Life  position  and  
Education
Dr. Sylvia  Schachner,  TSTA-­‐E
sylviaschachner@gmx.at
BERNE:  The  young child,
early in  the process of script formation,
“already has certain convictions about himself
and the people around him and the world.”
These  convictions can be summarizedas:-­‐
1.  I’m OK  
2.  I’m not  OK
3.  You’reOK
4.  You’re not  OK  
Represent fundamental  stances a  person takes up
about the essential  value he  perceives in  himself and others.  
Once the child has adopted one of the life positions,  
he/she is likely to construct
all  the rest of his/her  script to fit  in  with it.  
Every  psychological game,script and destiny is based
on  one of this four positions.(  Berne)
THE  FOUR  LIFE  POSTIONS:
Can  be defined as one’s basic beliefs about self and others
which are used to “justify”  decisions and behaviour.
1.  I’m OK,You’re OK
2.  I’m not  OK,You’re OK
3.  I’m OK,You’re not  OK
4.  I’m not  OK,You’re not  OK  
The  life position of the trainer
Influences
• his training style
• his relationship to the students
• his expectations of successful training methods
+/-­‐:  trainer is the competent one,  student has to follow
-­‐à overadaptionor rebellion
-­‐/+:  the trainer try's to be perfect,  don't feel competent ,
has problemswith disciplineordon't take his professional  roleof leadingprocesse
-­‐à distortion,  resistance,  non  interest or symbiosis
-­‐/-­‐ :  the trainer is disappointedandfrustrated,  
don't expect some effortsfrom the students.
-­‐à automaticallywork,  no effort and relationship,  indifference,  
passivityand sometimes violence
+/+:  trainer has a  realisticawarenessabout own capacity
and the capacityofthe students,  
he  or she and the students are in  a  cocreativeprocess,  
learninghappensin  an  adult  ego state,  process and content orientated
-­‐à belief  that the trainer and the students do  their best,  
what is possiblefor them at  the moment.