As a Foreword

Under the influence of depth psychology, the concept of upbringing and education has seen a decisive advancement in our century. The discoveries of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, which first made modern psychology significant for medical therapy, understanding of human nature, and educational practice, have laid the foundation for a new understanding of human mental life.

Based on findings from depth psychology, we now know the far-reaching impact of childhood experiences on the later development of character, intelligence, and way of life. Life and experiences during childhood have been recognized as the decisive factor that significantly influences the happiness and productivity of both the individual and society as a whole.

The connections identified by psychoanalysis and individual psychology between misguided educational measures and the resulting nervousness, neurosis, and criminality have demonstrated with almost microscopic precision the importance of an education adapted to the needs of the child's inner life.

The school of Alfred Adler has been groundbreaking in this field. It has not only systematically exposed the flaws of traditional educational methods but has also paved new theoretical and practical paths, enabling both home and school to achieve a beneficial influence previously scarcely imagined.

The integration of individual psychology into educational practice is already underway; however, a great deal of work still lies ahead before psychological insights become so widely accepted that they are naturally incorporated into every educator's approach.

Depth psychology compels us to abandon certain traditional views on the nature of the child's soul and replace them with more accurate and well-founded insights. We must also part with some prejudices that, over the centuries, have acquired an aura of venerability.

The individual psychological perspective teaches us to respect the child's personality as a value in itself; however, a child's personality can only develop fully if in the process of upbringing education refrains from using methods that are demonstrably "neurotizing": depth psychology case studies provide comprehensive insights into the disastrous long-term effects of overindulgent, overly affectionate, strict, harsh, and authoritarian upbringing.

Misguided education shapes flawed character traits that hinder or even prevent the child's and later the adult's integration into the social community. The mistakes of educators "produce" defiance and fear in the child, foster childhood aggression, and pave the way for the development of an antisocial personality type — one that either withdraws "neurotically" from work and human relationships or turns criminal against a society perceived as hostile.

The life stories of emotionally disturbed individuals do not speak well for traditional educational methods. The chaotic conditions in today's culture give further cause for reflection, as the individuals shaped by their upbringing take on roles in politics, economics, and social life that their childhood education has prepared them for. The lack of social feeling and connectedness in larger social contexts — manifested in war, dictatorship, and economic crises — reveals with alarming clarity that traditional education has failed catastrophically.

Human Character Is Not Inborn

In earlier centuries, the task of education was often seen as relatively simple. It was widely believed that a child's character was already predetermined at birth. Parents and educators assumed that no special knowledge was required for their role and that so-called "common sense" would suffice. Today, we know that character and its traits are not "inborn."

All psychological qualities develop only through the experiences a child has within their environment. Through their relationships with educators, children adopt traits that manifest as either social or antisocial characteristics.

It has also become clear that even intellectual and artistic achievements largely depend on self-confidence and a sense of purpose in life. Here, too, educational influences play a decisive role.

An upbringing and education that center on the promotion and development of a child's Gemeinschaftsgefühl (social interest, community feeling), and understands itself solely as "developmental assistance" while forgoing violence and authoritarian suppression, produces results in both character and intellectual development that reveal to us the possibilities of an education free from prejudices in their true light.

Overcoming the "myth of inheritance" and the educational methods of "carrot and stick" will be what opens the "century of the child," a concept that Ellen Key wrote about several decades ago.

The fact that depth psychological insights are still relatively new makes it difficult for some to apply them to the practice of upbringing. Human beings are bound to habit and tradition. However, it is actually incorrect to refer to depth psychological education as "new" and to derive skepticism from this idea.

A study of the great educational authors of the past reveals that everything modern scientific research has conclusively demonstrated was already, in an intuitive sense, anticipated by poets and thinkers since antiquity.

There is an admirable tradition of educational thought since the beginnings of Western civilization: especially from Humanism to Classicism, great educators and people experts have left us a wealth of educational wisdom in their works, which, unfortunately, has barely been fully utilized to this day. Depth psychology now teaches us to recognize the value of these historical educational writings.

In light of modern psychological insights, we are only now becoming aware of the achievements of the pioneers of modern pedagogy; there is hardly a better affirmation for depth psychological education than the fact that it can count figures like Erasmus, Montaigne, Vives, Comenius, Kant, Goethe, Jean Paul, and others as its forerunners.

The author of this book is an educational consultant and collaborator at a psychological teaching and advisory center. He did not approach his work as a theoretical study but aimed to place history in the service of the present and future   – that is, in the service of its educational task.

He has succeeded to a high degree in presenting the pedagogical teachings of the classical educators in a factual and practical manner; the reader gains the conviction of the greatness and responsibility of the educational task and is reinforced in an educational ethos that is essential for dealing with youth.

The great merit of this book lies in its ability to present, in a concentrated form, the intellectual world of the most outstanding educational writers. This is a commendable and praiseworthy endeavor, especially for those who cannot read the extensive works of these authors themselves; many, however, will be inspired by these essays to engage in a deeper study of the educational classics. The book belongs in the hands of all those who take an interest in the issues of upbringing and education.

Zurich, April 1956. Friedrich Liebling

Friedrich Liebling (1893 - 1982) was a psychologist from the Viennese school of depth-psychology. He founded and ran the Psychological Training and Counselling Centre in Zurich until his death