From the laboratory to the classroom: the impact of Wilhelm Mann and Luis Tirapegui on Chilean childhood

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. In Chile, during the first half of the 20th century, experimental psychology and pedagogy were consolidated as key tools for classifying, intervening, and managing children, especially those who deviated from the norm. These new bodies of knowledge (psychology and criminology) and policies, such as compulsory education and child protection, made the abnormal child visible. Figures like Wilhelm Mann and Luis Tirapegui were key in introducing measurement tests and promoting educational reforms to optimize each child’s potential and contribute to the country’s economy, security, and development. This study explores the concept of the abnormal child, examines the interaction between education, psychology, and national security, and analyzes its impact on educational and social policies in Chile. METHOD. For the analysis, archival materials and primary and secondary literature were used, adopting an interpretative approach informed by Foucauldian and post-Foucauldian studies. In this sense, we have tried to understand psycho-pedagogical discourses and practices, not only, as expressions of repressive power, but as actions aimed at producing specific behaviors. RESULTS. The legacy of Mann and Tirapegui in 20th-century Chilean education testifies to the complex interaction between psy knowledge and normalization policies. Both authors promoted practices that targeted the child population and, among other things, were used as tools of social control. DISCUSSION. Educational institutions continue to use psycho-pedagogical tools to manage and govern child populations. In this sense, beyond their multiple objectives, education is revealed as a strategic field where power relations that shape our understanding of normality and abnormality in childhood are negotiated and materialized.