Why Viktor Frankl?

Viktor Frankl was the mental initiator for the development of our mission statement. After a long process we took the name Viktor Frankl UCTE. We are in accordance with Viktor Frankl’s idea of man. His ideas are being put into pedagogical practice in symposia, conferences, in courses, and in lessons.

Viktor Frankl’s life serves as striking example that the aim of each educational measurement needs to be the observation of human rights, and a lifestyle based on tolerance, openness, and respect. Viktor Frankl was an Austrian who met extreme exclusion and persecution by the national-socialist regime because of his Jewish origin and heritage. He was banned from his job, and was displaced into concentration camps. His parents and his wife died in the concentration camp, he barely survived.

The philosophy of Viktor Frankl touches the core task of every educational activity.

Viktor Frankl survived the concentration camps physically as well as psychologically. His philosophy is called logo-therapy. Its central focus is the question of values, sense and meaning of a person. Radically and without compromise he calls upon the self-responsibility of a human being. Values, meaning and responsibilities are core categories of pedagogy of all times (compare the Austrian federal law concerning organization of schools, § 2). We live in a time in which institutions have lost their function to give meaning to life. Frankl individualizes the question of finding meaning. It is an important task of the field of pedagogy to assist young people to develop an identity, and to solve existential issues in their lives.

Viktor Frankl perceives man as pro-active being who shapes her or his world in freedom and responsibility.

Creative thinking, the ability to create innovative solutions and situations, are core competences needed to meet the challenges in our private lives, in our respective jobs and in society. It is the task of school to teach these competences and to raise young people who are able to act independently, and who become active citizens in an ever more complex society.