Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Studying childhood
- 3 The invention of educational psychology
- 4 Cyril Burt and the psychology of individual differences
- 5 Susan Isaacs and the psychology of child development
- 6 The structure and status of a profession
- 7 Mental measurement and the meritocratic ideal
- 8 The psychometric perspective
- 9 Psychologists as policy makers, 1924–1944
- 10 The measurement of merit anatomised
- 11 Equality and community versus merit
- 12 Egalitarianism triumphant
- 13 Cyril Burt and the politics of an academic reputation
- 14 Equality and human nature
- 15 The measurement of merit revived?
- 16 Conclusion
- Glossary
- Selective bibliography
- Index
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 March 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Studying childhood
- 3 The invention of educational psychology
- 4 Cyril Burt and the psychology of individual differences
- 5 Susan Isaacs and the psychology of child development
- 6 The structure and status of a profession
- 7 Mental measurement and the meritocratic ideal
- 8 The psychometric perspective
- 9 Psychologists as policy makers, 1924–1944
- 10 The measurement of merit anatomised
- 11 Equality and community versus merit
- 12 Egalitarianism triumphant
- 13 Cyril Burt and the politics of an academic reputation
- 14 Equality and human nature
- 15 The measurement of merit revived?
- 16 Conclusion
- Glossary
- Selective bibliography
- Index
Summary
In Some Thoughts Concerning Education, John Locke made an uncharacteristic but striking observation:
God has stampt certain Characters upon Men's Minds, which, like their shapes, may perhaps be a little mended; but can hardly be totally alter'd, and transformed into the contrary.
He therefore, that is about Children, should well study their Natures and Aptitudes, and see by often Tryals, what turn they easily take, and what becomes of them; observe what their Native Stock is, how it may be improved, and what it is fit for… Everyone's Natural Genius should be carried as far as it could, but to attempt the putting another upon him, will be but Labour in vain.
This study deals with a group of late nineteenth and twentieth century psychologists who spent their lives carrying out Locke's injunctions. They agreed that children differed in their innate capacities; tried to develop a scientific understanding of their ‘natures and aptitudes’; devised ‘Tryals’ intended to see ‘what turn they easily take’; and insisted that education should be based on each individual's ‘Natural Genius’.
The argument focuses on three main themes: the emergence of the profession of educational psychology; the history of ideas about children's mental development, in particular the development of the subnormal and the gifted; and the role of psychological experts in formulating educational policy. It tries to relate the history of psychology to the history of the meritocratic ideal – the idea that educational opportunity should be determined by natural ability rather than personal contacts – suggesting that both the rise and the decline of mental measurement were bound up with the political career of this concept.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Measuring the MindEducation and Psychology in England c.1860–c.1990, pp. 1 - 17Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994