Abstract
The article describes the values of Friedrich Froebel’s pedagogical thought and practice in Polish pre-school education. It outlines the historical background, focusing especially on the views of great Polish Froebelians: Justyna Strzemeska, Maria Weryho, Zofia Żukiewiczowa, Natalia Cicimirska. The paper’s considerations regard the following aspects: the vision of the child, the views on education and play, the role of the teacher and the use of teaching materials, so-called gifts . A number of profound educational concepts of Froebel stayed still actual and re-valued in contemporary preschool education, especially Froebel’s philosophy and uniqueness of each child, respect for children as human beings, their development and right to free play, the pre-school education model based on gifts.
Highlights
When in 1837 Friedrich Froebel set up the Educational Institution aimed at small children, which was later renamed kindergarten, in Poland children aged 5 to 12, living in extreme poverty and being forced into denationalisation, were taken care of by local charity associations, acting as secret schools
Pre-school education, Strzemeska and Weryho (1895, p. 36) referred to the major literary work by Froebel, Die Menschenerziehung (The Education of Man, 1826), and its underlying message “we should live for our children”
The writer referred to the Froebelian vision of the child, stating: The child brings to the world a miraculous gift which takes the form of striving for physical and intellectual self-development
Summary
The article describes the values of Friedrich Froebel’s pedagogical thought and practice in Polish pre-school education. It outlines the historical background, focusing especially on the views of great Polish Froebelians: Justyna Strzemeska, Maria Weryho, Zofia Żukiewiczowa, Natalia Cicimirska. The paper’s considerations regard the following aspects: the vision of the child, the views on education and play, the role of the teacher and the use of teaching materials, so-called gifts. A number of profound educational concepts of Froebel stayed still actual and re-valued in contemporary preschool education, especially Froebel’s philosophy and uniqueness of each child, respect for children as human beings, their development and right to free play, the pre-school education model based on gifts.
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