchford, The Child at School: Interactions with Peers and Teachers (London: Arnold, 2003); and Phillip T. Slee and Ken Rigby, Children’s Peer Relations (London: Routledge, 1998). 2See e.g. Peter N. Stearns, “Defining Happy Childhoods: Assessing a Recent Change,” Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 3, no. 2 (2010): 165–186; Peter N. Stearns, Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Child-Rearing in America (New York: New York University Press, 2003). 3Astri Andresen and others, Barnen och välfärdspolitiken: Nordiska barndomar 1900–2000 (Stockholm: Dialogos förlag, 2011), 342–9. 4Mead, Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap (London: The Bodley Head, 1970). 5The acculturative process was one of the major interests of Mead throughout her career ever since the 1920s. The terms prefigurative, cofigurative and postfigurative were first used in “Cultural Determinants of Sexual Behaviour,” in Sex and Internal Secretion, ed. W.C. Young (Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1961); see Mead, Culture and Commitment, 98. 6Peter Blatchford uses the expression in a similar way in Social Life in School. 7See e.g. Vivien Burr, Social Constructionism (London: Routledge, 2003); and Donileen R. Loseke, Thinking About Social Problems: An Introduction to Constructionist Perspectives (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 2003). 8Thomas Ziehe and Herbert Stubenrauch, Plädoyer für ungewöhnliches Lernen: Ideen zur Jugensituation (Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowolt, 1984), 30–1. 9Allison James and Alan Prout, Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood (London:Falmer, 1990). 10For outlines, see e.g. Colin Heywood, A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times (Cambridge: Polity, 2001); and Hugh Cunningham, Children and Childhood in Western Society (London: Longman, 1995). 11Peter N. Stearns, “Challenges in the History of Childhood,” Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 1, no. 1 (2008): 36. 12There is a detailed analysis of how children’s peer relationships appear in this magazine in Anna Larsson, “Mobbningsfrågan i förändring: efterkrigstidens synsätt på skolbarns kamratrelationer,” Historisk tidskrift 130, no. 2 (2010): 241–64. 13Anna Larsson, ”Mobbningsbegreppets uppkomst och förhistoria: en begreppshistorisk analys,” Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige 13, no. 2 (2008): 19–36. 14Stearns, “Challenges in the History of Childhood,” 36. See also Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner, “Hidden in Plain View: The History of Children (and Childhood) in the Twenty-first Century,” Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 1, no. 1 (2008): 43–9. 15Compare Paula S. Fass, “Foreword,” in Designing Modern Childhoods: History, Space and the Material Culture of Children, ed. Marta Gutman and Ning de Coninck-Smith (New Brunswick:Rutgers University Press, 2008), xi–xiii. 16Karin Zetterqvist Nelson and Bengt Sandin, “The Politics of Reading and Writing Problems: Changing Definitions in Swedish Schooling during the Twentieth Century,” History of Education 34, no. 2 (2005): 189–205; and Tomas Englund, Curriculum as a Political Problem: Changing Educational Conceptions, with Special Reference to Citizenship Education (Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1986). 17Tomas Englund, Samhällsorientering och medborgarfostran i svensk skola under 1900-talet, kap 5–8 (Uppsala: Pedagogiska institutionen, 1986), 315. See also Gunnar Richardson, Drömmen om en ny skola: Idéer och realiteter i svensk skolpolitik 1945–1950 (Göteborg: LiberFörlag, 1983), 76–7. 18E. Stina Lyon, “Education for Modernity: The Impact of American Social Science on Alva and Gunnar Myrdal and the ‘Swedish Model’ of School Reform,” International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 14, no. 3 (2001): 529–30. 19Englund, Samhällsorientering och medborgarfostran, 315. 20 Läroplan för grundskolan (Stockholm: Skolöverstyrelsen, 1962) and Läroplan för grundskolan (Stockholm: Skolöverstyrelsen, 1969). 21Larsson, “Mobbningsfrågan i förändring,” 260. 22Sixten Marklund, Skolsverige 1950–1975. Del 3. Från Visbykompromissen till SIA (Stockholm: Skolöverstyrelsen och Läromedelsförlaget, 1982), 316–34. 23Erik Allardt, “Reflexioner kring utvecklingslinjerna i svensk sociologi,” in Sociologin i Stockholm 1954–1994, ed. Richard Swedberg and Irene Wennemo (Stockholm:Stockholm University, 1995), 4. See also Roger Smith, The Fontana History of the Human Sciences (London: Fontana Press, 1997); Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences, Open the Social Sciences: Report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996); and Anna Larsson, Det moderna samhällets vetenskap: om etableringen av sociologi i Sverige 1930–1955 (Umeå:Umeå University, 2001). 24Vincent Sterner, Elementär sociometri (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1953); Ingvar Johannesson, Studier av sociala relationer mellan barn i folkskoleklasser (Lund: Gleerup, 1954); Eve Malmqvist, “Skolklassens sociala liv,” Skola och samhälle 45, no. 3 (1954): 88–91; Ingvar Johannesson, Skolklassen som samhälle (Lund: Gleerup, 1962); Åke Bjerstedt, Sociometriska metoder (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1963); and Larsson, “Mobbningsfrågan i förändring,” 261. 25Alva Myrdal, “Förord,” in Barnpsykologi, ed. S.A. Tordrup (Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1939), 9–10; Ulf Jönson, Bråkiga, lösaktiga och nagelbitande barn: om barn och barnproblem vid en rådgivningsbyrå i Stockholm 1933–1950 (Linköping: Tema, 1997); and Sofia Seifarth, Råd i radion: modernisering, allmänhet och expertis 1939–1968 (Stockholm: Carlsson, 2007), 162f. 26For my limited study, I read the first four issues of Kamratposten that came out in 1954, 1955 and 1956 respectively. 27See e.g. Elis Regnér, “Trivsel i skolan bör bli det normala: skolsvårigheter bekämpas,” Barn, 1951, no. 6, 12–15; Jan Gästrin, “Vad barnens lekar lär oss,” Barn, 1953, no. 6, 5–10; Åse Gruda Skard, “Slyngelåldern,” Barn, 1964, no. 9, 9–15; and Jan-Axel Kylén, “Uppfostran att leva tillsammans,” Barn, 1967, no. 7, 9–14. 28Bertil Söderling, Barnet i skolåldern: Utveckling och personlighetsbildning i senare barndomsår (Stockholm: Bonniers, 1959). 29See e.g. P.O. Rudert, “Ont i magen,” Barn, 1952, no. 6, 8–9, 18; Margit Wohlin, “Fostran till gemenskap,” in Social fostran: En handbok för lärare, ed. Ester Hermansson (Stockholm: Bonniers, 1952); Bernhard Tarschys, “Att tala till rätta,” Barn, 1955, no. 7, 12–17; Elis Regnér, “Att lämna skolan utan bitterhet,” Barn, 1957, no. 2, 24–7; Ingrid Sjöstrand, “Odrägliga ungar,” Barn, 1964, no. 6, 30–1, 44–5. 30See e.g. Edgar Mannheimer, “Den gula halsduken,” Barn, 1955, no. 7, 10–11, 45. 31See e.g. Inga Sylvander, “Vanliga barn och ovanliga,” in Föräldraboken. Utgiven under medverkan av Sveriges främsta experter i barnuppfostrings- och familjefrågor till alla föräldrars hjälp, ed. Lis Asklund and Maj Ödman (Malmö: Bernces förlag, 1963). 32Novel Kamratposten, 1966, no.14, 6–8. 33Letter Kamratposten, 1966, no. 18, 23. 35Letter to the Editor Kamratposten, 1969, no. 15, 2. 34E.g. Editor’s note or letters to the Editor’s page in Kamratposten, 1967, no. 8, 2; Kamratposten, 1968, no. 15, 23; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 11–12, 2; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 11–12, 23; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 14, 18; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 15, 2; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 17, 7; and Kamratposten, 1969, no. 18, 2. 36See e.g. Karin Stensland Junker, “Samhällets samvetsbarn,” Barn, 1962, no. 5, 10–13; Junker, “Samhällets samvetsbarn,” Barn, 1962, no. 6, 28–31; Inga-Greta Agrell, “Väsentliga normer – och oväsentliga,” Barn, 1964, no. 8, 18–22; Kjersti Matthis, “Ingen ska vara utanför,” Barn, 1965, no. 4, 19–22; and “Hem och Skola-rörelsen och de handikappade,” Barn, 1968, no. 8, 13–14. 37 Sigurd Dvoretsky, “Måste alla barn gå i normalklass?” Barn, 1967, no. 1, 12. 38Tage Ljungblad, “Skolans sociala fostran,” Barn, 1968, no. 4, 35–6. 39Agrell, “Väsentliga normer – och oväsentliga,” 18–22. 40The following references are either an Editor’s note or letter to the Editor’s page, Kamratposten, 1969, no. 9, 14–15; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 11–12, 2; Birgitta Fransson, “Murat – turkisk pojke i Sverige,” Kamratposten, 1969, no. 11–12, 3–7; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 11–12, 23; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 14, 18; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 15, 2; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 17, 7; Kamratposten, 1969, no. 18, 2; Kamratposten, 1970, no. 1, 10; Kamratposten, 1970, no. 4, 19; Kamratposten, 1970, no. 6, 2; Kamratposten, 1970, no. 12, 26; Kamratposten, 1970, no. 14, 14–15; Kamratposten, 1970, no. 17, 21; Kamratposten, 1970, no. 19–20, 12–15; Kamratposten, 1971, no. 10, 25; Kamratposten, 1971, no. 12, 36; Kamratposten, 1971, no. 14, 25; and Kamratposten, 1971, no. 19–20, 38. 41See e.g. “Skolan måste träna i tolerans,” Barn, 1969, no. 9, 6; Jan Fröberg, “Stress är inte bara att ha bråttom,” Barn, 1970, no. 3, 9–13; “TV-bevakning på skolgården,” Barn, 1970, no. 5, 45–6; Ingrid Schöier, “Skynda på – det kan gälla livet,” Barn, 1970, no. 8, 37–8; “Ansvar för mobbing,” Barn, 1970, no. 9, 5; Ying Toijer Nilsson, “Mobbing kallas det,” Barn, 1970, no. 9, 32–5; “Mitt barn blev mobbat,” Barn, 1971, no. 2, 9–13; Gunnar Vilson, “Vad mobbing är för något,” Barn, 1971, no. 6, 25–7; Tosca, “Klasskamrat utan armar,” Barn, 1971, no. 3, 29–31, 45. See also Ola Agevall, The Career of Mobbing: Emergence, Transformation, and Utilisation of a New Concept (Växjö: Institutionen för samhällsvetenskap, 2008). 42Heinemann, “Apartheid,” Liberal debatt, 1969, no. 2: 3–14. 43Lorenz, On Aggression (London: Methuen & Co, 1966). 44Heinemann, “Apartheid,” 3–14. 45Six articles by Anna-Maria Hagerfors and Birgitta Nyblom, each of which covered at least a full page: “Det börjar med en hackkyckling…,” Dagens Nyheter, November 13, 1969; “Skolgårdens hårda värld,” Dagens Nyheter, November 16, 1969; “‘Hänsyn måste stå på schemat’: Och det gör det här,” Dagens Nyheter, November 19, 1969; “‘Forska mer om mobbing – samlevnad är skolämne,’” Dagens Nyheter, November 23, 1969; “På schemat: ‘Förståelse för nästan,’” Dagens Nyheter, November 29, 1969; and “Medlidande räcker inte för att hindra mobbing,” Dagens Nyheter, December 2, 1969. 46Agevall, The Career of Mobbing; and Larsson, “Mobbningsfrågan i förändring.” 47Larsson, “The School Playground and the Social Life of its Children during the Postwar Period” (paper presented at The History of Education Society Annual Conference “Putting Education in its Place,” Sheffield University, UK, December 4–6, 2009). 48As of 1966, Starlet came out every or every other week. I have studied the first five, six or seven issues published in the years 1966–1983, depending on archival accessibility. 49Malcolm Spector and John I. Kitsuse, “Social Problems: A Reformulation,” Social Problems 21, no. 2 (1973): 145–59; Spector and Kitsuse, Constructing Social Problems (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1977); Joel Best, ed., Troubling Children: Studies of Children and Social Problems (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1994); and Loseke, Thinking About Social Problems. 50Larsson, “Mobbning: ett tidsbundet socialt problem?,” Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift 17, no. 2 (2010): 137–51. 51Ning de Coninck-Smith, “Introduction,” Paedagogica Historica 35, no. 3 (1999): 581–3; Janet Suler and Roger Openshaw, “When is a Moral Panic Not a Moral Panic? Some Difficulties in Utilising the Theory of Moral Panic in Educational History,” History of Education Review 21, no. 1 (1992): 19–28. 52Ning de Coninck-Smith, “‘Danger is Looming Here’: Moral Panic and Urban Children’s and Youth Culturein Denmark 1890–1914,” Paedagogica Historica 35, no. 3 (1999): 643–64. 53Dan Olweus, Hackkycklingar och översittare. Forskning om skolmobbning (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1973); Erling Roland and Elaine Munthe, eds., Bullying. An International Perspective (London: David Fulton, 1989); Peter K. Smith and Sonya Sharp, eds., School Bullying: Insights and Perspectives (London: Routledge, 1994); Peter K. Smith et al, eds., The Nature of School Bullying: A Cross-National Perspective (London: Routledge, 1999); and Ken Rigby, New Perspectives on Bullying (London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2002). 54Kenneth Nordgren, “Talet om mobbning – ett historiskt perspektiv,” in På tal om mobbning – och det som görs (Stockholm: Skolverket, 2009). 55Helge Jordheim, “Thinking in Convergences: Koselleck on Language, History and Time”, Ideas in History 2, no. 3 (2007): 65–90. 56See e.g. Ester Hermansson, ed., Social fostran: en handbok för lärare (Stockholm: Bonniers, 1952). 57John W. Kingdon uses the term “Windows of opportunity” in Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995). 58Ziehe and Stubenrauch, passim. 59Konrad H. Jarausch, “Restoring Youth to its Own History,” History of Education Quarterly 15, no. 4 (1975): 445–56; and Konrad H. Jarausch, “The Old New History of Education: A German Reconsideration,” History of Education Quarterly 26, no. 2 (1986): 225–41. 60Allison James, Chris Jenks, and Alan Prout, Theorizing Childhood (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998), 3; Allison James and Alan Prout, Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood (London: Falmer, 1990), 7; Bengt Sandin and Gunilla Halldén, “Välfärdsstatens omvandling och en ny barndom,” in Barnets bästa: en antologi om barndomens innebörder och välfärdens organisering, ed. Bengt Sandin and Gunilla Halldén (Stockholm: Symposion, 2003), 15–16. 61Ingegerd Rydin, Barnens röster: program för barn i Sveriges radio och television 1925–1999 (Stockholm: Stiftelsen Etermedierna i Sverige, 2000), 23, 343. See also Anne-Li Lindgren, “Att ha fokus på barns aktivitet: hur förskolebarndomen blev norm i väldfärdsstaten,” in Sanden and Halldén, Barnets bästa, 177–219. 62Marianne Gullestad, “The Scandinavian Version of Egalitarian Individualism,” Ethnologica Scandinavica. A Journal for Nordic Ethnology 21 (1991): 3–18; and Andresen and others, Barnen och välfärdspolitiken: passim.
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