Kindergarten Narratives on Froebelian Education : Transnational Investigations

Kindergarten Narratives on Froebelian Education showcases the latest scholarship and historical understandings concerning the casting of the kindergarten idea abroad: across cultures, continents and centuries. Each chapter reveals previously unknown narratives of intrepid endeavour, political pragmatism and pedagogical innovation that collectively provide insight into the transformation of Froebel’s ideas on early education into a global phenomenon. Across global contexts, each chapter presents a case study of the ideas scattering abroad, illustrative of the movement of ideas, curricula and pedagogical change; in effect taking the kindergarten beyond the geographies and pedagogies of its German beginnings and borders. Chapters draw on historical examples of Froebelian education from The Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, the UK and the USA. In the journal History of Education in 2006, Froebelian history scholar Professor Kevin J. Brehony (1948-2013) lamented the ‘relative neglect’ of the history of early years education at the same time there was a heightened global social and political interest in educating the young child. In this book, an international team of contributors respond to Brehony's suggestion that historical perspectives can play a role in current debates and suggest ways historical narratives might inform policies and practices in twenty-first century early childhood education, care settings and contexts. Reconnecting past lessons and insights with present and future concerns for early education, young children and their place in society, this important collection also includes an historical timeline charting the spread of Froebelian education ideas and kindergartens across the world. "Kindergarten Narratives on Froebelian Education showcases the latest scholarship and historical understandings concerning the casting of the kindergarten idea abroad: across cultures, continents and centuries. Each chapter reveals previously unknown narratives of intrepid endeavour, political pragmatism and pedagogical innovation that collectively provide insight into the transformation of Froebel's ideas on early education into a global phenomenon. Across global contexts, each chapter will present a case study of the ideas scattering abroad, illustrative of the movement of ideas, curricula and pedagogical change; in effect taking the kindergarten beyond the geographies and pedagogies of its German beginnings and borders. Chapters draw on historical examples of Froebelian education from The Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, the UK and the USA. In the journal History of Education in 2006, Froebelian history scholar Professor Kevin J. Brehony (1948-2013) lamented the 'relative neglect' of the history of early years education at the same time there was a heightened global social and political interest in educating the young child. In this book, an international team of contributors respond to Brehony's challenge that historical perspectives can play a role in current debates and suggest ways historical narratives might inform policies and practices in twenty-first century early childhood education, care settings and contexts. Reconnecting past lessons and insights with present and future concerns for early education, young children and their place in society, this important collection also includes an historical timeline charting the spread of Frobelian education ideas and kindergartens across the world"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Notes on Contributors Kevin J. Brehony 1948– 2013 Preface 1. Tracking Kindergarten as a Travelling Idea 2. Working at Play or Playing at Work? A Froebelian Paradox Re-examined Part I: International Movement of Ideas: Froebelian Education in Time and Place 3. Happiness, Play and Bourgeois Morality: Th e Early Years of Froebel Schooling in the Netherlands, 1858–1904 4. Froebelian Teachers Abroad: Implementing a Modern Infant Education System in Colonial Wellington, New Zealand, 1906–25 5. In the Name of Froebel: Fundraising for Kindergartens in Sweden, 1900–45 6. ‘Such marvelous training’: Grand Rapids, Michigan as a Kindergartening Centre, 1870–1905 Part II: Curricular and Pedagogical Change: Froebelians beyond the Kindergarten 7. Kindergarten at the Dewey School, University of Chicago, 1898–1903 8. Guiding Creativity: British Froebelian Educators and Plays for Children, 1891–1939 9. Freeing the Child: Froebelians and the Transformation of Learning through Play, Self-Activity and Project Work in English Junior School Classrooms, 1917–52 Part III: Radical by Tradition: Long-Term Perspectives on Kindergarten Education 10. ‘Come, let us Live with our Children’: Undokai, the Children’s Play Festival at a Froebelian Kindergarten in Japan, 1889–2015 11. Relocation, Continuity and Change: Dunedin Kindergartens, Aotearoa New Zealand, 1890s–2010s Selected References Index