Lotte Schenk-Danzinger

Lotte Schenk-Danzinger (born Charlotte Danziger; * December 22, 1905 in Vienna , Austria-Hungary ; † March 2, 1992 ibid) was an Austrian psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Graz .

Life

Charlotte Danziger was the daughter of the pharmacist Leo Erwin Danziger (1878–1937) and his wife Pauline, née Köstler (1880–1968). During her high school years, Charlotte was a member of the Viennese "Association of Socialist Middle Schools" , which was re-established at the turn of the year 1923/24 , where she must have met Maria Jahoda . In 1925 she passed the Matura . Then she first passed the state examination in English and in 1926/27 and 1927/28 completed the university teacher training course of the Pedagogical Institute of the City of Vienna . In June 1928 she received a certificate qualifying her as a provisional teacher at elementary schools, as a female handicraft teacher at elementary and community schools and as a kindergarten teacher. At the same time she studied psychology at the University of Vienna , where she soon came into contact with Charlotte Bühler and Karl Bühler . In 1930 she received her doctorate in philosophy based on the dissertation “Foster Mother and Foster Child” supervised by Karl Bühler (published in 1930 as an essay entitled “The relationship of the foster mother to the foster child” ). In the course of her dissertation, Lotte Danziger - similar to Hildegard Hetzer - also worked at the city of Vienna's child care center. She chose the Lotte variant of her first name from 1932 to differentiate herself from Charlotte Bühler. She also changed her family name from Danziger to Danzinger .

From 1927 to 1935 Lotte Danzinger was an assistant paid for by the " Rockefeller Foundation "; after Hildegard Hetzer left in 1931, she became Charlotte Bühler's assistant. She was primarily entrusted with the practical training of the students in observation technology and diagnostic methods.

Between November 1931 and January 1932 she did most of the field research in the Marienthal Study , where she spent six weeks. In cooperation with the municipal office of the free municipality of Gramatneusiedl, she led the winter aid campaign initiated and organized by the doctor Paul Stein in order to better come into contact with the population of Marienthal. With the winter aid campaign, Lotte Danzinger built trust with the people of Marienthal; the reactions of the recipient families were carefully recorded as part of the study. She was then available to the project as an information person until late summer 1932.

Between 1935 and 1937 Lotte Danzinger worked in London as co-director of the Parents' Association Institute founded by Charlotte Bühler . After returning to Austria, she married the engineer Johann Schenk (1902–1995) in 1937. The daughter Margarete Schenk, married Haupt-Stummer (born 1938), business graduate and housewife, and the son Johannes Schenk (born 1943), a self-employed engineer, come from this marriage. Schenk-Danzinger was a housewife between 1937 and 1946 and devoted himself to raising her children.

In 1946 she resumed her professional activity and worked on behalf of the Pedagogical Institute of the City of Vienna until 1948 on the standardization of development tests for school age. In 1948 she took over the management of the newly founded School Psychological Advice Center of the City of Vienna - the first such institution in Austria - she built it up and remained full-time in the School Psychological Service until 1967. In addition, she worked as a teacher from 1948 to 1950 in order to be able to take the teaching examination for elementary schools in 1950 and that for pedagogy at general secondary schools in 1953.

Lotte Schenk-Danzinger accepted a teaching position for developmental and educational psychology at the University of Innsbruck . In 1963 she received her habilitation at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Innsbruck with her thesis “Studies in Developmental Psychology and the Practice of School and Counseling Psychology ” and worked here until 1970 as a lecturer in the subjects of developmental psychology and educational psychology. From 1967 to 1972 she worked full-time as a professor for developmental psychology, educational psychology and sociology at the Federal Education Academy in Vienna . In 1969, Schenk-Danzinger received her habilitation at the University of Graz , where she taught as a university lecturer - since 1976 with the title of associate professor (tit. Ao Univ.-Prof.) - for developmental psychology and educational psychology at the Institute for Educational Sciences until 1981.

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Schenk-Danzinger played a major role in the epoch-making study on the “unemployed from Marienthal” . She conducted interviews and also contributed many ideas herself. There was obviously great tension in the work team, because Schenk-Danzinger was very distant from those involved and also from their social democratic influence. Although she did most of the field research, she was not (!) Considered as the author of the study.

The "Developmental Psychology" by Lotte Schenk-Danzinger, emerged from their lectures at the University of Innsbruck, was for many years the indispensable reference work for educators and psychologists. This work contains numerous results of research around Charlotte Bühler. Hundreds of thousands of copies of the book have been sold and it has had a great influence on many generations of teachers and psychologists. In 2007 the book was published again in a supplemented form by Karl Rieder.

One of Lotte Schenk-Danzinger's main areas of work was dyslexia research. B. in the "Handbook on Dyslexia in Childhood" and other publications. She committed herself to this topic out of self-concern. The family tree in the appendix to this work, which illustrates the heredity of left-handedness as the cause of dyslexia, concerns herself and her family. However, this hypothesis is now considered obsolete.

Lotte Schenk-Danzinger is also considered a pioneer of student psychology in Austria thanks to her practical and theoretical work (e.g. by continuing the construction of development tests in the tradition of Charlotte Bühler).

Honors

Lotte Schenk-Danzinger was a founding member of the Austrian Federal Association of Dyslexia .

In 1995 the Federal Association of Dyslexia donated a “Lotte-Schenk-Danzinger Medal” to promote dyslexia research.

In 2011, the Schenk-Danzinger-Gasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after her.

selected Writings

• Charlotte Danziger: foster mother and foster child. Philosophical dissertation, University of Vienna, 1929. (typescript)
• Lotte Danziger, Hildegard Hetzer, Helene Löw-Beer: foster mother and foster child. Leipzig: Hirzel (= Psychology of Welfare), 1930.
• Lotte Danzinger: The school readiness test with an investigation into the causes of failure in the first school year. Jugend und Volk Wien, 1933. (= Viennese work on educational psychology).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Development tests for school age. Volume 1: Age group 5-11 years. Jugend und Volk, Vienna 1953. (= educational-psychological work).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: The basic mental needs of the child. Jugend und Volk, Vienna 1959. (= Small series for educators).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Studies on developmental psychology and on the practice of school and counseling psychology. Reinhardt, Munich / Basel 1963. (Habilitation thesis).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Handbook of dyslexia in childhood. Beltz, Weinheim 1968. (= theory and practice of school psychology).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Developmental Psychology. Österreichischer Bundesverlag for teaching, science and art, Vienna 1969. (= publications on teacher training and teacher training).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Educational Psychology. Österreichischer Bundesverlag for teaching, science and art, Vienna 1972. (= publications on teacher training and teacher training).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Dyslexia and left-handedness. Youth and people; Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1974. (= materials on pedagogy).
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Development, Socialization, Upbringing 2 volumes. Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1984–1988.
• Lotte Schenk-Danzinger: Developmental Psychology. Rework v. Karl Rieder. ÖBV & HPT, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7074-0602-3 .

Literature on Lotte Schenk-Danzinger

• Ludwig Boyer, Karl Sretenovic (ed.): Psychology in the service of the school. Festschrift for the 75th birthday. Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1980. (= publications on teacher training and teacher training)
• Gerhard Benetka: Schenk-Danzinger, Lotte. In: Brigitta Keintzel, Ilse Korotin (ed.): Scientists in and from Austria. Life - work - work. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2002, ISBN 3-205-99467-1 , pp. 642–644.

Web links

• Literature by and about Lotte Schenk-Danzinger in the catalog of the German National Library
• Reinhard Müller: Lotte Schenk-Danzinger. 1980. On the website of the Archives for the History of Sociology in Austria.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gertrude Wagner: About Lotte Schenk-Danzinger's share in the Marienthal study. Vienna, February 24, 1984, on the website of the Archives for the History of Sociology in Austria.
2. ^ Marie Jahoda, Paul Felix Lazarsfeld, Hans Zeisel: The unemployed from Marienthal. A sociographic experiment on the effects of long-term unemployment. Hirzel, Leipzig 1933. (First new edition: Allensbach 1960; published as a book by Verlag Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1975, ISBN 3-518-10769-0 .)