Fig. 43.-Der Zimmermann (The Carpenter). (Reproduced by permission of D. Appleton and Company from the Eliot and Blow edition of Froebel's Mother Play.)

local ideals,

discipline.

children, and the relatively simple village life of Froebel's experience, and that it needs considerable modification bondage to to suit other countries and the industrial organization of society to-day. Also the argument of 'formal disci- and formal pline' for care and accuracy in the use of the gifts, and the insistence upon the employment of every part of each gift upon all occasions in the exact order mentioned by Froebel, have been shown to violate the principles of modern psychology. His more liberal disciples, however, realize that it is the spirit of his underlying principles, and not the letter of his practice, that should be followed, and have constantly struggled to keep the kindergarten matter and methods in harmony with the times and the environment.

weakness in

A more serious hindrance to the acceptance of Froebelianism has arisen from his peculiar mysticism and Greatest symbolism. Since all things live and have their being symbolism and in and through God and the divine principle in each is mysticism. the essence of its life, everything is liable to be considered by Froebel as symbolic in its very nature, and he often resorts to fantastic and strained interpretations. Thus with Froebel the cube becomes the symbol of diversity in unity, the faces and edges of crystals all have mystic meanings, and the numbers three and five reveal an inner significance. At times this symbolism descends Fantastic and into a literal and verbal pun, where it seems to a modern trines. that Froebel can hardly be in earnest. Further, he holds that general conceptions are implicit in the child, and each of these can be awakened by 'adumbration,' that is, by presenting something that will symbolically represent that particular 'innate idea.' Thus, in treating the gifts and games, he maintains that from a ball the

vague doc

Notion that

nature may

illumine men

tal and social laws.

Most essential to conservatives.

Effect upon pupils.

Borrowed from others,

pupils gather an abstract notion of 'unity.' Moreover, because God is the self-conscious spirit that originated both man and nature, and everything is interconnected, he believes that each part of the universe may throw light on every other part, and constantly holds that a knowledge of external nature,-such as the formation of crystals, will enable one to comprehend the laws of the mind and of society.

Unfortunately, this mystic symbolism, vague and extreme as it is, is regarded by the strict constructionists among the kindergartners as the most essential feature in Froebelianism, and they expect the innocents in their charge to reveal the symbolic effect of the material upon their minds. There is no real evidence for supposing that such associations between common objects and abstract conceptions exist for children. But such an imaginary symbolic meaning may be forced upon an object by the teacher, and pupils in conservative kindergartens soon learn to adopt certain phrases and attitudes that imply such mystic meaning. This often tends to foster insincerity and sentimentalism rather than to inculcate abstract truth through symbols. Had Froebel possessed the enlarged knowledge of biology, physiology, and psychology that is available for one living in the twentieth century, it is unlikely that he would have insisted upon the symbolic foundations for his pedagogy. His excellent practice is heavily handicapped by these interpretations, and might as easily have been inferred from very different positions in modern psychology.

But Froebel has had a most happy effect upon education as a whole. In some respects he utilized features from other reformers. We can see that he adopted many

of Pestalozzi's objective methods in geography, natural history, arithmetic, language, drawing, writing and reading, and constructive geometry; reiterated Rousseau's views upon the infallibility of nature; and advocated the physical training and excursions as a means of study that are stressed by both these reformers. In his use of stories, legends, fables, and fairy-tales, he paralleled his contemporary, Herbart, in his influence upon the curriculum. But in his emphasis upon motor expression and social but unique in participation, together with his advocacy of a school sion, social participation without books or set tasks, Froebel was unique, and and informal made a most distinctive contribution to educational practice. And whenever the real significance of his principles has been comprehended, they have been recognized as the most essential laws in the educational process, and are valued as the means of all effective teaching.

motor expres

school.

Contribution

Froebel himself never fully worked out his theories in connection with schooling beyond the kindergarten, but all stages of education have now come to realize the value to all stages of of discovering and developing individuality by means of education. initiative, execution, and coöperation; and spontaneous activities, like play, construction, and occupational work, have become more and more the means to this end. For example, the 'busy work,' 'whittling,' 'claymodeling,' 'sloyd,' and other types of 'manual training' have to a large degree sprung from the influence of Manual training through Froebel. Uno Cygnæus (1810-1888), who started the Cygnæus manual training movement, owed his inspiration to Froebel and his own desire to extend the kindergarten occupations through the grades. As a result of his efforts, Finland in 1866 became the first country in the world to