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78 Praktiske Grunde 1-2 / 2010
centre of attention was not exclusively on the child. The family, the community and
the nation were more clearly a focus in the school pedagogues’ search for potential
to be released than they were before. Moving from accentuating the natural towards
including an emphasis as regards the social as well, was a general tendency appea-
ring in other countries in the 1940s (Jenkins 2000:147-151, Lundahl 2006:169-266).
For example, the school pedagogues got involved in caring for younger children.
Preventive child care, in the shape of kindergartens inspired by child psychology and
social pedagogy, became vital aspects of school pedagogy (Arvin 1943: 149; Rifbjerg
1947: 1; Hauch 1947: 29). Arvin especially embodies this mixture. Arvin was equally
influenced by the Danish tradition of Grundtvig-Kold (in opposition to exams), acti-
vity pedagogy and self-work (arbejdsskolen), project method and individual instruc-
tion (American style), and the kindergarten of Montessori, for which kindergartens
were thought of as substructures of the school (Christensen 1950: 129). Simulta-
neously, parent-teacher cooperation, parent education and community studies surfa-
ced due to American inspiration. The nation and the world depended upon early
childhood and early mother-child relations. Ultimately, the international democracy
that NEF strived for was dependent on the quality of family life, institutions and
schools. Therefore, some efforts were redirected from management of problem
children to prevention of all kinds of crises for all: from correcting the few to preven-
tion for all, e.g., spreading the insights of psychology and mental hygiene.
Psychological discussions on the relationship between ‘intelligence’ and ‘environ-
ment’, biology and sociology were noticeable in these gatherings at this point in time
as well. The reliability of the IQ test was being questioned, which became evident
from reviewing international research on the matter saying that the testing was so-
cially biased (Sigsgaard 1942: 83). Moreover, the scientific work of psychologists was
discussed vis-à-vis the practical world’s quest for methods and results (From 1944:
153-154; Farup 1948: 72-73). However, the bottom line is that the concept of intelli-
gence was retained as a central ordering and ranking device in school matters – dis-
played as a neutral measurement of the child’s essential capacities. Again, a joint
venture of professions such as medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and psy-
choanalysts on the one hand and teachers on the other hand, manifested itself in this
thread of school pedagogy.Theoretically speaking, i.e., in terms of Bourdieu, these
‘alliances’ are a sign of an emergence: a multidimensional field is constituting itself,
characterised by a hybridity of forces.
The force and potential of culture: Expressing and reforming the child and the people
(thread three)
The third thread of the network and the categorisations that go with it roughly
speaking are about the outer characteristics of the child’s and the human being’s
inner nature. The professions dominating here, as opposed to the previous threads,
are kindergarten teachers and pedagogues attending to young children. Thus, this