In this paper, we focus on the question how gaps between theory and practice in educational settings can be bridged. Additionally, the paper will focus on the meaning of writing in this context.

In order to discuss this question, a recent research project investigating transition processes of young children to kindergarten is taken into consideration. First results of the research project called “Rules, rituals and the transition to kindergarten” (Trunkenpolz, Datler, Haberl 2021) show that it is quite hard for kindergarten teachers to appraise emotions, difficulties and needs children are dealing with during their first time in kindergarten. Indeed, the kindergarten teachers rarely have the space to reflect these aspects of everyday work situations in a theory-based manner. The aim of the paper is to discuss a psychoanalytically oriented method for improving not only the knowledge about the importance of the transition into kindergarten but also a psychoanalytic sensitivity and psychodynamic understanding (Britzman 2015) of kindergarten teachers.

Therefore, the method of ‘work discussion seminars’ will be presented in a second step, and considerations will be developed on how this method enables practicians to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and singular experience in specific (educational) settings. In this context, the meaning of writing is discussed, as one of the main characteristics of this method is writing reports that describe specific work situations and their subsequent reflection in a theory-based manner.

Finally, in the conclusions we plan to refer to Herbart’s considerations on “pädagogischer Takt” (or ‘tact of teaching’) and discuss his insights in light of recent works on psychoanalytic conceptualisations of vocational processes (Datler et al. 2019, Britzman 2003, 2015).

Our present article introduces one of the four children whose transition into kindergarten has been observed within the context of the above-mentioned research project. Patrick was about three years old when he entered kindergarten. One notable aspect regarding his transition was that his older brother Simon and a peer called Anna were attending the same kindergarten group. The kindergarten teacher were seldom in interaction with Patrick during the observations. From the beginning it was the explicit task of his peers to guide Patrick through his new daily routines at kindergarten.

Repeated experiences Patrick made with his peers in kindergarten indicate that he was oftentimes confronted with burdensome and challenging situations. Seeking out “patterns of experiences” (Datler, Hover-Reisner, Datler 2015) indicates that Patrick had experienced help and guidance from his peers in such burdensome situations in the first weeks of his transition. However, these patterns of experience changed over time, as the documented pattern of experience in the observational material indicates (Reisenhofer 2019):

1. Patrick is near his peers while they are eating or playing together.

2. Patrick actively participates in games or sets up another activity

3. and receives paternalism, rebuke, or inappropriate assistance from his peers.

4. Patrick does not oppose this, indolently endures it and

5. presumably feels reprimanded and that he has done something wrong.

Patrick finds himself more frequently in situations in which peers leave him behind, do not include him or admonish him. He stops initiating games and he often eats alone. Overall, Patrick seems to be lost and not fully integrated in the kindergartener’s peer group.

Interestingly, the conclusions of the interviews with the kindergarten teacher suggest Patrick’s experiences to be the exact opposite: “Everything works smoothly!” (Trunkenpolz, Datler, Haberl 2021). In the opinion of his kindergarten teacher Patrick experiences a successful, unproblematic, and overall smooth transition into kindergarten. How can this discrepancy between the patterns of experience obtained through observation and those obtained through the interview analysis be explained by a psychoanalytic understanding?

Through psychoanalytically based interpretations of the interview material of Patrick’s kindergarten teacher, it became clear that she felt great pressure and wished to do everything perfectly. So neither the children nor she would have to experience sorrow, anxiety or even anger when being confronted with situations of separation. All this was accompanied by massive anxiety to fail. All these feelings seemed to make it hard for the kindergarten teacher to notice Patrick‘s struggle during the transition process. Notably, kindergarten teachers receive extensive vocational training. Learning about transitional processes in early childhood is, to some extent, part of this training. However, the above-mentioned emotions the kindergarten teacher is confronted with during the transition process seemed to make it difficult to give this knowledge meaning in a practice governing way in a specific work situation. Although various models and approaches for supporting kindergarten transition experiences are developed internationally (Kang, Horn, Palmer 2017; Ahnert 2014), few authors have addressed the training of such competencies so far. In the research project we discuss how such competencies of reflecting emotional experiences and their influence on relationships can be supported in vocational training of early childhood teachers. To be more precise, we discuss a specific observational method known as “Tavistock work discussion” as an appropriate way to advance such competencies (Rustin et al. 2008). The work discussion seminars were developed during the 1970s at the Tavistock clinic in London. They are based on psychoanalytical theories, including assumptions regarding unconscious psychic processes and their meaning for the formation of relationships between persons. The attendants of work discussion seminars are asked to regularly write observation accounts describing a small excerpt of their workday. The focus of these reports is the personal self in the context of his/her work situation. The writing and particularly the discussion of these accounts arouse thoughts and feelings in those who present their workday excerpts. The seminar’s aim is to improve the competencies of observing and reflecting on everyday work situations in a theory-based manner, as well as to enhance the understanding of the dynamics of relationship processes. The participants should thereby become more sensitive to “the great importance that conscious and unconscious emotions and emotional experiences have to their own professional perception, experience, thought, and action, as well as to the perception, experience, thought, and action of all of the persons with whom they interact in their workplaces” (Datler 2004, 8).

Thinking of these psychodynamic processes central to the Tavistock method of work discussion, Herbart’s idea of ‘tact of teaching’ conceptualizing the relationship between theory and practice comes to mind. Neither theory nor practice or reflection of practice on their own are sufficient when a practitioner must decide how to interact with a special person in a specific working situation. Tact of teaching is a kind of ability to bridge these different poles, but cannot be developed through scientific instruction or experience in practical work alone. Rather, it is based on reflecting practical work in a theory-based manner and shaping specific working situations according to it (Burghardt, Zirfas 2018). Thus, with ‘tact of teaching’ Herbart (1802) referred to a special quality of human interaction and it shows in the way the practitioner is able to gain insights to the meaning of specific work situation in a theory-based manner. Van Manen (2016) emphasizes the emotional aspects of the concept of ‘tact of teaching’, when he writes that ‘Taktgefühl’, ‘Gefühl’ means ‘feeling’, ‘sensitivity’. “To be tactful with another person one must be able to hear, feel, respect the essence or uniqueness of a situation or a person” (Van Manen 2016, 133). Hence, tact of teaching - as thoughtful action in educational settings - shows as being open to the child’s experiences and attuned to the child’s subjectivity, reflecting this in a theory-based manner and shaping specific work situations according to it. To work on these abilities is one of the core elements of the Tavistock method of work discussion. In the paper this idea will be discussed with recent works of Britzman (2003, 2015) and Datler et al. (2019) on psychoanalytic conceptualisation of vocational training processes.

Ahnert, L. (2014): Bindungsbeziehungen außerhalb der Familie: Tagesbetreuung und ErzieherInnen-Kind-Bindung. In: Ahnert, L. (Hrsg.): Frühe Bindung: Entstehung und Entwicklung. Ernst Reinhardt: München, Basel, 256–281 Britzman, D. (2015): A Psychoanalyst in the classroom: On the human condition of education. Albany: State University of New York Press Britzman, D. (2003): Practice makes practice. A critical study of learning to teach. New York Press: Albany Burghardt, D., Zirfas, J. (2018): Der pädagogische Takt. Eine erziehungswissenschaftliche Problemformel. Beltz-Verlag: Weinheim Datler, W. (2004): Pädagogische Professionalität und die Bedeutung des Erlebens. In: Hackl, B.; Neuweg, H.G. (Hrsg.): Zur Professionalisierung pädagogischen Handelns. LIT-Verlag: Münster, 113-130 Datler, W., Datler, M., Wininger, M. (2019): Evaluating the impact of Work Discussion techniques on psychoanalytic skills and attitudes. Research designs and first results. In: International Journal of Infant Observation 21, 204-219. Datler, W., Hover-Reisner, N., Datler, M. (2015): Toddlers’ relationships to peers in the processes of separation: from the discussion of observational accounts to the development of theory. In: Infant Observation, 18 (1), 14-35 Kang, J., Horn, E. M., Palmer, S (2017): Influences ofFamily Involvement inKindergarten Transition Activities onChildren’s Early School Adjustment. Early Childhood Educ J, 45, 789–800 Reisenhofer, C. (2019): Auf der Spur eines verlorenen Kindes. Eine Einzelfallstudie über den dreijährigen Patrick in der Zeit seines Überganges von der familiären Betreuung in den Kindergarten unter besonderer Berücksichtigung seiner Peer-Group-Beziehungserfahrungen. Master thesis: University of Vienna Rustin, M., Bradley, J. (2008): Work Discussion. Learning from reflective practice in work with children and families. Karnac: London Trunkenpolz, K., Datler, W., Haberl, R. (2021): Regeln, Rituale und der Eintritt in den Kindergarten. Beltz-Verlag: Weinheim (in press) Van Manen , M. (2016): The tact of teaching. The meaning of pedagogical thoughtfulness. Routledge: London