21. Education and Psychoanalysis
Paper
The Group as a Thinking Space in the Unknown: Psychoanalytical-pedagogical Reflections on the Training and Further Education of Preschool Teachers
Maria Fürstaller
FH Campus Vienna, Austria
Presenting Author: Fürstaller, Maria
Like the entire education sector, the field of early childhood education and care is also subject to constant change, which is linked to overall social - global - change processes (see Lehner, Fürstaller 2021; Betz et al. 2017). Individualization, economization, digitalization and globalization are just some of the buzzwords that come to mind here. The demands and challenges faced by educational professionals working with children and families have changed significantly as a result. Relationships and interactions are increasingly being shifted to the digital space, where they are staged and dissociated. The strong shift of childhood into the institutional context has made parents feel insecure in their parenthood. Economization is widening the gap between rich and poor, both within and beyond national borders. Plurality offers many freedoms, but also risky opportunities, because it means that points of orientation and things that used to work are being lost. Such a loss is further exacerbated psychodynamically and psychosocially by the current crises, especially those surrounding the war.
In any case, the developments cited here as examples give rise to (new) uncertainties that are accompanied by uncertainty, powerlessness and discomfort on an unconscious level, but mask themselves as certainties on a manifest level - e.g. in the form of hegemonic claims, populism and social divisions (cf. Klug et al. 2021). Such masking can also be found in pedagogical practice, which must be unmasked through an exploratory and understanding approach. This is an important aspect for pedagogical practice and therefore raises questions for the training and further education of educators: How can teaching succeed in being able to think uncertainties (and discomfort)? How can prospective educators be accompanied in their learning and educational processes in such a way that "responsible action under the conditions of structural uncertainty" (Rabe-Kleberg 2020: 29) becomes possible?
Against the background of these questions, the paper develops the thesis and, with reference to psychoanalytical reference theories, discusses the significance that can be attributed to the group here.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedFirst, the paper introduces the field of early childhood education and care in the European context (Smidt et al. 2020). Some central lines of discourse on the question of the significance of the above-mentioned overall social developments and crises for the field of early childhood education and care, in practice as well as in (academic) teaching, are presented (cf. Lehner, Fürstaller 2021).
In the second step, the group is discussed as a "safe place" from a psychoanalytical-pedagogical perspective. Here, references to Winnicott's concept of "holding" and "intermediate space" and Bion's container-contained model are established and discussed.
These theoretical considerations are concretized in a third step by presenting a method of practical reflection that is used in the context of university teaching. This is the Work Discussion method developed at the Tavistock Clinic in London (Lehner, Fürstaller 2023). The Work Discussion method sees itself as an instrument for reflecting on practice in order to make unconscious contexts of meaning accessible to conscious reflection and differentiated understanding. In this way, new - desirable - scope for action can be developed. In the course of the so-called work-discussion seminars, practical protocols are written and discussed in the seminar group. The central aim is to grasp the latent psychodynamics of the situation and to be able to understand the inner experience of all those involved. After presenting the basic features of the work discussion, a concrete example of a practice protocol discussion is used to work out how the group can become a space of possibility for thinking in and of the uncertain (cf. Hover-Reisner et al. 2018). In this context, for example, we explain the extent to which the group is important in order to be able to adopt different experiential perspectives in order to understand the dynamic relationships between juxtaposed feelings, wishes and needs.
It is also shown to what extent the group enables enjoyable reflection, even when it comes to difficult content. For this to succeed, it is important that the group treats the discussed content, thoughts, associations and feelings of the group participants in a benevolent, attentive and understanding manner. In this sense, this group mentality enables reflection on oneself (self-perception) and others (external perception). In the course of this presentation, the Work Discussion method is also presented as an instrument for improving the mentalization skills of educators and the importance of the group in this context (Hover-Reisner et a 2018).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIn order to be able to focus on what is special about each specific case, professional forms of understanding and reflection are required - in relation to the other person, but also in relation to one's own actions. In order for this to succeed, an attitude is required that sees itself as "approaching the 'foreign' and also the unquestioningly functioning with questioning and curiosity" and "being able to enter into a critical and reflective relationship with oneself and the social situation" (Nentwig-Gesemann et al. 2011, 20). The central key skills are to devote oneself questioningly and curiously to the practical cases and the people involved, to take up irritations as a door opener to what is not understood, to draw on specialist and theoretical knowledge without losing sight of the specific case and the specific situation. The paper shows how the group - in the context of the work discussion - is important for this.
The Work Discussion also offers a safe and protective external framework: The groups take place regularly at not too great intervals and the group constellation remains the same over a longer period of time. Such clear and routine processes and structures are therefore important in order to remain capable of thinking as a group. However, this also requires the creation of an institutional framework that can offer security and reliability. This therefore relates to the question of how the university can facilitate such places.
ReferencesBetz, T. & Kayser, L. B. (2017): Children and society: Children's knowledge about inequalities, meritocracy, and the interdependency of academic achievement, poverty, and wealth. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(2), 186-203.
Bion, W. (1962). Lernen durch Erfahrung. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Reisner, N., Fürstaller, M. & Wininger, A. (2018): ‚Holding mind in mind‘: the use of work discussion in facilitating early childcare (kindergarten) teachers‘ capacity to mentalise. Infant Observation, 21/2018, 98-110. DOI: 10.1080/13698036.2018.1539339.
Klug, H., Brunner, M. & Skip-Schrötter (Hg.) (2021): Zum Unbehagen in der Kultur. Psychoanalytische Erkundungen der Gegenwart. Psychosozial-Verlag: Gießen.
Lehner, B. & Fürstaller, M. (2021:. Einfach ist einfacher? Heterogenität in elementarpädagogischen Einrichtungen in Zeiten der Optimierung [Simple is easier? Heterogeneity in day care centers in times of optimization]. Psychosozial, 44(1, Nr. 163), 10-21. DOI: 10.30820/0171-3434-2021-1-10.
Lehner, B. & Fürstaller, M. (2023): Vielfalt in der Elementarpädagogik 2. Von der Reflexion pädagogischer Praxis zum Verantwortungswollen Umgang im Kitaalltag. Frankfurt am Main: Debus Pädagogik Verlag. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46499/2060.
Miller, L. (2002). The relevance of observation skills to the Work Discussion Seminar. Infant Observation. The International Journal of Infant Observation and its Applications, 4(3), 55-72.
Nentwig-Gesemann, Iris/Fröhlich-Gildhoff, Klaus/Harms & Henriette/Richter, Sarah (2011): Professionelle Haltung – Identität der Fachkraft für die Arbeit mit Kindern in den ersten drei Lebensjahren. Eine Expertise der Weiterbildungsinitiative frühpädagogischer Fachkräfte (Wiff). Frankfurt am Main. Verfügbar unter: https://www.weiterbildungsinitiative.de/publikationen/detail/professionelle-haltung-identitaet-der-fachkraft-fuer-die-arbeit-mit-kindern-in-den-ersten-drei-lebensjahren (25.04.2022).
Rabe-Kleberg, U. (2020): Handeln und Haltung. Oder: Brauchen pädagogische Fachkräfte in Kindergärten einen ethischen Kodex? In: Müller, Jens/Fink, Heike/Horak, Renate Elli/ Kaiser, Sabine/Reichmann, Elke (Hg.): Professionalität in der Kindheitspädagogik. Aktuelle Diskurse und professionelle Entwicklungsperspektiven. Opladen, Berlin, Toronto, S. 19-38.
Smidt, W. & Embacher, E.-M. (2020). How do activity settings, preschool teachers’ activities, and children’s activities relate to the quality of children’s interactions in preschool? Findings from Austria. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28(6), 864-883. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2020.1836586
Winnicott, D. (1965): Reifungsprozesse und fördernde Umwelt. München: Kindler.
21. Education and Psychoanalysis
Paper
Towards a Psychoanalytic Conception of Uncertainty in Educational Contexts
Wilfried Datler, Margit Datler
University of Vienna, Austria
Presenting Author: Datler, Wilfried;
Datler, Margit
The educational discourse on uncertainty often conveys an undifferentiated view of uncertainty in educational contexts. According to this view, people working in pedagogical fields are constantly confronted with uncertainty. In connection with this, the impression is created that training and further education can at best prepare for this phenomenon, but can hardly influence it beyond that. The reference to psychoanalysis seems to further increase the sense of uncertainty.
The lecture will examine the question of how a differentiated theory of uncertainty in pedagogical contexts can be conceptualised and subsequently developed with reference to psychoanalytical basic assumptions and empirical findings.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe methodology of the investigation can be categorised as "conceptional research". This kind of "conceptional research" is related to empirical data and findings generated (a) by the investigation of the training and further education of people who work in educational fields and (b) the analysis of protocols generated by Work Discussion and the use of the Tavistock Observational Method.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe authors present as result of their investigation a basic concept of uncertainty with reference to psychoanalytic theories. The authors propose to differentiate between three subject domains:
(1.) In an elaborated theory of uncertainty, it is firstly necessary to specify which type of uncertainty exists with regard to which different aspects. In this context it is reasonable, for example, to assume that no one can be sure how his or her own behaviour or the behaviour of others can be understood. This is to be distinguished from the fact that no one can be sure how children, young people or adults experience educational measures or activities. Another aspect concerns the question of the consequences of specific educational interventions and interactions. The lecture will show how psychoanalytical perspectives help to clarify the specific character of uncertainty with regard to these educational aspects.
(2.) Secondly, the subjective experience of uncertainty should be addressed. In this context, different degrees of uncertainty along a continuum have to be specified. At one end of the continuum are cluelessness, disorientation and panic. At the other end of the spectrum is the denial of uncertainty combined with a manic conviction of knowing the right thing in almost all matters. In this regard, the influence that psychoanalytic education can have on the intensity of the subjective experience of uncertainty needs to be discussed.
(3.) Thirdly it is important to bear in mind that the degree of uncertainty can also vary in different situations for objective reasons. In this respect, the influence that psychoanalytic research can have on assessing the extent of uncertainty should be discussed.
Finally, the authors will discuss whether a special space should also be dedicated to the investigation of the significance of social and institutional framework parameters for the existence and experience of uncertainty.
ReferencesBonnet, A., Glazier, J. (2023): The conflicted role of uncertainty in teaching and teacher education. In: Teachers and Teaching 2023, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2023.2272650
Bormann, I. (2015): Unsicherheit und Vertrauen: Komplementäre Elemente pädagogischer Interaktion und ihre institutionelle Überformung. August 2015. Paragrana 24(1):151-163 DOI:10.1515/para-2015-0014
Datler, M. (2012): Die Macht der Emotionen im Unterricht. Psychosozial-Verlag: Gießen.
Gideon, I., Dishon, G., Vedder-Weiss, D. (2022): Pedagogical and epistemic uncertainty in collaborative teacher learning, Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 118, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103808.
Paseka, A., Keller-Schneider, M., Combe, A. (Hrsg.) (2018): Ungewissheit als Herausforderung für pädagogisches Handeln. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-17102-5_1
Rangell, L. (1976): Gelassenheit und andere menschliche Möglichkeiten. Shrkamp: Frankfurt
Strobl, B., Datler, W. (2020): Emotionen als Gegenstand des Nachdenkens und Sprechens über Praxissituationen. Anmerkungen zur Bedeutung von psychoanalytisch orientierten Aus- und Weiterbildungsprozessen für eine Dimension von psychosozialer Professionalität. In: B. Rauh, N. Welter, M. Franzmann, K. Magiera, J. Schramm, N. Wilder (Hrsg.): Emotion – Disziplinierung – Professionalisierung: Pädagogik im Spannungsfeld von Integration der Emotionen und ‚neuen‘ Disziplinierungstechniken. Opladen et al. Budrich, 2020. S. 207-224
Strobl, B., Datler, W. (2023): Der Blick auf das Theorie-Praxis-Verhältnis im Spannungsfeld von Sicherheit und Unsicherheit. In: Uncertainty in Higher Education: Hochschulen in einer von Volatilität geprägten Welt. Waxmann Münster, 2023. S. 195-206
Trunkenpolz, K., Lehner, B. & Strobl, B. (Hrsg.) (2023): Affekt, Gefühl, Emotion – Zentrale Begriffe Psychoanalytischer Pädagogik? Annäherungen aus konzeptueller, forschungsmethodischer und professionalisierungstheoretischer Perspektive. Opladen: Barbara Budrich. 277 S. (Schriftenreihe der DGfE-Kommission Psychoanalytische Pädagogik, Band 15).
Zwiebel, R. (2017): Was macht einen guten Psychoanalytiker aus? Klett-Cotta: Stuttgart
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