1.1 Finding out about Froebel

As Froebel was born more than 200 years ago, in an area of Europe we now call Germany, writing in his first language of German, some historical detective work is needed to uncover his educational ideas. Froebel’s most famous book, The Education of Man, was originally published in 1826 and it focused on how young children should be taught and supported in their development. It was more than sixty years before the work was translated into English which then enabled his ideas to spread to a much wider audience. This book is important as it sets out Froebel’s ideas about human development and how he thought this thinking should influence educational practice from the earliest years. In addition to this text and other books about young children’s learning, he also wrote many letters discussing his ideas. It is fortunate that this correspondence is still accessible today through the Froebel Archive. This important source of information on Froebel is held at the library of The University of Roehampton and it is also possible to access it online (a link is given in Activity 1 in the next section).

The Froebel Archive is looked after, and curated, by the archivist Kornelia Cepok. It consists of a range of books, photographs and objects all linked to Froebel’s educational legacy. It was established in 1977 and is an important resource centre for Froebelian scholars and students alike. In the following video, Kornelia introduces the archive and talks about some of the things it contains.

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KORNELIA CEPOK

The Froebel Archive was established in 1977 and has been based here ever since. My work here consists of looking after the archive, looking after the material, preserving and conserving it, but also working with the students, with the academic department, making sure they are using the materials and they know what the archive consists of, and bringing the work of Froebel close to the students and to the academic department.

Further, I facilitate research of many national and international researchers, helping with the publications and with the work overall. Froebel really defines the meaning of what we think of childhood, of being a child means today. He thought that children and learning begins from birth, and that we need to facilitate this learning and this development. And this is what he provided with the kindergarten and with the Froebel gifts.

He believed in a holistic approach to learning and to development. And he put play in the centre of it. And that was the first time that play really became a focus of the children's development. So with the establishment of the kindergarten, he provided a platform for learning, and for growing, and for being. And with the kindergarten as well, he puts nature as the fundamental focus and approach to facilitate this learning.

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