The History of Education as History of Knowledge

Finsterschott, T. "Psychological School Maturity Testing in State-Socialist Czechoslovakia: Expert Knowledge as a Shaping Force in the History of Education." In The History of Education as History of Knowledge: Exploring Methods and Sources, edited by Barnes J., Garz J.T., Isensee F., Landahl J., Lundberg B., and Töpper D., 179–197. Routledge, 2026.

Finsterschott T. contributed the chapter “Psychological School Maturity Testing in State-Socialist Czechoslovakia: Expert Knowledge as a Shaping Force in the History of Education" to the edited volume The History of Education as History of Knowledge. This chapter examines the phenomenon of psychological school maturity testing in state-socialist Czechoslovakia: How it was researched by the experts, disseminated to the professionals and the state, and implemented. This process is divided into two stages. In a first psychological-medical stage (1960s–1970s), the confinement of psychology within medical institutions in the 1950s resulted in the dissemination of Kern-Jirásek’s School Maturity Test into paediatric practice. In a second psychological-pedagogical stage (late 1960s–1980s), conceptual (the notion of school maturity changing) and institutional (pedagogical-psychological counselling centres taking over the research on school maturity testing) changes resulted in a shift of jurisdiction over school maturity testing in favour of the educational sphere. Through an analysis of these processes, the chapter shows the usefulness of the theoretical-methodological tools of the history of knowledge for the history of education field. Employing Michel Foucault’s concept of the power-knowledge matrix, the chapter uncovers the processes arising from the relationships between human actors (mainly psychology experts and medical professionals), concepts, and institutions (including the state). Utilising Foucault’s method of genealogy, the chapter tracks shifts in school maturity and school readiness concepts associated with changes in jurisdiction over school maturity testing.