LesterGabriel2014

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LesterGabriel2014
BibType ARTICLE
Key LesterGabriel2014
Author(s) Jessica Nina Lester, Rachael Gabriel
Title The discursive construction of intelligence in introductory educational psychology textbooks
Editor(s)
Tag(s) Discursive Psychology, Education, Text
Publisher
Year 2014
Language
City
Month
Journal Discourse Studies
Volume 16
Number 6
Pages 776–791
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/1461445614546250
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

The meaning(s) of intelligence has varied across time and place, with these varied constructions holding consequences for people and society at large. There is, however, little consensus around what intelligence actually means and how the construct should be applied. Educational discourses, including textbooks used to train teachers, have commonly been the site for the dissemination of ‘authoritative’ information surrounding intelligence. In this article, we present findings from a discourse analysis informed by discursive psychology of passages related to defining and measuring intelligence taken from 10 educational psychology textbooks designed for university students studying to become teachers. Our research question was: How is the dilemmatic nature of the construct of intelligence managed in introductory educational psychology textbooks at the level of discourse? We discuss the function of sequencing and topic displays and how the textbook authors navigated the ideological dilemmas surrounding the construct of intelligence. We conclude by pointing to the implications for teacher training and the importance of social constructionist projects that place into question presumably ‘real’ psychological constructs.

Notes