Froebel and Christianity

Abstract

In the educational thought of Friedrich Froebel we are confronted with a panoramic view of the universe of knowledge and experience. His influence on the educational practices of kindergartens, nursery schools and other preschool provision in different cultures around the world has been substantial. It is true also that the essence of his personal philosophy and his mission in regard to the education of young children has been variously interpreted, perhaps misunderstood, but almost certainly largely ignored in recent decades. To many experienced preschool educators, Froe‐belianism is connected with the discourse on ‘child‐centredness’, on the richness that ‘play’ affords the child in the construction of world knowledge, on the conception of unity in and through nature. Froebel's seminal work is however much more than an extended treatise on human learning: it is driven by an articulated vision of the human condition in relation to the Creator. For Froebel, this relationship was not only paramount in his educational thought, but formed the justificatory basis for the content and process of young children's education. Motivated by a profound grasp of the Creator‐creature relationship in Christian theology, Froebel was able to provide a radical, holistic view of the task of Christian education. For Froebel, one's relationship to nature was nothing less than a religious communion, a drawing closer to the Creator. Thus in Froebel's educational theory, knowledge and truth have an inherently religious aspect. Humanity is made in the image of God, not to pursue its own ends, but to pursue a course of development according to the rules and laws of God. Stripped of this vision, as Froebelian practice seems to have been for decades, it is legitimate to ask whether the secularised practice which remains is worthy of the name it frequently espouses. However, it is not the purpose of this paper to pursue this issue. Our purpose is more fundamental; namely to seek to justify the claim that not only was Froebel a religious man, he was, first and foremost Christian. His purposes related to the Christian education of children.

Key Word:

• Froebel
• Christian education

Notes

∗This paper was develoed as part of the Doctoral thesis fo the first author: the award of PhD of the University of Surrey, England was made in March 1994.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sang‐Wook Lee∗

∗This paper was develoed as part of the Doctoral thesis fo the first author: the award of PhD of the University of Surrey, England was made in March 1994.