Ärztliche Macht und ihr Einfluss auf den Schulalltag in der Schweiz im ausgehenden 19. und beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert

Abstract

Inspired by the work of Georges Canguilhem and Michel Foucault, this article assumes that normality is not something given but something that is socially negotiated and hence constructed. Consequently, existing and newly created power constellations must be taken into account when studying normalisation processes. This article inquires after the construction of normality and the associated medical power using the example of school hygiene in Switzerland at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth In the course of the hygiene movement, doctors discovered the significance of public schools as a scientific experimental field and as a new sphere of activity. From the 1860s, numerous physical examinations of thousands of schoolchildren were conducted throughout Europe. These studies were supposed to corroborate the hypothesis that school attendance was harmful to children’s health. In particular, two ailments were considered to be so-called “school diseases”, which means that they were believed to be caused by school attendance: myopia and scoliosis. Therefore, particular attention was paid to eye examinations and back examinations. By means of these examinations, doctors had the power to determine scientific standard values regarding the schoolchildren’s physical health. They defined what was a “normal” visual acuity and what was a “normal” (writing) posture. The doctors’ aim was that as many students as possible should meet the previously determined standard values. To achieve this, they pursued a double approach of prevention and therapy. On the one hand was the intention to ensure that those children who met the standard values did not diverge from them during their time at school. On the other hand, children who diverged from the standard values should be treated. Hence, doctors propagated a great number of preventive and therapeutic measures that were to be implemented in everyday school life. These measures included properly designed school furniture, special classes for children suffering from myopia or scoliosis, and devices to restrain the students in a correct posture. School was to become the institution that educated a healthy youth and – in a long-term perspective – a healthy society. In the long run, doctors succeeded in consolidating their power and healthcare was turned into an integral part of the school system.