Courage and fighting in the First World War: youngsters' voices in psychological testing in Leipzig and Budapest.
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| Title: | Courage and fighting in the First World War: youngsters' voices in psychological testing in Leipzig and Budapest. |
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| Authors: | Mülberger, Annette C.1 a.c.mulberger@rug.nl |
| Source: | Paedagogica Historica. Apr2026, Vol. 62 Issue 2, p173-195. 23p. |
| Subject Terms: | *School children, *Historiography, *Teenagers, *Psychological tests |
| Geographic Terms: | Budapest (Hungary), Hungary |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is methodological: it deals with the question of how to arrive at children's voices when assessing archival sources. Based on the current methodological discussion (section 2), I develop a counter-biased, child-centred reading of archival sources containing youngsters' responses to two psychological tests (sections 3 and 4). Both tests aimed at triggering quick, verbal and written reactions in schoolchildren. In one of them, a psychiatrist asked a class of eight-year-old girls (shortly after the First World War) to explain what "courage" meant to them. A comparison with definitions given before the war showed that for most of these Leipzig schoolgirls, "courage" had become a gendered characteristic of the soldier fighting in the war. Nevertheless, through reading "against the researcher grain", we can detect how a few used the occasion to self-affirm their own courageousness. The second test series consisted of word associations undertaken by a teacher-psychologist with seventeen- to eighteen-year-old boys at a Catholic secondary school in 1917 in Budapest, at a time when the group was being groomed to become "courageous soldiers". Again, an examination of the outliers helped me recognise two opposite trends in the boys' reactions: an echo of war pedagogy and an expression of resistance and worries. I conclude that, despite the restrictedness of the testing situations, there was some room for students' personal expressions. A child-centred counter-bias reading seems instrumental in unearthing reactive options and unheard dissident voices as an alternative to the docile averages calculated by the researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Paedagogica Historica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 192478318 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Courage and fighting in the First World War: youngsters' voices in psychological testing in Leipzig and Budapest. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mülberger%2C+Annette+C%2E%22">Mülberger, Annette C.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> a.c.mulberger@rug.nl</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Paedagogica+Historica%22">Paedagogica Historica</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 62 Issue 2, p173-195. 23p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+children%22">School children</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Historiography%22">Historiography</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teenagers%22">Teenagers</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+tests%22">Psychological tests</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Budapest+%28Hungary%29%22">Budapest (Hungary)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hungary%22">Hungary</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The aim of this paper is methodological: it deals with the question of how to arrive at children's voices when assessing archival sources. Based on the current methodological discussion (section 2), I develop a counter-biased, child-centred reading of archival sources containing youngsters' responses to two psychological tests (sections 3 and 4). Both tests aimed at triggering quick, verbal and written reactions in schoolchildren. In one of them, a psychiatrist asked a class of eight-year-old girls (shortly after the First World War) to explain what "courage" meant to them. A comparison with definitions given before the war showed that for most of these Leipzig schoolgirls, "courage" had become a gendered characteristic of the soldier fighting in the war. Nevertheless, through reading "against the researcher grain", we can detect how a few used the occasion to self-affirm their own courageousness. The second test series consisted of word associations undertaken by a teacher-psychologist with seventeen- to eighteen-year-old boys at a Catholic secondary school in 1917 in Budapest, at a time when the group was being groomed to become "courageous soldiers". Again, an examination of the outliers helped me recognise two opposite trends in the boys' reactions: an echo of war pedagogy and an expression of resistance and worries. I conclude that, despite the restrictedness of the testing situations, there was some room for students' personal expressions. A child-centred counter-bias reading seems instrumental in unearthing reactive options and unheard dissident voices as an alternative to the docile averages calculated by the researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Paedagogica Historica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=192478318 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/00309230.2025.2506069 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 23 StartPage: 173 Subjects: – SubjectFull: School children Type: general – SubjectFull: Historiography Type: general – SubjectFull: Teenagers Type: general – SubjectFull: Psychological tests Type: general – SubjectFull: Budapest (Hungary) Type: general – SubjectFull: Hungary Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Courage and fighting in the First World War: youngsters' voices in psychological testing in Leipzig and Budapest. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Mülberger, Annette C. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 04 Text: Apr2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00309230 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 62 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Paedagogica Historica Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
