~raining
u:be
of .1froebelian
O UR subject to-night
is the nletbod of
tl-aiuing Fl'Oebelian teachers. In order
to ensure accUl'acy, I shall describe
those nletbods ,yith ,,-hich I am most familiar
ll-offi
my O\VU personal
experience-namel)~,
those adopted at the Fl'Oebel Institute
in
Tal~rth Road, \Vhel'e the COUl'Seof training
lasts t,vo years and a tel'nl.
In speaking of Fl'Oebelian teachers, it is a
genel-ally undel'Stood fact that ..verefer to the
teachel'S of young children, although older
children are now often taught on Fl'Oebelian
methods, and Froebel-in
"The Education of
Man "-planned
a scheme of education from
.
.A
U:eacbet.s. ;"
the earliest J-ears up to lllllnhood and womanhood. The tea{)hing of older childl'en, as ,veIl
as the teachillg of youngel' childl'ell, has ueell
greatly affected by the dil-ect or indil'ect influence of ]'roebelian doctrine, and training
colleges for the teachers of older children Ilre
much mo~e numerous no',- than they ,,-ere
before Froebelian training
colleges 'vere
~tarted, Mol'eover, the llunlber of candidates
entering for the National Fl'oebel Union's
Examinations is very lary,e compared ,yjth the
number of candidates ,,-ho have, up till no'\-,
been examined for other bl'anches of the teaching profession, Froebel's strong plea for the
paper read before the C ildhood Society on March 23.
THE
TltAIJVI.:VG
Op-' Ji'ROEBEL.l~4N
u'ail1in~ of teachel'S for yonng children hn-H
probably h!l.d an untold influence on the genel,:"l
u"1l.ining of teachers at the present time. He
says that the natural insight of teachers, and
their kno,vledge of subject-mn-tter, are not
sufficieut; these must he supplemented by a
study of the fundamental Pl-inciples of education, and by rea.~on underlying the art of
teaching. The younger and more helpless the
child, the more need thel-e is fot, the specific
training and Kuidauce of the t.eacher.
In attempting to carry ont Froehel's principles, perhaps the moRt esRential point t,o
mailltain is that the theol'Y and the pl-actice of
teaching should go hand in hand. Froebel
himself established a school for young children, and in this school he trained his teachers.
Nothing could be more opposed to his teachinK than to attempt. to h-ain teachers, any
more than to train children, hJTmere book,york, or hy theoretical discourseR alone. 'rite
necessary kno,vledge itself cn-nnot be gained
apart from actual intercourse ,vith children.
The ob,iection that is often made to this practical h-ainiug of teachers is that the childl-en
who al~e taught suffer by the experimental
method-that the studeut in training injureR
the pupils upon ,vhom she is experimenting.
In reply to this ob.iection three things may be
,said. III the fil'St place, it is fal' better for a
fe~v children to be experiment.ed upon by
students, and the vast majoritJT to be taught
in consequeuce by ,veIl tl'ained t-eachel'S,than,
as in former days, for every teacher to ,vork
thl'Ough her mistakes unaided by systematic
help. In the second place, '\\'e do our utmost
to prevent any injury to the children by care.
fully prepal-ing the studeut.s for the ,york in
the class-room. And, thirdly, in schools attached to a training college, the curriculum
aud the methods of teaching and genel'al
arrangements are continually l-evised, and
positive 'advantages to the childl-en are thns
gained. The training of students for the
teachiug pl'Ofession may, in some respects, be
compaled \vith the training of medical stndents. The va.~t majoritJT of people ackno,v.
ledge the need for givillg the medical stndent
TE~1Clll';R.S'.
1:29
opportnllity in the hospital for pracLi('e (111
patients.
'file ,vork in the lecture theatre,
and the (Iiagllosis and observation of cases
and experiments made by experts on patients,
are not considered stlfficient.
The medical
student must actua]ly practise and experimeJlt
himse]f j and he does practise and experimellt,
under guidance, and with the least possible
injury to the patient. The need of medica]
training schools has long been acknow]ed'j!;ed,
as ,ve]] as of demonstration theatres and
hospital ,yards, lto,;necessary ad.iuncts. The
presence of students is found 1.0 add to the
genel'a] care and efficiency l'ather than the reverse. In the future, training collegeg fm'
teachers, ,vith the necessary adjuncts of demonstration alld practising schools, will be acknowledged and appl"Ovedas generally as clinical
teaching in medicine is at the preselrl time.
The Froebel Institute is fortunate in ha\-ing
both a Demonstration and a Pl-actising School.
'l'he ","ork of the student.~ centres ronnd the
life of the children in these two schools. ."'necessary parLor the training of a FroebeI-iall
teacher is the stndy of child life; for no such
training can be considered sound ,vhich is WIt
baseu 011a pl'actical study of children. The
greater ourkno\v]edge of chi]d nature and the
la,vs of human development, the greater ,viII
be our po\ver of bl-inging our educational
practice iut.o accord ,vith such la,vs. The
ouly efliciellt means of obtaining this kno\vledge is by actual intercoulose ,vith children
under a]l conditions, both duling school hom's
and in times of recreation.
The student who
has been af~customedin her fil'St J-ear of training to observe children intelligentlJ-, and t{J
record her observations faithfully, is able to
profit in the second year by the ]ectures and
discussions on the theory of education ,vhich
form part. of the College COUl'Se. To evolve
rational methods of education, based on ;t
sound kno,vledge of human development, i..the aim and object of this study. The pl"RCtice of education is brought into harnlony
,vith the theory of education, and vic~ rersa,
and a more scientific basis for education and
tl'aining is thus reached.
CHILD
130
The Childhood Society, which exists for
the scientific stndy of the mental and phYRical
conditions of children, ,,~ll readily realize that
in the comparatively short COUl"Se
of training
at our colleges the ..Child Study" programme
-aR, indeed, the programme in many other
sections of the work-is necessarily incomplete
and inadequate. We believe, however, that
the basis of our work is sound, and that its
tendency is in the right direction.
It is with
great diffidence that I speflk of the actual
details of our child study before this society
of experts, especially as I am conscious of our
o\vn shortcomings in this branch of the ,vork.
But \ve sha.11never get allY more for\vard if
,ve keep oul'8elves and our doings shut up in
the dark, and I am very glad of this opportunity of discussing the subject '\vith other
teachers and tl'ainers and with the expert
members of the Childhood Society. If I do
nothing e.1se,I hope to raise a discussion.
I genel-all)Tsay to the ne,v sf.udents ,,"hen
the.\- enter the tl'aining college ,,"oros to this
effect: ., You come hel'e mainly \vith the
object uf studying childl'en, and the methods
of educating children.
You must kno,v something of child nature, child development. You
must kno,v soulething of h)-giene and physiology.
You must kno,," something about
sequence in the subject-matter of instruction,
abont the special scientific method '\vhich
belongs to each individual topic, about the
value of the subject itself to the child. You
must be able to determine h'om sound educational principles at what period in a child's
life valious studies or activities should be
beguu,
and ho'v they
should
be
taught
or
treated, and iu doing this you must keep in
view the various appal'ent eccentlicities in the
course of the child's natural development.
,!'here "ill be lectures and discussions to help
you dil'OOtly and indirectly; but kno,vledge of
children h'Om actual intercourse with them,
ll'Om dil'ect experience, is essential. The first
thing you must do is to obser,-e cllildl'en, both
individually and in groups. You mnst recolu
your obser~.ations so as to be in a position to
cll"a'Vinfel'ences and formulate laws, and so as
J,IJI'E.
to be able to provide the right sort of bodily
and mental nourishment for the children."
After some such talk 1. tell the students
that in a ,,"eek's time we shall meet again to
discnss the recol-ds in their note-books. 'Vhen
we next meet thel'e are generally empty notebooks, and the almost invariable explanation
that, although they had been watching the
childl'en for some time (in some casesthe time
,vas certainly not long), yet. thel'C had been
nothing to obsel"Ve,nothing t.o record.
After
this preliminal')- unaided su'uggle, students
aloegenerally very keen to accept su~gestions
for obsel'Vation and headings for their l"ecord.
I always think it advisable for studentR, as
well as for children, to have a preliminary nnaided struggle in any piece of ,vork which is
put before them. The help, ,vhen it comes, is
of deeper and more lasting value than if there
had not been the Pl'eliminary struggle. The
students realize ,,"here the)" need help, and
there is opportunity, too, for origiual lines of
inyestigatiou and ,vork. If ,ve are aY",ayslcd,
,ve shall probably never look ,,"here ",e aloe
going; if "-e are ue,-er guided, ",e shall probably make less progl'ess. I ha,-e myself been
gl'eatly helped by Dr. 'Varner's Schedules
and suggestions, and by those of Ploof. }~arl
Barnes, Prof. Lloyd )lorgan, and othel'S, and
these I pass on to the students. Thus guided,
they n1ake a note of the child's age, height,
and weight.
The)- notice his movements and
actions at lesson time and at play tinle. '£hey
notice the" make" of his bod)" as a ",hole;
they observe the relative size and make of his
limbs and features.
They notice his ex.pression under varying circumstances, and if he
can see well, heal' ",ell, &c. The)- make a
note of the child's likes and dislikes, of his
power of observation and concentl'ation, of his
sympathy and emotional acti\-ity, of his habits
and originality-they
notice the influence his
surronnd~s
have upon him and he upon
.them, and ho,v he responds to direct teaching.
This informal child study forms the basis for
.the more formal stndyof psychology, and both
help in planning the school curriculum.
Side by side ,vith the Pl'actical obser,-ation
1'11J!}TRAINING
OF FROEBELIAN
of childlocn and tlle p~ychology lectures and
discussions-and
these include a thorough
study of Froebel's "Principles
and Practice of Education," by ,vhich our work
is incessantly guided-are
the lectures on
physiology and hygiene. The students receive
instruction in the Ja,vs of health, with special
reference to ph)-sical exercise, formation of
habits of sitting' and standing, sleep, the
clothing of children, food, ventilation, &c.;
also on the out\vard signs of normal health
and ,veal-ness, and of physical and mental
fatigue.
In the physiology lectures the
Rtructure and nmction of the body and
various organ!; and nervous system are included. A special lesson in the course is
given on the care of the eyes during school
life. The students are drilled once a ,veek in
the free movements of Ling's Swedish system
of gymnastics, and this is accompanied with
sufficient theory to understand the aim of the
system. They also practise giving lessons in
S,\'edish gymnastics to the children.
The value of X ature teaching for childJocn
is now geneJ-ally ackno,vledged b)'" educationists, and milch time is given to the stud)" of
Nature in ma.ny of our Froebelian tl-aining
colleges, The po,ver of observation, so essential in the Froebelian teacher, is greatly
stlocngthened b)- the course of Nature study.
Many hOUI"Sare devoted to work which is
specially chosen to test and train the capabilities of tlle students in observing closely
and accurately.
The Natuloc.study lecturer
at the Froebel Institute finds that animals
form the best subjects for the preliminal'Y
work, for the)'" aloemuch more obviously alive
than plants, and they al'Onse gI'eater interest.
Observations on points of structure in the
case of living animals lead more readily and
spontaneousl)'" to questions as to the reason
and use of the organs obst:rved; and by careful watching of the habits of the animal
these questions can be perhaps more easily
solved by the students themselves than in the
case of plants. Both land and water creatures are given important places in the course.
When the observations on the special animais
TEACHER.S'.
1~1
,vhich are heing investigated are complet~,
~ach student 'Vl;tes Rn acc01111t
of them. The
sciellce lectul'er agl'ee!; with the other lecturel'S in thinking it of the greatest impol-t.ance that stress shonld be laid on the l'ecording of observations ,,-ith all possible acC\11'aCY
and care. Plants al'e ohserved and stndied in
m11chthe same way as animals, and inve.c;tigations are made into the ways in which t.hey
are adapted to their special conditions of life.
Thronghout, plants and animals are studied
in connexion with one another. 'Ve have at
the Froebel Institute a room fitted up as a
Natul'al Histol'Y MI1!;eum, and this room is
made as little of a ma.usolenm as possible.
There are certainly in it a fe,v stuffed bil-ds, a
few skeleton!; of different anima Is, a fe,v stones,
birds' eggs and nests, and other !;Ilch specimens usually found in Natural History Exhibitions: but by far the greater number of
specimens are a~tuallJ" alive, and are the centl'e
of much interest, and also demand a good deal
of patient care on the part of the stndents.
There are sevel-al acluaria, sea and fresh water,
in "\\'hich may be seenvarious ""ater creatul'eS
and plants. There are also to be seen, val')-ing
,vith the time of year, cel-tail1 land cl'eatures
and plauts, e.g_,colonies of ants and bees at
,york, caterpillars, spiders, beetles, lizal-ds;
and a fe'\' lal'ger anilllals are kept in the
gal-den and other parts of the building.
The
students do a good deal of dra,\'ing and painting in connexion ,,-ith their K ature study.
Obser\'ations are l-ec~rded as much by pencil
and brush as bj- \'erbal and ,vritten descl-iptions. A small amouut of gal-dening is also
done: but as the children are obliged to l1se
the garden for a pla)-gi"O\1nd,our horticultul'Rl
possibilities al'e not very great. However, the
students ha\'e managed to cnltivate a number
of plants "\vhich have yielded material for
manJ'" "plant lessons," and in the ,,-inter
garden which connects the Demonstration
School with the College, theJT have started
seedling beds, and many young trees of different sorts are thl'i\'ing well thel'e.
The Natnl'e ,,-ork in the College is supplemented by visits to the Natural History
l:i2
CHiLD
1Iuseum at South Kellsi.nf!;ton, which are
generally nIade during the winter months,
\vhen field expeditions are difficult to arrange;
but in the spring and summer field work is of
the greatest ,alue.
The same place in the
country is generally visited t\VO or three times
in the yeaI', so that the students may see it in
its different a.c;peclc;accol-ding to the season,
and may study the creatures in the ponds, and
other animals and plants, in different stages
in their respecti,e life histories.
Several
visits aI'e also made to Ke\v in the course of
the session.
Each student keeps a Nature note-book,
which contains nIan)' dt'a\vings and paintings,
and often photogl'aphic and other illush'ations
to supplement the written record.
These
books are found of gl'eat value in stimulating
the students to use their eyes. The Natural
History lecturer's expelience is that there is a
general inclination on the pal'f, of the students
to go about at first looking for things to put into
these note-books; butgl'adually this nl0ti\'e is
replaced b)' a more genuiue aud scientific interest as their eyes become opened to the wonders
and beauties of K atUl'e al'ound about them.
'fhe Nature COUl'Seincludes lectures, \\'ith
experiments in elemel1tary physics, a.c;,veIl as
the botanyaud
zoology lectures.
Froebel
did not himself elaborate iu detail a Nature
study scheme, either for students or for childl'ell, but he speaks repeatedly of the necessity
of a life with, and a study of, NatUl'e-':a study
of animal and plant life, a study of natural
phenomena geneI'ally. III the "Mutter- und
Kose-Lieder," his most mature ,vork, neal'ly
every picture is placed in natural sUlToundings, and he continually l'efers to the ,'alue of
such surroundings, and to the thoughtful contemplation and study of them. He anticipates
much of the Nature ,vork as it is actnally
CaITied on in some of om' Froebelian and other
institutions to-day, but .he would probably
have regretted the unnatul'al surroundings of
some of our training colleges and schools.
Besides the kno\vledf{e and suggestions.
gained for actual \vork with the children, the
stndents themselves gain thl"Ough this Nature
LiFt/j.',
study course It gren! (felt! ()f \"fLluable sense
training;
t.hey ..tre h(,llled i() see, to hear, to
touch, ,vith discl1rninntio11 and intelligence;
they are helped to think and reason, to search
for the causes of (Oertain effect.os,iucludin~
those which outer conditions have upon animal
and plaut life, and rice t'erSil,and they al"e put
in a position to disco\-er the la,vs underlying
the various processes of N ature- A teacher
,vho has had such u-ailJillg has probably had her
sympathies ,yidened anJ deepened.. She is iJI
a better position to nnderstand human life, a."
,vell as the lower types of life. What I mean is
this-that
if a student has been accustomed to
notice ",hat effect outer conditions and cultivation have upon plaut and animal life, she will
be likely to realize more fully that the line and
state of developmeut of humau beings, too, is,
to a great extent, dependent on onter conditions. She is in a better position to understand, e.g., ho,v the Hindoo and the Hottentot
differ fl'om the J1:squimfluxand the Laplander.
She is able to l"e:.tlize that. different. treatment
is lIecessary in different strtges of life, Whell
she kno,vs something of the " natul"e," she is
in a position to apply the right kind of
" nurture."
She ",ill, consciousl)' or unconsciously, conte tv expect and respect law
and ol-der, and this \vill in itself have a great
influence on her charaet~l', aJld on her attitude
to life genel'3.lly, and indirectly on the character of the childl'en ","hoseeducation she is
called upon to undertake. Moreover, Nature
study is a SOUl"Ce
of gl'Cat enjoyment to those
,vho pursue it, and it is most important that
those who undertake the education of young
childl"en should have a keen illtel"est in life in
general.
Lectures in the "Pl'actice
of Education "
course aloegiveu on the teaching of geogl'3.phy
and history, and both of these are intimately
connected ,vith the Natlll'e
study topics.
Various places of historical interest are visited,
and oliginal sources of information are consillted, For example: the students visit the
British Museum and other museums. They
consillt original documents and plans and
drawing-s. The)' look at. tools and implements
TIlE
T.JlAINING
OF p"'ROEBELJAN TEAOHJiJRS.
Ilf all sortH alld all ages. '!'hey "isit Westminster Abl)cy ana othel' olrl churches and
places of historical interest.
'!'hey tl'aCe :t
river or stream to its source; they make
plans or charts of old London town, of the
model'll to,vn, and of suburbau and countl']
districts round abollt.
The lives and industries and ci,-ilization of primitive races
are specially studied, for it is these which
I\ppeal dil'ectI)- to younf{ children.
Th~
iolportance of the study of history and other
subjects lH discussed, aud also the considel'lltions ",hich guide our choice of material in the
,-arious sobjects.
I have not in this paper brollf{ht out the
ioterconnexion of the various studies or activities carried on in the Tl'8.ining College, and
the order of my references to them may therefore seem to ha\""e no underlying sequence or
continllity.
But in the "Practice of Education " classes in the Colle~e the interconnexion
of all studies, as ,veIl as their direct. relation
to the child, are continually made apparent
to the students.
As this is a paper on the tl-aining of teachers, and as the subject is a lar~e one, I ha\""e
been obliged to take much for gI-anted ,vitb
regard to the education of children-e.g., I
have not explained ,vhy or ho", youn~ children should learn to sing, ,vhy or how they
should leal'll history, geography, geometry, or
any other subject; nor have I explained ho,v
all subjects are practically one subject to a
young child, how the subjects are welded
together in his mind, aud ho,,' he gI'ows with
the ,velding; nor have I said why Froebel
advocates the teaching of Val-ious subjects to
childreu.
I had meant, when planning this
paper, to ,vrite a sho~.t introduction on the
edllcation of young children; fol' it seemed
almost flltile to discuss the training of teachers ,vithout some such Pl-eliminary.
But I
abandoned the idea because of the vastness of
the subject, and I have confined myself to the
tl'8.ining of teachel'S, and even here I have
been obliged to omit mauy connecting links.
To return to the actual subjects in the Practice of Education programme.
LectUI'eS on
D
133
stories ;tnd story-telling aloe given, and the
,-alne of stories in general am] of certain
claRReRof stories in particu]m' is discussed.
Typical stories and poems aloe analyzed and
criticized, and students are encouraged to read
works of high merit apart from the stories
and literature necessary for their direct work
,vith the children. Style and taste are thus
impro\'ed, and the student is able to illustrate
and describe with more n-eedom and general
cultivation.
Reading, and the teaching of reading,
have much time allotted to them in the Pl'aCtice of Educat,ion COUl"Se.'Ve discuss the ainl
in teaching reading, the age at ,vhich it should
be t..'tuf!,ht, and ho,v it should be taught.
Various nlethods of teaching children to l-ead
are explained, compared, and criticized, and
'vhat is considered a rational and educational
method is discussed in full and elaborated in
some detail. The subject-nlatter of the reading lesson is determined in the beginning by
the stories and Nature ,vork of the class, and
the simplest sounds, ""ith their corl-esponding
signs, symbols, and names, are learned by
degrees~and with as much order as possible.
The need for great care in distinct utterance'
"and enunciation is impressed upon the stndents, and they themselves have a certain
amount of pl'aCtice, though, perhaps, not
sufficient, in enunciating distinctly and pleasantly.
An important part of the students' course
is devoted to singing. This includes the singing of songs, voice and ear exercises, and the
leal"lling of the Tonic Sol-fa method of teaching. The genel'al treatment and compass of
children's voices aloediscussed, and the importance of time alld rhythm is not forgotten in
theory or omitted in practice. Clear enunciation in singing as well a.~in speech is insisted
upon, and a certain amount of time is given
to voice production.
Instrnmental music,
especially the piano, is encouraged whenever
possible, although it is not an essential qnalification for a student.
Kindergarten ga~es are played by the
students as a preparation for playing them
1:'.4
CHILD LIFJ;
\"ith the children, and the theory of games
and the value of play in general are discw;sed
in the lecture room at some length, and the
value of free play is not fol'gotten.
The teaching of arithmetic and geometry
is discussed, and a scientific ba.c;is for the
teaching of these subjects is al-Mved at, and
lessons are planned in aecordance with this
basis. Geometry lessons are ~ven to the
students thronghout the first year. The sub.iect is treated inductively, and is based primarily on experiment.
Great importance is
attached to aCCU.l'atedra\,'ing and measurement, and to all methods of pl'Oof that app~al
special))T to young pupils. aud therefore much
attention is given to the construction and 1lse
of simple apparatus which helps a beginner
to the more vivid realization of geometrical
tlouths. There a.re, in the earlier part of the
coul'Se, abundant numerical and other i1111Stl"ations, and, later on, more fol"Inal reasoning.
The Kindergarten Gifts and Occupations, as
well a.c;other concrete material, al'e continuall)T
made nse of by way of illustration and pl"aCtic.'tl demonstration.
Fanliliarity
,vith the
pl"Ocessesof alTiving at mathematical tl'Uths
by experiment and inquiry, and readiness at
deviBing illustl'ations
are considered all-important. The arithmetic teaching gro,vs out
of the geometry teaching.
The students have a dl"a,ving lesson every
,veek throughout the session. Most of the
drawing is on blackboards or on lar~e sheets
of brown paper, and colom'ed chalks al'e sometimes used. PaI-t of the course is given in
connexion ,vith the N atw'e work, e.g., if the
students aI'e stndying birds, they will dl~'V
birds at their drawing lesson. The dra,ving
of leaves, buds, seeds, flowers, shells, animals,
and parts of animals, finds a place in
the com'se. They are dra'Vll in several positions, and the light and shade are indicated, and
these and other forms are also used for basis
in design. Students are taug-ht to simplify,
and to fix their attention on a few strn;ctural
lines. Rapid sketches are also made, such as
might be used for illustrating stories and
lessons in th,e Kindej'gal-ten and school, the
art teacher t'riticizing
the ]I]at~illg of the
sketch, the time taken, and tIle eleal'leRs and
effectiveness of the dr.lwingR ,v]len seen from
a diRtance. The ,vriting
of letters and
numerals is PI'8.Ctisedand their form c&l"Cfu1]y
considered.
LessonRare also given in hl"11sh-paintingand
c1a}--model]ing, in Froebel's GiftR And Occnpations, and in other foruls of ed11cationa]
halld,vork. One of the most Cllnlmon popn1ar
errors in relation to the Kin,lergal't.~n Rystenl
is that it me~tnsteaching chil(lrell a]1 RI,rtRof
Rtra11gehand,vork.
Little ba!;kets made of
stit:kR alld l-ibbon, outline n1aps to he pricked
and se..vn,(.v'c.,constitnte in the minds of some
peop1ea complete course of Fl'Oebelian teaching. In toy shops one often sees II Kinder~rten " stamped on boxes containiug all sort.s
of strange collections of embossed cardboal-d,
,vires. bits of cork, and the like, 'vith directions ho\v to perform the niggling trickc;. On
the other band, it is eqnally incol'l'ect tQ
il1la~ine any complete course ,vllich doeR not
jnc1nde hand,vork as an essentia1 part. For
this l'eason a student entering a Froebelian
training c011egejs under a great disadvantnge
jf her ., fingel'S are all thumbs"; and even jf
Rhe ]U1Sa natul'al capacity for band,vork, a
fair amouut of time must be devoted to prRCtisi11g specia] kinds, and to nsing her hands
g~nel'1111y. Hand,vork is tanght. jn Froe11e1ian
trnilli11g' colleges in such ~I ,va)'" that, in the
COUl'Se
of acquiring the art, a kno,v1edge is also
gained of the reasons for its use ".ith chi1dren,
and a1so Qf the method of teaching it tQ
children.
It is thus seen that theory and
pl'aCtice are continually inter\vo,'en. In the
theoretica] study of psycho]')g)-, the lessons
are drawn n'On1 the pra.ctice in the schools,
a11di1J.the pl'a.ctical teaching of hand,,'ork the
Plinciples of psychology are ne,er forgotten.
One ofteu sees on the time-table in schools not
conducted according to Fl'Oebel's pt-inciples
the ".ord ':Kindergarten,"
,,-hjch means that
half an ham' or an honr a day, as the case may
be, is devoted to some form of handwork,
genel-ally absolut~ly unconnected with the rest
of the curriculum.
}!'roebeliau students aloe
7'IlE
TIl.4INllVG
OF /,'ROEBEIJAN
trained to teach handwork in connexion ,vith
other sub.iects, and fl.., a part of the ordinary
Kindergarten
or preparatory-school
'york.
Some of it is done in connexion ,vith the more
formal topics of the curriculum,
with the
teachin[I, of form and number; but a great part
is done as pure ~elf-expression work. With
the students, as ",ith the children, the hand",ork to be educational must be head,vork as
,veil -;lS Iland\vork.
The hand is h-a,ined
thl"OUgl1tIle bl'-;till, and vice reT.,.u. The po,ver
over m-;\,terial things brin~s ,vill-po\vel', and
funds of p:ltience are developed. In hand,vork
the student has plenty of opportunity of sho,ving her originality as well as her actual skill
in doing. Part of the hand\vork COUl'Seis for
graded exercises, and pa.rt is for exPl'ession.
There is system instead of haphazard, and
there is po\ver of resource in adapting nlemlS
to ends. Intel'est in handwork al"Ousesintel'est
in people \vho do Jlandwork, and creates J'espect for those ,vho al'e engaged in mannal
pUI'Suits. The value of hand,vork on the life
and chal'acter of those ,vho pl'actise it has
been 80 foll.\- discllssed and ackno,vledged of
late that I ren~Lin nOOn1speaking at greater
length on the subject to-night.
It is fonnd
t_lat the manum ,vork in the training college
tends to strengthen the social corpor:lte lifc
among the students. It helps them to ,vork
together, and gives them po,ver in many ways
of ,vorking for others, aud of coming more in
touch ,vith the ontside ,vorld.
In the Demonstl-ation School the stndents
have every opportnnity of observing good
methods of teaching hand,vork as ,veIl as
other subjects. In the Practising School they
themsel,-es ha,-e considel-a,ble resporlsibi.1ities
with regard to the training and teaching of
young child1'en. As the. children in the Demonstl'ation School vary in age from three to
fourteen, 'and those in the Practising School
from three to ten, students al'e enabled to
observe gl'aded methods of instruction and are
able to study children continuously.
And
they not only study methods of instl"Uction
and get an insight into child nature and child
development, but they themselves become an
'/'.!IJACTlEll.'i.
1,."
,>,.1
integral part of the corpo1.':.tte
life of a school,
which is a matter of great importance.
The teaching pl'actice of each student is
overlooked and criticized by the class mistress
or the Mistress of Method. K otes of lessons
are handed in 1;0them before the lessons ~.tre
'f!:iven, and these notes are criticized and
Ruggestions are made to impro,-e the teachingAlthough most of the R1udents' lessonR are
supervised nn~ criticized, .)'et there are nl,,'~.tYS
a fe"" in the coul".';e,vhi(:l, the student is nllo,ved to give entirely on her o,vn initiati,'e.
Besides the daily RUPCl'yisiou,there is also
the weekly" criticism lesson"-a more fol'lllal
aud public operatiou. The students in rotntion give lessons to a class of children in the
presence of the other students and some of
the lecturel"S and class tcachel"S. The stndents
;illd lecture)".'; then Ineet and di~cuss the lessons which have been given. In the Junior
Division the criti~ism take~ place dnring the
hour after the lessons have been given. 'l'here
is plenty of fl.ee and spontaneons discussion;
the main responRibility l'ests ,vith the mistress
iu chal-ge of the claRs. The student ,\-ho has
'f!:iveu the lesson joinR ill the dis('nssion and
.justifies herself or lli)t, as the case may be.
There is no lack of good hnmonr sho,vn
throllghout.
In the Senior DiviRion, ",here
the students have beeu stlldying psychology,
the criticism takes place the da)' after the
lessons have been given. In thiR Di"ision the
stndeut who has t."lught, and one or t",o othel"S,
read aloud to the rest of the class the Cliticisms \vhich the)' 11ave cnrefnlly prepat'ed
durin#{ the t\vent.y-four hours, the Mistress of
Method raises the V"al-ionspoints ,,'hich she
considel'S necessary, and the students contlibute their share to the discussion. ""Ve
have a schedule containing suggestions as to
points to be considered in criticizil1g class instruction, but the students are not b)T any
means bound to n-ame then' cl-iticism on the
direct lines of the schedule, although the
schedul~ itself is very elastic.
It will be seen here again that evel'Yeffort
is made to co-m'dinnte theory ,vith pl'aCtice.
Psychology aud theoretic-"!l subjects at'e
13(;
OHILTJ Lll"'Ji;.
studied with greater zeal because they are
conne('te<l ,vith the practical
work
of the
school, and vice versa. The.' theory"
springs
from and returns to practice during the whole
period of t.rainintr,.
Theory and practice each
receives dne consideration, and neither is considered sound or satisfactory
unless it is discussed in the light of the other.
The lectures
given to the students in the College supplement and explain the practical work in the
Schools.
Some of the members of the
Schools
staff
lecb]re
in t11C College, and
some of th~m attend the lectures given by
other lecturers.
'l'hey themselves have been
fully h'ained.
The ,vork of the various
lecturers
is
planned to admit of as much co-operation as
possible, and certain alterations are made in
the respective programmes
for the sake of
unity in the genel'al scheme. Unit), is a favourite topic ,vith Froebel, and balance is a ,vord
which should be ,vrit large in e,"ery Froebelian
tl'aining college.
The COl'}JOl-atelife tends to
the realizatiou
of unity
in the actions and
feelings
of the students,
and the whole
J!'l'Oebelian training helps theul to balance the
opposiug factol'S ,vhich Uleet them at every
step in life, and to reunite these in:.. manlier
,vhich ensures progress as ,veIl as steadiness.
Individuality
and social life act and react
npon one another.
'l'he training
scheme is
planned ,vith a view t.o gl-adually l'aising the
character of the student t.o the high standal'd
requil'ed
for her chosen profession.
'l'hel'e
are, of course, physical,
as ,veIl as mental,
defects of a nature which cannot be removed
by any traiuiug,
and it is not advisable to
place near children in the privileged
position
of a teacher anyone
possessed of strongly
marked peculiarities
of an undesil-able nature.
As far as intellectual
qualifications
al'e
COnCel'lled, the present system of training
is
often handicapped
by the fact that man.)'
students come to the training
colleges with
insufficient
genel-al education.
They have tQ
be taught not only ho,v to tea~h, but the subject-matter
itself.
This difficulty
is met by
regular classes in some of the most important
subjects, but severa] have to be picked IIp ill a
less satisfactol")' n1allJler, and often in tIle
actual prepal'ation of lessons to be given to :t
class of chi]dren.
'l'his is far belo,v the id(~al
standard, and ,ve must hope that in time an
students beginning a course of pl"Ofessional
trainin,g' ",i]1 be so equipped ,vith kno,v]edge
l-ationally acquired, that they will be able to
devot~ their ",hole time and energy to the
study of principleR uuderlying the n1ethods of
teaching, allU to the undisturbed effort of
c.arr.\'illg theRe principles into practice. ",. e
are .illst;iiied in hoping for this by the fact that.
dllring the last t,ventj' years there has been a
distinct improvement in the education and
genel'al cultivation of young ,vomen con1ing to
1!'l'Oebelianclllleges toObe trained, and there is
no doubt, too, that improved methods' of
teaching children will, by degl'ees, l-aise the
genel-al education of those, among others, ,,-ho
choose Kinderf!;m'ten t.eaching as their profession. On the other hand, the Board of
~dllclttion has, through its refusal t.o recognize,
in it", scheme of Secondary Education, those
,vho concern themselves "\vith the education of
children be]o,v the Itge of t,velve, distinctly
discouraged the tl-aining of teachers for such
work, and it is therefore like]j- that fe,ver,
l'llther than nlol'e, culi.ivated women wi]] devote them$e]ves t.o this most impol'tant bl-anch
or root of t.lIe ",ork. Absence of official recognition n1ay deter many ,veIl-qualified
"'omen from undertaking this work, and must
also lo"'er the status of this branch of the profession. The professional training at present
requil'ed for a Kindergarten teacher is longer,
and therefol'e mOl'e expensive, than that reqnil'ed for the teachiug of older children, and
hence fewer students will be likely to chooseit.
Ho,vever, as children will continue to be
)Touugbefore they are old, and as it is no,,' an
almost universally acknowledged fact that
later education is greatly impeded, and sometimes made impossible, by faulty education in
early jTeal"S,,ve can only hope that those who
are responsible for the' organization and
furtherance of education in this countl'Y will
soon make good theil' stl'ange omission, and
THE TRAINING
OF FROEBELIAN
will pay !;I,ucifu Ilttmltion to the educatioll of
young cllil(ll.cn, f1110to tIle tI-aining oftelt(~h(~I'!;
to un(lertak(: such ".ork.
J cannot col1clllde witbout explaining th~..t
J ha.ve not ~..tt.en1ptcd tc) give an exl1anstive
account of the metl10ds of tl-aiI1ing Froehelial1
teacher,';, hut J hll.ve selected those pointR
which I tl1ink most characteristic of the whole
system. Th~ essence of Froebel's teaching is
perhaps centred in the idea that no early
education can be ,vorthy of the name ,vhich
is not founded upon an intimate knowledge of
child life, cl1ild. development.
Froel1el bids
us coI1tinuaJly stndy the child we aloe trying
to educate, and plan the education accordingly.
In t,11e,vindo,v of a shoe-sl1op in Hampstead there is a large card ,vith these ,vords
upon it: ., Shoes made to fit the feet." Such
a notice may seem absurd; and yet there are
many shoe~ made, in England and else,vhere,
,vhich al.'enot likely to fit any feet-and ,ve
must remember, too, that all feet are not
exactly tile same shape. It has Pl'Obably
becn the experie11ceof many of us to ha~-e our
feet madc to fit our shoes; our feet are pinched
into, or ,vobblc about in, ill-fitting shoes. '!'he
shoes may be all riy,ht in thcmselves, they
may be perfectly made and beautifully
finished off, but unless they are planned to
fit the feet that are to go into them, they may
do more harm than y,ood. And what applies
to shoes, and to clothing geuerally, applies
also to education. Accol-ding to Froebel true
educatiou cannot be put on c,ready-made."
Perhaps Fl'Oebel did not tell us every thinghe has not said the last word in edllcation;
but he certainly told us much. He told IlS to
stndy individllal
children and groups of
childrell; he told us to study children in relation to their environment, alld to make a
special study of the life of N atllre; he emphasized the val11e of play, the val11e of song
and rhythm, and all forms of human activity
-especially what he calls creative self-activ-
'fJ-:Af)lIEl/.5'.
.13i
ity; he f;pok(~ of tile importance of h:-l.vi11g
children RurrOUII«C«IIY r(:fj11t~O
and eouCc'1.tcu
people, a11dh)' tllo~e WIll) had Rtudied StJ~ic.f."
aR well :I..,childl"f:II, alia ,,"ere in a position to
instruct childl'en. He may not have elab(ll"ated all the (let.~til~,ana, thankR to l~tt..ercdl1cationiRts, \,"e may have impl'Oved on !;omc of
Froebel's actnal methods, and maJ- have h3.<l
ot.her sound principleR put before us; but he
ce:.,tainly inRtituted many ,vise guiding la\vs,
and on tho!;e la\vs many of us continue to
,york with gl"eat faith and hope.
There is still much for us to learn, for U!;
to do, before \"e can be b'ue to the princip1e!'
of education set forth by l!'roebel, and tl"11etI)
the work \,"hil~his before us as educators.
It may be of interest to Rome of those
present to know that the Froebel Institute i!;
just entering on its t\velfth year of \vork, and
it is a pleasul'e to me to ackno,vledge that
many of the remarks I have made to-night
have been directly or inail"ectly suggested to
me by n1). colleagues during my int.el'COul'5e
with then1. They ,vould possibly ,vish me t.Q
explain, ho\vever, that they are not responsible
for the expl"essionof their vie,vs in this paper.
The ,york is carried on as much as. possib1e in
the spirit and on the lines planned or indicated by its first and deeply honoured Principal, Madanle Michaelis, whose influence 011
the education of young childrell in this counu.y
has been incalculable.
She was a staunch
disciple of Froebel, and was always ready to
see ne,v light in the application of his principles of education.
The principles taught by Froebel, since
they rest upon a fundamental basis, cannot
become antiquated, nor can they ever cea~e
to inspire and guide his disciples. But the
development of method in the application and
adaptation of these principles is constantly
advisable and indeed necessary. As Herbart
says: ..The ever ne\v life should ever create
the scho01anew."
E. E. LA."'R1:NCE.