HISTORY OFPRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN EUROPE

19th century

era of nursery school-kindergarten education that heavily influenced the American movement

Charitable enterprises- earliest institutions- founded to care for the children of the

rural and urban poor while their parents and older siblings worked

1767: Johann Friedrich Oberlin

FRANCE------------------------------------------------------------------------------Salles d’asile (rooms of the asylum/hall of refuge)

– infant school for the care and schooling of small children while their parents worked in the fields

1833: French government made this part of the national educational system

similar schools had been founded in a number of French and German cities

1767: Johann Friedrich Oberlin

FRANCE------------------------------------------------------------------------------Principles of Oberlin’s Instructional methods• Expose children to clean, warm, and cheerful environments• Provide safe place• Keep children busy by teaching useful and practical skills• Teach about nature• Teach contours of the land and the wider world• Teach manners, cleanliness, hygiene• Awaken intelligence and simulate imagination• Create in the hearts of children a love for God• Reduce isolation by teaching French

1816: Robert Owen

SCOTLAND------------------------------------------------------------------------------social reformerInstitute for the Formation of Character - part of his model community to create a better society - took care of children (18 mos – 10 yrs old) of workers at cotton mills - has separate infant classes (2 – 5 yrs old) - campaigns for education as key to eradicate society’s problems, and make people happier and more fulfilled - evening class for adults

1816: Robert Owen

SCOTLAND------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rules in Infant School• Never beat any one of the children or to threaten

them in any word or action or to use abusive terms• Tell the infants and children that they must on all

occasions do all they could to make their playfellows happy• No child should be forced in any way• Children were not to be annoyed with books

1829: Ferrante Aporti

ITALY------------------------------------------------------------------------------Roman Catholic priestdissatisfied with the progress children made in elementary

Infant School- intellectual, physical, and moral training for preschool children- con: children were required to sit in rows in large

classrooms, recite lessons, and spend hours doing reading, writing, and arithmetic

1837: Freidrich Froebel

GERMANY------------------------------------------------------------------------------• believed that educating children was similar to

cultivating plants; and• childhood was a special phase in life (which an individual

learns a lot through play)• coined the term kindergarten (children’s garden)• 25 years after his death, kindergartens had been started

in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States

1837: Freidrich Froebel

GERMANY------------------------------------------------------------------------------Educational Philosophy• provide an environment for young children that

fostered self-direction, spontaneous play, and close relationship with nature

• children have innate creativity• children should not be subjected to formal instruction• children should learn through ‘self-activity’ – play and

imitation• children should be allowed to rest

1907: Maria Montessori

ITALY------------------------------------------------------------------------------researcher in educational theory who had studied medicine in Rome

1899: began her studies of educational problems while working with culturally deprived and mentally deficient children at Orthophrenic School

Casa dei Bambini (the children’s home) – applied her theories to normal children

1907: Maria Montessori

ITALY------------------------------------------------------------------------------Montessori Method• stresses cleanliness and self-help• children should be free to succeed and learn without

restriction or criticism• children learn in their own way at their own pace• Freedom to work must be combined with self-

discipline and respect for authority

BEFORE WWI: McMillan

Margaret and Rachel McMillan (ENGLAND)------------------------------------------------------------------------------• group training of children• established nursery schools in the slum districts of

London to help improve the physical and mental condition of children• established an open-air nursery for poor children in

Deptford• aimed to make up for any neglect of the children at

home and to provide early schooling and care

BEFORE WWI: McMillan

Margaret and Rachel McMillan (ENGLAND)------------------------------------------------------------------------------McMillan’s Method• Concerned for the health and well-being of working

class children• Stressed the need for health care and proper

nourishment, hygiene, exercise, and fresh air• Allowed free access to play areas and gardens and

was not predicated upon a fixed time schedule