This book considers Friedrich Froebel's work and ideas in the light of
the continuing debate over methods of primary education, raising the old
conflict between child-centred and traditional education; concern about
the role of teacher in the classroom; and the renewed challenge of
'play' as a tool of education. To Froebel, play provided the means for a
child's intellectual, social, emotional and physical development.
Froebel believed that the education of a child began at birth, and that
parents and teachers played a crucial role in helping children in this
activity. 'Play is a mirror of life' - he wrote, leading to self
discipline and respect for law and order. The events of Froebel's life
are carefully documented in A Child's Work, together with their
influence on his ideas and their spread. The author shows how the early
death of Froebel's mother and a home lacking in love were to provide the
impetus behind one of Froebel's overriding aims: the fostering of family
life. The shaping of his educational thought and philosophy through
contact with the ideas of other educators, especially his 'spiritual
father' Pestalozzi, and philosophers such as Kant, Hegel and Krause, is
examined. Froebel's continuous reassessment of the function of play in a
child's life came to fruition in the concept of the Kindergarten and the
creations with which he peopled it. Illustrations from original sources
complement the thorough explanations of these educational innovations in
the book. From the soft ball on a spring, the simplest of the Gifts, to
the unravelling of more complex ideas in the Mother Songs, Froebel
incorporated the various facets that he saw as important in play: the
notion of the symbolic and the surmise, the tension between the known
and the unknown, the development of physical dexterity and care for the
environment. As we continue to shift towards an emphasis on a more
formal, more restrictive and less creative mode of education, it is an
appropriate time to re-examine Froebel's contribution to educational
thinking, which was revolutionised by his ideas. His respect for a child
as an independent, searching and creative person learning through his
own actions, and for the teacher as facilitator and guide, led
tomonumental changes. Froebelis legacy challenges us to examine the
assumptions underlying current trends in education, and our attitude
towards educating young children.
