Special schooling and the 'feeble-minded' in Birmingham, 1870-1914

• Main Author: Brown, Anna Elizabeth
• Published: University of Birmingham 2007
• Subjects: 370.942
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.521938

This thesis is concerned with the development of special schooling in Birmingham between 1870 and 1914, with particular focus upon education provision for children with learning disabilities. Using the extensive education records in Birmingham City Archives, this research explores the historical emergence of the knowledge used to identify and diagnose feeble-minded children and youth and develops methodological strategies for evaluating their impact. It also examines the development of varied educational programmes for the 'defective' and 'feeble-minded' and considers the competing professional arenas of doctors, educationalists and policymakers, together with those of philanthropists, within a mixed economy of welfare. Finally, it attempts to make visible the substantial contribution of women in local campaigning, policymaking and implementation. The substantial empirical research that informs this thesis offers an account of the practices of diagnosis and selection, policy formation and decision-making, and daily life in the Birmingham special schools. But the significance of this work also lies in the framework of 'institutional logic' - an iterative process of policy, implementation, feedback and adjustment - that informs this research, enabling policy decisions and change to be analysed and understood.