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As a general principle in institutions for post-graduate training, it is to be taken for granted that arbitrary pedagogical authoritarianism has no place among mature professional men and women. In psychoanalytic education the principle of non-authoritarianism is all the more appropriate and necessary not only on paper but in practise. Psychoanalysis was discovered only two generations ago; we work in a crucial period of its development. We believe there are still boundless areas to be explored; innumerable problems are still to be solved. We work in a field where nothing is finally settled, all is in a state of flux. In our approach to teaching we are on guard lest the student merely accept all that is offered to him. We feel gratified if he develops his own opinions, discusses moot points, expresses his own views. There is no place for inertia and avoidance of responsibility in thinking and working. The Institute aims at a balance of responsibility and of mutual effort in the conduct of courses, and at the full participation of those who offer training in psychoanalysis and those who come to us for it.
In reviewing the past year's work, we have taken into account the students' evaluation of courses and our own evaluation of the students' response in the courses, following the custom inaugurated a year ago. We have the impression that on the whole student participation in seminars is freer, more critical and more appreciative of the complexities of psychological disturbances. We found that the procedure followed in the Seminar on Personal Case Histories given last year at the New School for Social Research offered a real improvement in conduct of this type of course. This procedure consisted in the instructors' reviewing the case material with the student prior to its presentation at the seminar. This made for a more concise and better organized presentation by the student and a better grasp of the material by the instructor. At the seminar discussion was opened by