Sunday, July 6, 2008
Lascarides & Hinitz (2000)- Chapters 9-11
During the kindergarten movement in the United States, many of the key players of this period had personal connections with each other. Describe some of the key relationships among these influential educators and how these acquaintanceships shaped the growth of kindergarten in this country.
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Kindergarten Connections
Kindergarten was the innovation of the German educator Froebel. After the 1848 revolution, many Germans came to the United States to escape the tension in their country. This migration helped to introduce the United States to this early childhood program.
Several educators who studied with Froebel influenced kindergarten in the United States. Caroline Luise Frankenberg began the first kindergarten in this country although Margarethe Schurz is the one often credited with this accomplishment. Another student of Froebel, Maria Boelte established a kindergarten in New York City. These women not only started these institutions but also influenced other educators of the time.
Both Frankenburg and Schurz met and informed Elizabeth Palmer Peabody about kindergarten. Peabody was one of the prominent figures in establishing kindergarten in Massachusetts. She not only influenced educators in the northeast but also across the country. For example, after giving a speech about Froebel’s kindergarten, the Chicago Women’s Club helped to support the city’s first kindergarten established by Alice Putnam.
Similar to other teachers of the time, Putnam opened a training school. She trained Elizabeth Harrison and Anna Bryan. Harrison was the president of the Chicago Kindergarten Club and Bryan developed the Free Kindergarten Association in Louisville. In addition, Bryan influenced Patty Smith Hill’s training.
Boelte not only taught young children she also trained teachers about Froebel’s ideas. One of her students was Susan Blow. Blow instructed students in the first public kindergarten in St. Louis. In addition, Blow began a training program for educators interested in learning how to implement these ideas. Blow and Hill met at Teacher’s College where they both were part of the education faculty and were both players in the heated debate between proponents of conservative kindergartens (Blow) and liberal(Hill). In addition, Boelte had another influential student, Alice Putnam.
As demonstrated above, the kindergarten movement in the United States included several individuals who influenced major figures. The examples indicated are only a few of the many connections among educators during the implementation of this new program for young children in this country.
I wanted to make a connection to Froebel and his nephew Carl and Wife Johanna Küstner Froebel who provided much of the impetus for teacher training for Froebel's kgn. I had not previously read of them in the literature. In 1851 all Froebel kgn. were banned and one of the leaders bringing kgn back was Bertha von Marenholtz- Bülow (1811-1893),[ Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions] she helped revive the kgn movement in Europe England, France, Belgium and Italy, after this Germany became more lenient toward the kgn philosophy as it later spread to american shores through emigration.
Margarethe Schurz with her husband Carl , founded the first American kindergarten in Wisconsin in 1853. [ Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions]. The womens movement in particular in Germany and other European countries, along with immigration to escape the German stronghold were also two factors influencing how kgn. came to the U.S. Margarethe and Carl Schurz influenced Elizabeth Palmer Peabody who later influenced other kgn teachers in the southern states.
Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions
http://www.ohiou.edu/~Chastain/contrib.htm
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