LOGOTHERAPY IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
RRSS 2015 No.9 - Romanian Review of Social Sciences
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Authors:
• Schreiber Andreas, PhD. -
Keywords: Logotherapy, knowledge society, educational system, freedom and responsibility, will to meaning
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Abstract:
In modern knowledge societies knowledge and education have fallen apart. The educational systems 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 desperation, 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?
\r\nThe answer lies in Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. Its principles are simple, 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 higher 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.