Dalarna University's logo and link to the university's website

The overarching aim of the thesis is to deepen knowledge of how pupils’ differences are socially represented in both historical and contemporary contexts. More specifically, the thesis examines how notions of pupils’ differences are represented and classified through the talk about pupils as ‘weak’ and ‘strong’. Through the lens of social representations theory, four studies were conducted in which different methods for data collection were used. In the first study, six focus group discussions were conducted with 29 compulsory school teachers. In the second and third studies, text studies were conducted on government inquiries published between 1923 and 2019 (Study 2) and opinion pieces published in Swedish news media (Study 3). In the fourth study, interviews with visual elicitation were conducted with 12 compulsory school teachers.

The findings underscore the role of language in how pupils and differences are constructed. Representations and classifications of pupils as ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ are prevalent among teachers, in the news media and in education policy. These classifications are linked to perceptions of normality and a tripartite hierarchy, reflecting bell-curve thinking. While teachers in this study often (re)produce such hierarchies, they also challenge and resist classifications of pupils as ‘weak’. 

The findings indicate that differences are not inherent to the individual pupil but are instead socially constructed, negotiated and transformed over time. However, there are also elements of stability over time in how differences are classified and represented. The results show that ‘weak pupil’ seem to be a stable construction over the last century. However, as a social representation, it appears to be highly changeable, with the ability to accommodate various perceived problems.

In contrast to global policy frameworks, differences are largely ascribed to the individual pupil through a deficiency perspective. This thesis expands on this by introducing the concept of an “extended deficiency perspective” that not only situates perceived problems with the individual pupil but also attributes them to the perceived problems of other pupils. 

The findings of the thesis carry significant implications for educational practice, as classifying pupils as ‘weak’ places the perceived problems on the individual pupil rather than encouraging a critical examination of the structures and organisation of teaching in the school. The findings highlight the need for education practitioners and education policymakers to critically engage with the values embedded in representations and classifications that are (re)produced in daily practices within education and education-oriented institutions.

This thesis underscores that differences are not fixed or predetermined but rather acquire meaning within specific contexts, such as the school, education policy and the news media. This insight has significant implications for practice, policy and teacher education.

European classrooms are characterized by heterogeneity, meaning that classrooms are comprised of children with diverse abilities, learning needs and socioeconomic backgrounds (OECD, 2019). One way of making sense of this diversity is by classifying pupils as ‘weak’ and/or ‘strong’. This has been a common way of understanding differences among pupils in several countries and in several different arenas such as education, politics and the media. In these diverse contexts, socially shared knowledge about education is (re)produced.  

In my forthcoming thesis, I explore common sense knowledge and sense-making processes about perceived differences in school children. Situated within the theoretical framework of social representations theory, it is suggested that understandings of differences are socially (re)produced and shared, taking the shape of common sense knowledge (Moscovici, 2001). The thesis draws upon news media, teachers’ drawings, teachers’ group discussions, and governmental inquiries, all of which have undergone thematic analysis. 

One preliminary result of the thesis indicates that pupils’ differences are often made sense of in relation to a spectrum, with ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ at the poles, and ‘normality’ positioned in the center. My argument for this presentation centers around the idea that representing differences in this fashion contributes to the establishment of boundaries in education. These boundaries are shaped by representations of normality and deviance, along with concerns that ‘strong’ pupils are being negatively influenced by those represented and classified as ‘weak’. This common-sense knowledge of ‘weak pupils’ as a problem for ‘strong pupils’ constitutes a fertile ground for creating boundaries within education. 

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. 

Classifications of pupils as ‘weak’ seem to be present within schools in several of the Nordic countries. It is a way of classifying pupils which is not only situated within the school system, but also in educational research (e.g., Janssen et al., 2006) and governmental texts in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Although there is a substantial body of research on specific classifications in educational contexts, there is a need for further research on how school as an institution (re)produces classifications and understandings of pupils as ‘weak’. Although classifications are a natural part of language and fulfill an important function for the human way of dealing with the outside world, ‘weak pupil’ is a negative classification that can contribute to stigmatization and exclusion of students (Larina & Markina, 2019) and therefore needs to be further studied. The aim of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of compulsory school teachers’ social representations of ‘weak pupils’. 

The theory of social representations suggests the understanding of pupils as ‘weak’ to be socially (re)produced and shared, taking the shape of common-sense knowledge (Moscovici, 2001). Their common-sense nature means that they are largely taken for granted and therefore rarely questioned. Classifications are means to hierarchize and evaluate objects and either confirm or diverge them from the norm (Moscovici, 2001).  

Compulsory school teachers’ social representations of pupils as ‘weak’ were investigated by using focus group discussions. In total, 29 compulsory school teachers in six different Swedish compulsory schools participated. The analysis was performed using the theoretical concepts of theme, themata and discursive polyphasia. 

The findings show that ‘weak pupil’ can be understood as an umbrella concept under which a variety of issues can be accommodated (Friberg, 2021). This highlights the diversity of meaning ascribed to pupils classified as ‘weak’. Another important result in this study showed that the participating teachers, to a certain extent, questioned classifications of pupils as ‘weak’. This is an important finding in relation to a body of literature that shows that perceived problems are often ascribed to individual pupils. These results should be of interest to Nordic educational research, considering inclusion as one key feature for schools in the Nordic countries (Klette, 2018).