The Immigrant Preschool

Abstract

Today, internationally, early childhood education, whether as nursery schools, kindergartens, or other forms of preschool, is a fully integrated feature of public and private education systems. The kindergarten, for example, had its origin in nineteenth century Germany. Following the 1848 revolution, exiled followers of Friedrich Froebel carried the kindergarten idea to England, America, and other European nations. From these early kindergarten apostles, the idea of the kindergarten flowed around the world so that by World War I, all industrialized and many industrializing nations had incorporated the kindergarten into their educational landscape. People and ideas arriving in new societies enter into a cultural exchange, maintaining at the same time as amending and adapting their social and cultural practices. By this process, in each setting the kindergarten and other forms of early childhood education were transformed and rooted as an institution that was simultaneously international and local.