The key ideas and the influence of Freidrich Froebel in education at our present time and what can we learn from him as educators to influence education system in our country. I have tried to explain in the context of Tanzania. Moreover i hope you will enjoy reading this short article Lubeleje Daudi

1. PRESENTATION: EDU 202
Author: DAUDI LUBELEJE BAED (EM)
bmakulu@gmail.com
MZUMBE UNIVERSITY
(C) 2014
FRIEDRICH FROEBEL:
QNS: Discuss the key ideas and the influence of the following educators in education (a) Paulo Freire (b)
J.K Nyerere and (c) Freidrich Froebel
Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) in Oberweisbach, in what is now East Germany. He was a germany
educator and an idealist who believed the following;
(I) Play as a means of engaging children in self-activity for the purpose of
(1) Externalizing their inner natures and
(2) A way of imitating and trying out various adult roles.
(II) Every human being had a spiritual essence and that every person had spiritual worth and
dignity. (“Spiritual mechanism”). He believed strongly on Spiritual mechanism because his view of
education was closely related to religion.
(III) Every child had within him, all he was to be at birth ( educational potential), and that the
proper educational environment was to encourage the child to grow and develop in an optimal manner.
Froebel came out with the following key ideas which has influenced education from his time up to the
present time, these are;
Free Self-expression. Self-activity is defined as the development of qualities and skills that make it
possible to take an invisible idea and make it a reality. Under this idea froebel introduced a free play as
means for child to take invible idea and make it reality. Free play consisted of things like songs.
Creativity. To make child creative froebel divided learning into Gifts and Occupations. A gift was an
object given to a child to play with--such as a ball--which helped the child to understand the concepts of
shape, dimension, size, and their relationships. Occupations were items such as paints and clay which the
children could use to make what they wished. Through the occupations, children externalized the
concepts existing within their minds.
Gifts and Occupations made the child to be creative in sense that they led a child to make some
comparison, demonstration, testing, and have creative exploration activities
Social participation. Under this idea Froebel stresses the role of parents in education. Froebel pointed
out that parents provide the first and the most consistent educational influence in a child's life. Froebel

2. said so because a child learns through observations of daily family life. Also parents just help with
lunchtime supervision, others accompany the children on field trips or volunteer to assist with special
events.
Motor-expression. This refers to learning by doing as opposed to following rote instructions/ learning. In
contrary to passive learning where learner/child is just being with the content from teachers, the child
must engage directly in learning, being active in learning process. Froebel stresses that child should be
allowed to shape his own mold and grow at his own pace through the developmental stages of the
educational process.
Generally Froebel ideas can placed under a single category known as LEARNER-CENTRED
APPROACH which is anchored on the needs and interests of the child. Also under this learner centered
approach the learner is not considered as a passive individual but as one who engages with his/her
environment. One learns by doing. Learners interact with the teachers and the environment.
Therefore to put his ideas into practice Froebel introduced kindergarten school in 1837 which in Germany
means child garden where child. It featured games, play, songs, stories, and crafts to stimulate
imagination and develop physical and motor skills.