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Special Collections & Archives: Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies

Details about the three repositories held at the University of Roehampton: the main Foyle Special Collections & Archives, the Whitelands College Archive, and the Southlands College Archive

Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies

The Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies was established in 1977 and focuses on Friedrich Froebel’s educational legacy, early years and elementary education. It holds a variety of books, administrative records, staff and student registers, minutes of meetings, photograph albums and student work, reflecting on the history of the Froebel College and its student life. In 2008, the Froebel Trust, formally known as the National Froebel Foundation, deposited its comprehensive historical archive collection with the Foyle Special Collections and Archives. The two collections are a unique historical record of the Froebel movement in the UK.

A selection of key Froebelian texts, including the journal Child Life have been digitised and are available via our Special Collections Digital Resources. 

 

Who is Friedrich Froebel? 

Friedrich Froebel (1782 – 1852) is regarded as one of the most influential educationalist of the nineteenth century, inventor of the concept and word Kindergarten, and responsible for the first training programmes for female kindergarten teachers. He opened his first Play and Activity Institute in 1837 which he renamed in Kindergarten in 1840.    

In addition to the Kindergarten, Froebel is best known for his creation of the Gifts, an ordered sequence of building block as educational toys. 

For more information on the Gifts and Friedrich Froebel's educational principles, visit the Froebel Trust website.

Holdings

 

Books and Pamphlets

  • Froebel’s writings in English and German including first editions of Die Menschenerziehung (The Education of Man) and the Mutter- und Kose-Lieder (Mother-Play and Nursery Songs); English and German commentaries on Froebelian ideology; texts on the kindergarten movement; texts and children’s books representing the Froebel curriculum – including Nature Study, Handwork, Block Play, Art and Drawing, Music and Movement and Story-telling
  • Texts on the history and philosophy of education; texts representing distinctive approaches by other educationists, including Rousseau, Pestalozzi, McMillan, Montessori, Dewey and Steiner; historical texts on kindergarten, nursery, infant and primary education, and the history of women’s education; and key Government reports and legislation
  • Texts on child development and welfare and educational psychology – including John Bowlby, Arnold Gesell, Anna Freud, Susan Isaacs, Melanie Klein, Jean Piaget, James Sully and Donald Winnicott
  • Historical children’s literature, including chap-books, fiction, legends and fairytales and reading schemes
  • Publications of the Froebel Society and the National Froebel Foundation     

 

Journals

  • A complete set of the Froebel Society journal Child Life and its successors the National Froebel Foundation Bulletin  and Froebel Journal
  • New Era – the journal of the New Education Fellowship, the key organisation for progressive education
  • Other journals related to education and teaching

 

Objects

  • Froebel’s Gifts and Occupations
  • Teaching apparatus and games by Montessori
  • Other objects relating to Froebel education and the history of the Froebel College

 

    

Archives

Archives of Froebel Educational Institute (later Froebel College), founded 1892, including:

  • Administrative and financial records
  • Material relating to FEI buildings and grounds, and the history of Grove House
  • Publicity material including prospectuses and press cuttings
  • Curriculum material including syllabi, course description and examination papers
  • Material relating to the Demonstration Schools and other schools associated with the FEI
  • A large collection of student coursework, such as notebooks, scrapbooks and samplers covering the range of taught subjects
  • Papers relating FEI principals, members of staff, and persons associated with the FEI, including correspondence and lecture notes. These include Mme Emilie Michaelis, Claude Montefiore, Esther Lawrence, Eglantyne Jebb and Molly Brearley
  • Material relating to Friedrich Froebel
  • Photographs and photographic albums relating to the above

 

 

Multi-Media Materials

 

Other Archives of the Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies

The Froebel Archive holds a number of other archive collections with specific link to early childhood education and the FEI:

  • Chris Athey (1924 - 2011) Collection: research papers relating to the Froebel Early Education Project (c 1969 - 1978), and papers relating to the concept of Schema, and Athey's thesis on Humour
  • Elinor Goldschmied (1910 - 2009) Collection: video (c 1953 - 1992) and book material relating to her pioneering work on the Treasure Basket, Heuristic Play and Key Person approach

National Froebel Foundation Archive

The National Froebel Foundation, now the Froebel Trust is a registered charity promoting the value and relevance of Froebelian principles to the education and learning of children in the 21st century on a national and international level. The National Froebel Foundation Archive comprises a unique historical record of the Froebel and kindergarten movement in the UK.

Holdings

  • Complete set of meeting minute books and reports of the Froebel Society (FS), the National Froebel Union (NFU), National Froebel Foundation (NFF), Froebel Educational Institute (FEI) and affiliated committees from 1874 until 1974
  • Student registers – the complete set of the FS, NFU and NFF teacher certificate registers 1874 – 1962
  • Financial records
  • Lecture notebooks of Joachim Liebschner

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