Institute of Psychology (Szeged) - Psychology Education Between 1929 and 1940

Psychology Education Between 1929 and 1940

In 1929, the establishment of the Second Department of Pedagogy and Psychology was brought about by lucky circumstances, given that the petition of Imre Sándor and György Málnási Bartók would not have been sufficient by itself. At the University of Szeged, which had been relocated from Cluj-Napoca, the Faculty of Arts had a very low number of attending students, which threatened the very existence of the university. In the fall of 1928, to aid the foundering university, the Minister of Culture, Kuno Klebelsberg, ordered the relocation of the Paedagogum and the academic section of Erzsébet Girls’ School to Szeged. Thus, the Teacher Training College for secular elementary schools was founded. As part of their curriculum, students of the college had to complete a part of their training – essentially one of the two compulsory majors – at the university, hence boosting the number of students there. At the same time, the Minister abrogated secular teacher training at nun schools, which meant that nuns also had to attend the University of Szeged to receive such training.

Kuno Klebelsberg himself was completely unbiased by religion when appointing university teachers, however, under the pressure of Catholic bishops, he founded the Catholic departments as well. Thus, the first head of the Second Department of Philosophy was János Mester (1879–1954), a Catholic professor, while the First Department of Philosophy was led by the Protestant György Málnási Bartók. Likewise, the Second Department of Literature and the Second Department of Pedagogy and Psychology were founded with the leaderships of Catholic professor Sándor Sík and Dezső Várkonyi Hildebrand from the Benedictine Order respectively, on the other hand, the Protestant First Department of Literature and the First Department of Pedagogy and Psychology were led by Lajos Dézsi and Sándor Imre respectively. A most noble competition followed: both Dezső Várkonyi Hildebrand and Sándor Sík were excellent educators of the university and besides Philosophy, János Mester also engaged himself in studies of Psychology and Pedagogy.

On 18 December 1929, Dezső Hildebrand Várkonyi, a Benedictine monk was appointed as the Head of the Independent Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology. His appointment brought new perspective to the education at the University of Szeged. In Hungary, such an Independent Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology was founded in Szeged for the first time, only later to be followed by the establishment of the Department of Psychology at the University of Budapest, under the supervision of Pál Schiller Harkai in 1936.

Following the appointment of Várkonyi, psychology training at the University of Szeged could develop its distinctive image, primarily focusing on the mainstream Psychology of that time, namely on questions of Paedology, Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology.

Várkonyi's lectures brought color to the history of education; he introduced the modern fields of Psychology, including the work of Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Carl Gustav Jung and Jean Piaget. According to the recollections of his students, his lectures sometimes deviated from the formal rhetorical style and took on a more familiar character.

In the 1930s, István Boda, a Privatdocent at the University, held a series of lectures on the survey of the intellectuals, and the practical psychology of self-development.

The year 1940 brought another change in the life of the Institute and the university itself. Following the re-annexation of Northern Transylvania, the Franz Joseph University of Sciences was relocated back to Cluj-Napoca, together with the majority of its teachers, Dezső Várkonyi Hildenbrand among them.