ANNA FREUD, AN EDUCATIONAL BIOGRAPHY WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

• Main Author: COLLINS, GAY COLEMAN
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: education, general

Anna Freud, youngest daughter of Sigmund Freud, psychoanalyst, researcher, writer, ex-officio director of the Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic in London, has worked throughout a long professional life on concerns regarding children. With the advent of psychoanalysis as a science, the need arose to tailor psychoanalytic technique to meet the particular needs of children. Anna Freud was instrumental in developing the sub-specialty of child analysis as a respectable science in its own right. Not only has she worked to develop appropriate techniques in therapeutic situations, but she has directed much of her concern to elucidating the aspects of normal development which comprise the theory of psychoanalytic child psychology.
Perhaps because she began her own career as a teacher of eight and nine year olds she has always felt keenly the need to translate theory into practice, so that parents and teachers can also benefit. This writer contends that psychoanalytic child psychology offers the most comprehensive developmental picture of the child. The theoretical framework it offers has direct application and use to teachers not only in understanding the children they teach, but in supplying the authority to defend the rights of children against the inroads of administrative restraints and political expediencies.
This writer has scrutinized her writing and attempted to winnow out those aspects of her work which speak particularly to teachers, not only the developmental perspective she provides, but also those insights gained from a long career in working with children.
The dissertation is divided into four chapters. The first chapter supplies the biographical context of Anna Freud's work. It details her childhood, young adulthood and early training, and early professional life in Vienna. It also discusses the challenge presented by the work of Melanie Klein, and compares and contrasts the Freudian and Kleinian positions. Work at the Hampstead War Nurseries with Dorothy Burlingham is detailed. The Hampstead Child Therapy Clinic is described, specifically the use of the Diagnostic Profile, the Hampstead Index, and the Developmental Lines.
Chapter two presents the content of Anna Freud's work, particularly those principles of psychoanalytic child development which are of immediate use to those who work with children. It reviews the psychosexual stages specifically with Anna Freud's contribution. It discusses her formulation of the four differences between children and adults: egocentrism, primary versus secondary process, time sense, and immature sexual apparatus. It describes the Developmental Lines, with an example of practical application: entrance into nursery school. Included are the lessons learned from the war nurseries on the effects of separation, the critical aspects of socialization, and her unusual study concerning attachment, "An Experiment in Group Upbringing." The metapsychological point of view is represented by the assessment criteria used at Hampstead.
Chapter three discusses teaching from a psychoanalytic perspective, including teacher attributes, training needs, the historical perspective of psychoanalysis and education, and the role of the teacher. It offers suggestions on managing behavior by describing two therapeutic settings.
Chapter four presents two teaching models that are congruent with the principles of psychoanalytic child psychology. The first is the Bank Street Model which personifies the developmental-interactionist approach. The second model is the British Infant School.
The dissertation ends with a specific example of the outreach of the educational aspects of Anna Freud's work in the Center for Early Education in Los Angeles. It also suggests a reason why the American cultural ethos has made it difficult for psychoanalytic principles to have much impact on teaching practice.