"Svag elev" som social representation i Statens offentliga utredningar

Abstract

Classifications of pupils as ‘weak’ have featured during the last century in Sweden and are still present in contemporary descriptions of pupils. This study aims to develop knowledge about how ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation has been (re)produced in governmental inquires during 1923–2019 and explores how a temporal perspective might deepen the knowledge on a current classification such as ‘weak pupil’. In focus are the governmental inquiries concerning current or historical compulsory school forms. The following research questions are posed: To what extent has ‘weak pupil’ been present as a classification? How has ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation been (re)produced? Which patterns of stability and change can be identified in the (re)production of ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation? Through social representations theory, this study suggests that classifications and social representations of pupils as “weak” have been present during the last century. There are elements of both stability and change in the themes that construct “weak pupil” as a social representation, but there are indicators that ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation is more fossilized in contemporary writings. Perceptions of pupils in relation to perceptions of ’normality’ seem to be a stable construction over the last century.