Differentiation of Students in the Early Danish Welfare State: Professional Entanglements Between Educational Psychologists and Psychiatrists

Historically, differentiation of students has been influenced by to numerous contextual factors. Scholars and practitioners consider it a context-sensitive practice subject to negotiations and entanglements among various agents, groups, interests, ideas, and values. This article pursues the practices, negotiations, and entanglements surrounding differentiation processes and IQ testing's use in the early Danish welfare state. It argues that the differentiating practice of IQ testing in the Danish educational system resulted from various factors, including the increasing professionalisation of the education system. This entailed an increased division of labour among professional groups; debates reflecting different ideas about eugenics, heredity, and social equality; the schooling of psychologists and psychiatrists in Denmark; and the development of psychology and psychiatry as academic disciplines.