Froebel's ideas on early education
Influenced by Pestalozzi, Froebel wrote The Education of Man (1826) and in 1837 founded an institution for young children in Blankenburg, which he named the 'Kindergarten' (children's garden) in 1840. The name meant that, as a gardener tends plants, the teacher helps the child's nature to grow.
- Principle of unity: God, nature and humanity are connected as one, and the divine is present in every child.
- Play: he saw play as the purest and most spiritual activity of early childhood and put it at the centre of education.
- Gifts and occupations: 'gifts' (Gaben) such as balls, spheres, cylinders and building blocks helped children grasp form, number and relationships, and 'occupations' such as paper folding and sewing let them express themselves.
- Mother songs and games: songs and finger plays connected home and education.
Montessori's ideas on early education
A physician, Montessori drew on her work with children with intellectual disabilities to open the Casa dei Bambini (Children's House) in a poor district of Rome in 1907, and made her approach known through The Montessori Method (English translation 1912).
- Absorbent mind: children from birth to six absorb their environment unconsciously, like a sponge (The Absorbent Mind, 1949).
- Sensitive periods: there are periods when particular abilities such as order, language, the senses and movement are acquired easily.
- Prepared environment: child-sized furniture and orderly materials are provided and children choose freely.
- Materials and self-correction: sensorial materials such as the cylinder blocks are designed so that children can see their own mistakes, and the teacher observes and guides rather than instructs.
- Practical life exercises: activities such as pouring and buttoning build independence and concentration.
Similarities and differences
Both respected children's spontaneity and inner development and valued sensory experience and concrete objects. But Froebel stressed play and symbolism, a religious idea of unity and teacher-led group activities, while Montessori stressed scientific observation, individual 'work' and realistic activities, and was relatively reserved about pretend play.
Evaluation
Froebel's kindergarten became the origin of kindergarten systems around the world (Brosterman, 1997), and Montessori education is still practised in many schools. Lillard (2005) argued that many of Montessori's principles fit modern developmental research, but the symbolism of the gifts and the fixed use of materials have been criticised as too rigid. Their emphasis on the child's active construction also links them to Piaget.
References
- Fröbel, F. (1826). Die Menschenerziehung. Keilhau. (Hailmann, W. N., Trans. (1887). The Education of Man. D. Appleton.)
- Montessori, M. (1912). The Montessori Method (A. E. George, Trans.). Frederick A. Stokes.
- Montessori, M. (1949). The Absorbent Mind. Theosophical Publishing House.
- Lillard, A. S. (2005). Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. Oxford University Press.
- Brosterman, N. (1997). Inventing Kindergarten. Harry N. Abrams.