In the context of work with emotionally severely challenged children and adolescents at school, professional pedagogical work should be primarily defined as relationship work. For this purpose, it is necessary to focus on two key theoretical frameworks: First, psychoanalytic concepts such as transference and countertransference and container / contained (Bion, 1962) help to understand individual, interactional and institutional challenges. Second, pedagogic theory emphasizes the hierarchical and intergenerational character of teacher-student-relationships in which the aforementioned interactional patterns find their expression (Bernfeld, 1925/2013). When teachers interact with emotionally severely challenging children and adolescents, they usually experience their own specific and trauma-related emotional participation, but are not able to integrate these experiences into their professional belief system (Weiss 2002). Hence, I argue that professionals require theoretical and experimental knowledge about the relational meaning of behaviour and skills to effectively reflect their own emotional participation. In order to bring about lasting positive effects in the professionalization of prospective teachers in the area of relationship building, it is necessary to establish opportunities for self-reflection at university. In the light of current developments regarding teacher training at university, i.e. the adoption of the BA-/MA-system in almost all European countries, I will discuss to what degree it is possible to establish a learning atmosphere in which students are able to gain the skills of “reflective practioners” (Schön, 1983) in this context. Furthermore, I argue that the concept of a “Therapeutic Milieu” (Redl & Wineman, 1957) needs to be at the center of all discourses about institutional development, which can only take place if both, university teachers and students, experience a potential space (Winnicott, 1987) for development. Taking into account the limitations of an achievement-oriented organization (the university), I discuss opportunities for a friendlier environment for professional development. Last but not least, I would like to present a collaborative project of Humboldt-Universität and the juvenile prison Berlin. Here, beside other focus areas, prospective teachers have the opportunity to observe pedagogic work in a so-called “total institution” (Goffman, 1991). In the context of a Masters degree course, they present their observation protocols and apply the approach of “Scenic Understanding” (Lorenzer, 1986) to reflect on the interactions they observe and on their own involvement as an observer. I will present a few of these excerpts to discuss opportunities and limitations of using this approach in the context of Bachelor- and Master-Degree courses.

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