The Challenge of Froebel Teacher Training
A recent article by Barbara Beatty, professor of education at Wellesley College, highlights the challenges faced in training Froebel teachers a hundred years ago and the implications for training today’s early childhood teachers. Barbara Beatty’s history of early childhood, Preschool Education in America: The Culture of Young Children from the Colonial Era to the Present is the best in-print document for why the Froebel system was rejected in the early 1900′s. It is a balanced and well researched look at the factions and issues of the time. If you can find it, the long out-of-print book by Michael Shapiro, Child’s Garden, provides another detailed account, focusing just on the Froebel Kindergarten.
Beatty’s recent article looks at the contrast between scripted and unscripted instruction. Another thoughtful and well documented work, it casts a modern eye on the heavy-handed way Froebel teachers were drilled at the end of the Froebel era. While it does not address it specifically, it raises an important issue about the difference between a teacher’s own training and their classroom actions. Often the Froebel teachers received set instructions for their behavior while allowing children to respond creatively to the activity at hand. Froebel Kindergarten teachers were expected to respond appropriately to whatever occurred in the moment. They were highly trained, think “Navy Seals” or “Jedi Knights” of the classroom and. once trained, were usually given free reign by their employers or supervisors.
However, the instruction was rigorous and tedious, and not all teaching students were suited for the work. Coupled with the exponential growth in demand for Kindergarten, it became impossible logistically to meet both the quantity and quality goals. So the leadership of the Columbia Teachers College (William Heard Kilpatrick, Patty Smith Hill, et al) and John Dewey, of the University of Chicago, staged a coup and took early childhood education off a Froebel standard into a more “Progressive” (although factory-like) model of education.
It is possible that much of our decline in education can be traced back to this practical/philosophical shift. As the pendulum swings back toward play-based, child-centered education with a goal toward developing creative, life-long learners, we may discover that we’ve held ourselves back for an entire century.
A Role for Women in the Froebel Kindergarten
Phoebe Hearst • Bertha von Bulow • Elizabeth Peabody • Helen Keller
One of the great contributions of the Froebel Kindergarten was offering perhaps the first significant career for women outside the home (just as nursing was also getting started). In the mid 19th century, women were not expected (or even widely allowed) to work professionally. This meant a life of domestic work tethered to men (fathers, husbands, brothers) or the church. The Kindergarten attracted many ambitious, intelligent women and allowed them to become self-supporting (and often business owners themselves) while providing perhaps the highest human calling — the education of the human race. Many famous women were involved in Froebel’s cause; Baroness Bertha von Marenholz Bulow, Helen Keller, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Elizabeth Peabody, Anna Bissell, Phoebe Hearst, Mrs. Leland Stanford, Mrs. Grover Cleveland, Margaret Hamilton, Elizabeth Harrison (… the list is a long one and I’ll let you Google those listed for more info). Read More…
Friedrich Froebel’s Last Days
On June 21st (the summer solstice) in 1852, Friedrich Froebel died. Nearly one year previously, at the age of 69 he had married Luise Levin, his most trusted of Kindergarten teachers. Less than a month after his marriage he saw his life’s work outlawed by decree of the German government, who were concerned that Kindergarten was a socialist plot designed to undermine the influence and status quo of the monarchy. This shock to his system at that advanced age slightly weakened his grip on life and his immune system, creating an opening for disease. His last days were documented by his faithful friends/colleagues, and I’ve found it helpful in understanding the man. I briefly aggregate their descriptions here (my apologies for the editing and lack of footnoting):
On the 6th June he was attacked by the illness which proved fatal. In health he had often been stern and exacting. Now he was remarkably gentle and submissive, and gave a welcome to all. He would talk cheerfully with his wife or his doctor, and would smile and thank the children or students who brought him flowers. Sometimes he would direct the arrangement of them, or he would express his enjoyment of the fresh air coming in through the open window, and then speak of his union with God and nature.
He exhorted his friends in Keilhau to live a life unity and harmony, and entrusted his wife to Read More…
Froebel Education Centre Celebrates 40 Years
In April 2011, the Froebel Education Centre of Toronto, Canada celebrated their 40 year anniversary. Read about their celebration: Froebel School Celebrates 40 Years. While the FEC once had over 100 students, the challenging marketplace for education has made it more difficult for non-traditional schools such as this. It is also often hard to explain Froebel’s philosophy, as evidenced by the reporter’s attempt at explaining it.
