Frederick Froebel free essay sample

Friedrich Froebel was a German educator of the nineteenth century who developed an Idealist philosophy of early childhood education. He established kindergarten and education for four and five-year-old children. Kindergarten is now a part of education worldwide. Friedrich Froebel was born in the small town of Oberwiessbach, Germany in 1782. His mother died when he was nine months old. His father remarried, but Froebel never liked his stepmother and he led an unhappy life with his father and her. His feeling of rejection and isolation remained with him for life.This had a strong effect on his theory of early childhood education. He believed the kindergarten teacher should be loving, kind and motherly. He wanted his kindergarten to offer a sense of emotional security and self-esteem in children. At the age of ten, Froebel went to live with his uncle. As a young child, Froebel spent a lot of time playing in the garden around his home. We will write a custom essay sample on Frederick Froebel or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This led to his love of nature and had a profound effect on his educational philosophy. He briefly attended the University of Jena from 1800-1802.Then he studied architecture at Frankfurt University. Although he ended his studies without receiving a degree, Froebel gained a sense of artistic perspective and symmetry he later used to design his kindergarten â€Å"gifts† and â€Å"occupations. † While in Frankfurt Froebel was hired as a teacher at the Frankfurt Model School, which was a Pestalozzian school. He studied the Pestalozzi method of instruction which emphasized using objects to teach. His method rejected the use of corporal punishment and emphasized respecting the dignity of children.Froebel returned to Germany where in 1837 he established a new type of Early childhood school, a child’s garden, or as we now know it â€Å"Kindergarden†. This school was for 3 and 4 year olds and incorporated songs, play, stories and activities. It was an educational environment in which children through their own self-activity could develop in the right direction. This meant that in a child’s development they would follow the â€Å"divinely established laws of human growth† through their own activities. During this time Froebel’s reputation increased and kindergardens were established throughout Germany.Froebel â€Å"asserting that each child at birth has an internal spiritual essence–a life force–that seeks to be externalized through self-activity. He stated child development follows the doctrine of preformation, â€Å"the unfolding of that which was present latently in the individual. † The kindergarten is a special educational environment in which this self-active development occurs. The kindergartens gifts, occupations, and social and cultural activities, especially play, promote this self-actualization.Froebel was convinced that the kindergartens primary focus should be on play–the process by which he believed children expressed their innermost thoughts, needs, and desires. Froebels emphasis on play conflicted with the traditional view held during the nineteenth century that play, â€Å"a form of idleness and disorder, was an unworthy eleme nt of human life. † Froebel believed that play facilitated â€Å"childrens process of cultural recapitulation, imitation of adult vocational activities, and socialization. He believed the human race, in its collective history, had gone through major times of cultural development that added to and refined its culture. According to Froebels theory of cultural recapitulation, â€Å"each individual human being repeated the general cultural epoch in his or her own development. The occupations were items like paper, pencils, woods, sand, clay, straw, and sticks all used in different constructive activities. German immigrants introduced Kindergarten in the United States. Elizabeth Palmer Peabody established a Kindergarten in Boston and she translated several of Froebel’s books into English. She organized the Froebel Union and established an institute to train Kindergarten teachers.