FROEBEL'S EDUCATIONAL VIEWS. THE CHILD AND CHILD-NURTURE. We continue in this number the Baroness Marenholtz-Bulow's exposition of Froebel's views of Child Nature, and the principles which are fundamental in the proper treatment of the Human Being in the earliest stages of growth. In the course of the year (1880) the special treatment of Froebel, and his Educational Work, as Teacher and Author, will embrace the following particulars: L MEMOIR AND EDUCATIONAL WORK,.... 1. PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF FROEBEL,. 2 EARLY LIFE IN LETTER TO PRINCE OF MEININGEN,. 3. EXPERIENCE IN TEACHING--AS ASSISTANT AND PRINCIPAL, 4. THE GENESIS OF THE KINDERGARTEN-Name,.... 5. REMINISCENCES OF FROEBEL IN KINDERGARTEN WORK,.. 6. MIDDENDORF'S LAST DAYS OF FROEBEL-FUNERAL DISCOURSE,.. 3. GENERAL REQUISITES-FROEBEL'S THEORY OF EDUCATION,... Frabel's Law of Opposites and their Reconcilement. What, then, is the process of the human mind in reflection? The systematic process, as it is the same for all minds. Every thought must relate to something that we know, and first of all to visible objects; we must have an object of thought. This object of thought must not only be taken in by the senses as a whole, so that a general idea of it is gained, as of a foreign plant that has been seen superficially in a picture, without the details of leaves, blossoms, stamens, etc. It must be observed and studied in all its parts and details. If we want to acquire a thorough knowledge of a foreign plant we must compare all its properties with those of plants known to us. When the properties or qualities of different objects are all exactly the same we cannot compare them; if there is to be comparison, there must be a certain amount of difference-but difference, side-by-side with similarity. The qualities which are similar will be the universal ones, which everything possesses, as form, size, color, material, etc., for there is nothing that does not possess these qualities. The different, or contrasting qualities, will consist in variations of the universal ones of form, size, etc., as, for instance, round and square, great and little, hard and soft, etc. Such differences in properties that have a general resemblance are called opposites. All such opposites, however, are at the same time connected and bound together. The greatest size that we can imagine to ourselves is connected with the smallest by all the different sizes that lie between; the darkest color with all the lightest by all the intermediate shades; from an angular shape one can gradually go over to a round one through a series of modifications of form; and from hard to soft through all the different gradations. Not that one and the same object can ever be both hard or soft, dark or light, great or little, but the collective qualities of all existing objects go over from their superlative on the one side to their superlative on the other, hardest to softest, darkest to lightest, and so on. The gradations of great and little, hard and soft, etc., which lie between the opposites, are the connecting links, or, as Fröbel puts it, "the means of reconciliation of opposites" (and Fröbel's system cannot be rightly understood unless this principle, which forms the basis of it, be acknowledged). This "reconciliation" is effected through affinity of qualities. Black and white are not alike, but opposite; the darkest red, however, is in affinity with black, as the lightest red is with white, and all the different gradations of red connect together the opposites, black and white. Now any one who has compared an unknown plant with known ones, in all the details of its different parts-leaf, flower, fruit, etc., is in a position to pass judgment on it, and to draw a conclusion as to whether it belongs to this or that known genus of plants, and what is its species. Thus the natural process of thought is as follows: perception, observation, comparison, judgment and conclusion. Without this series of preliminary steps no thought can be worked out, and the ruling principle is the law of the reconciliation of opposites, or the finding out the like and unlike qualities of things. It matters not how far the thinker be conscious or unconscious of the process going on in his mind. The child is entirely unconscious of it, and therefore takes longer to reach from one stage to another. At first it receives only general impressions; then perception comes in; gradually ideas begin to shape themselves in its mind, and it then learns to compare and distinguish; but judging and concluding do not begin till the third or fourth year, and then only vaguely and dimly. Nevertheless, the same systematic process is at work as in the conscious thought of the adult. Pestalozzi's Fundamental Law. Any system of instruction which is to be effectual must therefore take into account this law of thought (or logic); it must apply the fundamental principle of connecting the known with the unknown by means of comparison. This principle is, however, everlastingly sinned against, and people talk to children about things and communicate to them opinions and thoughts concerning them, of which children have no conception and can form none. And this is done even after Pestalozzi by his "method of observation and its practical application" has placed instruction on a true basis. Of the manner in which Fröbel has built upon this foundation we shall speak later. We have here to deal first with education, to show how far it differs from instruction, and, whether a systematic or methodical process is applicable to it, as Fröbel considers it to be. When Pestalozzi was endeavoring to construct his "Fundamental Method of Instruction" ("Urform des Lehrens ") according to some definite principle, he recognized the truth that the problem of education cannot be fully solved by any merely instructional system however much in accordance with the laws of nature. He saw that the moral forces of the human soul, feeling and will, require to be dealt with in a manner analogous to the cultivation of the intellectual faculties, that any merely instructional method is inadequate to the task, and that a training-school of another sort is needed for the moral side of cultivation-one in which the power of moral action may be acquired. While searching for some such "psychological basis" to his method he exclaimed, "I am still as the voice of one crying in the wilderness." As a means to this end he requires an A B C of the science and a system of moral exercises, and he says: "The culture of the moral faculties rests on the same organic laws which are the foundation of our intellectual culture." Fichte (in his "Discourses ") insists on an "A B C of perception," which is to precede Pestalozzi's "A B C of observation," and speaks as follows: "The new method must be able to shape and determine its pupil's course of life according to fixed and infallible rules." "There must be a definite system of rules by which always, without exception, a firm will may be produced." The development of children into men and women must be brought under the laws of a well-considered system, which shall never fail to accomplish its end, viz., the cultivation in them of a firm and invariably right will. This moral activity, which has to be developed in the pupil, is without doubt based on laws, which laws the agent finds out for himself by direct personal experience, and the same holds good of the voluntary development carried on later, which cannot be fruitful of good results unless based on the fundamental laws of nature. Thus Pestalozzi and Fichte-like all thinkers on the question of education-searched for the laws of human nature, in order to apply these laws in the cultivation of human nature. Fröbel strove to refer back all these manifold laws to one fundamental law which he called the "reconciliation of opposites" (of relative opposites). In order to arrive at a clear and comprehensive conception, where there is plurality and variety, we seek a point of unity, in which all the different parts or laws may center, and to which they may be referred. For the undeveloped mind of the child this is an absolute necessity. The method, which is to be the rule of his activity, must be as simple and as single as possible. This necessity will be made plain when we come to the application of Fröbel's theory in practice. Fröbel's observations of the human soul are in accord with the general results of modern psychology, in spite of small deviations which cannot be considered important. Science has not by a long way arrived at final conclusions on this subject, and must, therefore, give its due weight to every reasonable assumption; it would be most unprofitable to drag Fröbel's system into the judgment hall of scientific schools, in order to decide how far it agreed with these schools or not. Its importance lies for the moment chiefly in its practical side. In order to preserve this part of it from becoming mechanical, and to maintain its vitality, its connection with the theoretical side must be understood and expounded more and more thoroughly. With the advance of science Fröbel's philosophy of the universe must in course of time have its proper place assigned to it, and his educational system, which is grounded on his philosophy, will be brought into the necessary connection with other scientific discoveries. The great endeavor of modern educationalists is to replace the artificiality and restraint in which the purely conventional educational systems of earlier times have resulted by something more corresponding to human nature. To this end it was necessary to go back to the ground motives of all education whatsoever: the laws of development of the human being. It was necessary at the same time to determine the reason of educational measures in order to elevate them into con scious, purposeful action. Former conventional systems of education worked only unconsciously, according to established custom, without any deep knowledge of human nature or fundamental relation to it. The science of humanity was then in its infancy, and, although it has since made great progress, the knowledge of child nature is still very meager. The services rendered by Rousseau, as the first pioneer of modern educational theories, and the many errors and eccentricities mixed up with his great truths, must here be assumed to be known.* Insufficiency of Pestalozzi's Doctrine of Form. Pestalozzi, who carried on the work in the same track, fixed the elements of his "Urform des Lehrens" in form, number, and words, as the fundamental conditions of human mental activity, and which can only be acquired and gained by observation. For instance, every visible and every thinkable thing has a form which makes it what it is. There are things of like and things of different form, and there is a plurality of things which stands in opposition to every single thing. Through the division of things arises number, and the proportions and relations of things to one another. In order to express these different proportions of form and number, we have need of words. Thus in these three elements we have the most primitive facts on which thought is based. In every form, every number, and every word there exist two connected or united opposites. In every form, for instance, we find the two opposites, beginning and end, right and left, upper and under, inner and outer, and so forth. With regard to number, unity and plurality, as well as odd and even numbers, constitute opposites. Then form and number are in themselves opposites, for form has to do with the whole, number with the separate parts. But the word by which they are described reconciles these opposites by comprehending them both in one expression. Pestalozzi has begun the work of basing instruction systematically on the most primitive facts and workings of the human mind. To carry on this work, and also to find the equally necessary basis for moral and practical culture, with which must be combined exercises for the intellectual powers before the period allotted to instruction, is the task that remains to be accomplished. Pestalozzi's plan and practical methods are not altogether sufficient for the first years of life. It is a false use of language which separates education from instruction. The word education, in its full meaning of human culture, as a whole, includes instruction as a part, and comprises in itself mental, moral, and physical development; but in its narrower use it signifies, more especially, moral culture. *An elaborate exposition of Rousseau's system, principles and methods will be found in Barnard's Journal of Education, v. pp. 459-486; also in Barnard's French Pedagogy. |