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Logotherapy in Educational Systems Dr. Andreas Schreiber

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Logotherapy in Educational Systems Dr. Andreas Schreiber Logotherapy in Educational Systems Dr. Andreas Schreiber Abstract: In modern knowledge societies knowledge and education have fallen apart. The educational sys- tems are designed for efficiency in order to spill out very knowledgeable and efficient “working bees” for the highly sophisticated job market. In order to survive and succeed people have to learn more and more – especially useful, i.e., practical stuff. The result: a tremendous pressure on parents, teachers, educators, and those who suffer most: youths. Meanwhile, the education of personality and personal growth fell by the wayside. The consequences: an increase of despera- tion, frustration, and aggression among adolescents which may trigger social unrests. How to guide and develop juveniles in their personal growing for the sake of a healthy, peaceful, and fulfilling future society? The answer lies in Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. Its principles are sim- ple, but the impact is huge. With its basic anthropological premises freedom of will, will to meaning, and meaning in life it enhances the person’s ability to apply self-distancing in order to experience the “defiant power of the mind”, and self-transcendence in order to strive for a high- er meaning or task. Supported by this juveniles learn to make personal, free and meaningful, but highly (also social) responsible choices. If Logotherapy is learned and applied especially by teachers and educators, or if it would be implemented in the educational body and social care system, it will help transforming the actual knowledge system into an educational, hence a real humane society. Keywords: Logotherapy, knowledge society, educational system, freedom and responsibility, will to meaning 1. Introduction: Nowadays’ educa- that nowadays it seems to be impossible to tion for the “rat race” appear someway educated without having In modern knowledge-based societies a tremendous stock of quantitative knowledge and education seem to have knowledge in mind or, at least, ready at fallen apart. The evolution, or rather revo- hand. Thereby it’s not meant that only lution, of information and computer tech- encyclopedists are considered as educated, nology has fundamentally changed our rather that especially these persons are social awareness and valuation of infor- very much acknowledged as educated who mation based knowledge. In times of easi- are highly crafty in the smart technology in est accessibility of knowledge data, stored order to always and everywhere immedi- in the World Wide Web and steadily grow- ately be able to present a vast amount of ing as well as, regarding its factual cor- data which allows to have a more than rectness, becoming more and more detailed comprising glance at so called facts in or- by a more or less democratic process of der to verify any kind of statement some- self-regulating control and improvement, how spilled out by somebody. And this the reliability of and trust in such kind of cloudily stored data knowledge is assumed knowledge has deeply changed in a way nowadays as the basis of any education; hence it is considered as educated whoever humans who are living in such societies, is able to juggle with such kind of mainly the growing up kids and juveniles. knowledge virtuosically. This systemic primacy of applicability by It’s not the intention here to claim that the- quantification requires from youths a cer- se days it’s only knowledge or information tain approach to education, learning, and by itself by which one is recognized as even personal development which in the educated. For this would be only an inver- future ensures the best and most efficient sion of the absurd idea, which nevertheless exploitation of the learned, as well as of is rather common today, that alone the themselves as individuals, in order to sur- mere availability of knowledge is already vive as long as possible in a system of ab- the sole basic condition for education in solute competition without dropping out general. In my opinion, both of these asser- too early. In short, the educational system tions are insufficient, as education is rather of capitalistic Western societies is concep- a balanced mixture of information gather- tualized by highest possible efficiency in ing and a creative and rational handling of order to supply a job market which is high- these information by inferring, deducing, ly know-how oriented with knowledgeable, drawing consequences, and prognosticat- highly efficient “worker bees”. ing future situations in order to improve In order to survive and succeed in such interpersonal relationships, hence social described circumstances people have to coexistence or communal life. But it seems learn more and more – especially useful, that nowadays the concepts of knowledge i.e., practical stuff. They need to get spe- and education have fallen apart exactly in cialists, so called nerds, with highly devel- the mentioned way of availability of in- oped special skills, and they need to con- formation considered as sole basis for edu- tinue to actualize their knowledge in the cation and that education is interpreted in a given pace of renewal. This demand is very reductionistic quantitative perspec- called “life-long learning”, which is not tive. bad in general and is already done by most Yet this quantification of education is un- of the people naturally, though in different der consideration of postmodern, especial- subjects, profoundness, and pace. But in ly liberal economical, democratic societies contemporary work-life the content of ad- an inescapable consequence of the capital- ditional, life-long learning is more restrict- ist system. First, the steady developing ed to practical, applicable stuff, and the progress of labor division, production, and pace is fairly high, because our world-wide productivity is based on this form of knowledge doubles almost every 15 years, knowledge. Second, exactly this quantifi- as de Solla Price once claimed.1 Even cation is necessary in order to make when de Solla Price is not right in his as- productivity measurable and hence eco- sumptions and information knowledge nomically exploitable, i. e., transformable grows much slower than predicted, it is into capital. The consequences are fatal still increasing fast and in such a quantity and already to a wide extent observable: that keeps people extremely busy to catch- This pervasive quantification, which re- duced the appreciation of education to 1 Extracts of Derek J. de Solla-Price, Little Science, mere knowledge, has already also struck us Big Science (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1974), accessed March, 9, 2015, http://www.ib.hu- berlin.de/~wumsta/infopub/price/price14.html. up, especially those who work in technical maybe also desperation to a certain kind of and natural science fields. And in my opin- aggression. This aggression could be di- ion the demand for life-long learning under rected against oneself or against others. If these harsh and speedy conditions is not such aggression among adolescents will only a by-product of the evolution of mo- conspire together it potentially can trigger dernity and postmodernism, but has an and lead to social unrests, at last. And this intention, inherent to the system, that holds would be a result which is unwanted by the ordinary living people in their situation society as well as by juveniles themselves, of “worker bees”, or in other, harsher and will be very difficult to get under con- words, of capitalistic slavery. trol again once it started to get a social The result of such societal situations is movement. easy to determine: There lies a tremendous The question may arise, how to guide and pressure on lots of people, especially on develop juveniles in their personal growing parents, teachers, educators, and those who for the sake of a healthy, peaceful, and suffer most: youths. Parents, teachers and fulfilling future society – without being educators have to provide a steadily in- ethically dogmatic or restrictive? creasing, already vast amount of infor- In my opinion, the answer lies in Viktor mation and knowledge in order to properly Frankl’s Logotherapy and Existential prepare the young generation for their Analysis. tasks as good, hard workers for the capital- istic system. They need to get fed with appropriate applicable stuff in order to Its principles are simple, but the impact is have best chances for their start of the “rat huge. With its basic anthropological prem- race” in the treadmill of regular employ- ises freedom to will, will to meaning, and ment. While the education system makes meaning in life Logotherapy enhances the available such applicable knowledge, the person’s ability to apply self-distancing in education of personality and personal order to experience the “defiant power of growth falls by the wayside. In order to the mind”, and self-transcendence in order catch-up with the pace of knowledge in- to strive for a higher meaning or task. Sup- crease the youth hasn’t got much time for ported by this, juveniles would learn to muse, for exploring different ways of in- make personal, free and meaningful, but terests and learning, or for experimenting highly responsible choices (individual as with different working biographies resp. well as social). They wouldn’t just run careers. But such freedom for experiments after a promised career and jump voluntari- would build a kind of educated, matured ly, but headless into the treadmill of an personality with lots of experiences, a only consume oriented working life. Ra- proper sense of judgment, and responsibil- ther they would consider actualizing some ity. And as a consequence of not being able more meaningful goals which are more to experiment with one’s own way of life beneficial to the whole of society. due to entering and competing the rat-race But before dreaming too much of such an people may develop some more or less idealistic scenario, we have a closer look at crucial frustrations, a kind of existential what is meant by this logotherapeutic ap- emptiness and vacuum, which may lead proach to the youth’s education, hence to through dissatisfaction over boredom, change, or better enhance our current edu- tential Analysis) with a set of assumptions cational system.
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