Psychoanalysis and education have a long history of overlapping concerns and contrasting issues. Sigmund Freud once remarked that education makes psychoanalysis both possible and necessary. In this sense, psychoanalysis might be understood as the prescription for problems created by education. On the other hand, ideas about learning and processes of learning are at the heart of psychoanalysis, so educators might benefit from understanding their work in psychoanalytic terms. This entry will provide several examples of such terms and their relevance for education: learning, resistance, transference, countertransference, and attachment.

Learning

Psychoanalysis and education have a long history of overlap and quarrel, but they both focus on human development. Many psychoanalysts were also trained in education, for example, Anna Freud, Dorothy Burlingham, Ernst Kris, and Erik Erikson. Similarly, ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles