of scopes conception - Kompetenz für Kinder

Conception
of
scopes
FRÖBEL
Competence for Children
CONTENT
A FRÖBEL Kindergarten...
06 FRÖBEL
The Scope of our Duties
18 FRÖBEL as a modern social service provider
18 Areas of Emphasis and Orientation
20 FRÖBEL
Kindergarten
11 Kindergarten central to social services
21 ... Space and Time for Development
21 ... Social sphere and the place for communication
22 ... Place for development of the senses and creativity
24 ... A place for discovery, science, and nature
12 FRÖBEL
Education &
Childcare
25 ... A place for movement and promotion of good health
13 The FRÖBEL Group as a learning organisation
26 ... Democratic principles through participation and
14 Learning with heart, head, and hand
cooperation
15 The child as researcher, artist, and builder
27 ... Each facility has its own conceptual framework
16 The basis of our educational workings
18 Our Educational Understanding
28 FRÖBEL
TRADiTION & INNOVATION
28 Compatibility of Family and Career
30 Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel (1782-1852)
33 Basic concepts of early-childhood education
2
INHALT
INHALT
3
FRÖBEL
The Scope of our Duties
FRÖBEL
Our Self-Conception
Today we take for granted the understanding of children as active, curious,
and self-educating individuals, to be regarded with esteem and respect. For us, it is beyond question how important it is for child development that
they be taken seriously.
The FRÖBEL Group is
a modern alliance
of companies
Friedrich Fröbel formulated these trend-setting thoughts already at the beginning of the 19th century. His foresight made him a prophet of things to
come in education, and is regarded as the founder of the kindergarten. This
beautiful and accurate word, kindergarten, has spread in many languages
because of its perfect definition of the place where children develop, grow,
and learn. The kindergarten is an important term in the basic educational
approach of Fröbel, because he implies in the meaning of his words a place
where children can grow.
To follow the traditions of Friedrich Fröbel means that his ideals of promoting
and accompanying children lives on. On top of that, it also means to look for
and find answers to today’s pressing questions in the spirit of Friedrich Fröbel.
The FRÖBEL Group is a modern alliance of companies ready for the future.
We are based on economic stability, professional quality, and staff development. We have to thank only our employees, with their high level of commitment, that our goals are consistently reached, retained, and expanded
upon.
6
FRÖBEL The Scope of our Duties
FRÖBEL goes above and
beyond the legal requirements of the Educational
Plan. In the variety of our
kindergarten concepts
we live out this special
claim, for example in a
“Forest Kindergarten” or
through pre-school musical education.
FRÖBEL promotes the
early education of children
through a tradition of high
expertise in education
and care of children from
under the age of three.
New scientific findings are
integrated, reviewed, and
implemented.
FRÖBEL promotes the
compatibility of family
and career by offering
demand-specific and flexible childcare hours, and
by forming close collaborations with companies.
FRÖBEL meets the requirements of a multi-lingual
society through qualified
bilingual education projects. This promotes the
linguistic abilities of the
children as well as the respect and understanding
between cultures.
FRÖBEL The Scope of our Duties
7
FRÖBEL as a modern social service provider
Kindergartens for
10.000 childern
The FRÖBEL group operates kindergartens within various non-profit companies in many federal states. Currently there are nearly 10,000 children cared
for by over 1,000 FRÖBEL employees. The owner of all the companies of the
FRÖBEL Group is the non-profit FRÖBEL e.V., a consortium of ambitious educators and socio-politically engaged individuals.
Areas of Emphasis and Orientation
Individual concepts
for real-world
orientated work
8
The conceptual framework in hand pertains to all facilities of the FRÖBEL
Group, in which children up to grammar school age are educated, encouraged, and cared for. It serves the individual FRÖBEL kindergartens as an orientation and foundation for the development of individual concepts. The offerings of FRÖBEL Group kindergartens are oriented around the holistic basic
educational thoughts of Friedrich Fröbel. That means “to educate free, thinking, self-reliant individuals,” and to effectively support real-world oriented
work in the area of child and youth welfare. When Friedrich Fröbel formulates
the basic thought “Come lets let our children live,” he presses us to focus
on the children and obliges us today to do everything we can so that every
child can optimally develop. We carry on with this tradition under the motto:
“Expertise for Children.”
FRÖBEL The Scope of our Duties
With our diverse fields of work, we can
offer our clients one-stop help and consultation. Therefore we can react to new
requirements and demands with flexibility and in doing so, implement the basic
ideas of Friedrich Fröbel through various
conceptual approaches. Child care offerings, degree of care, and content of
care are oriented towards the individual
situations, familial qualities, as well as
special needs of the children. In this way
can self-critically reflect upon our work
and regularly review it.
Kindergarten central to social services
Educational content and organizational forms of all FRÖBEL Group kindergartens are oriented towards the interests of the children and their parents.
This offers the next generation a modern, humanistic education. The FRÖBEL
Group works closely with local authorities, associations and other public institutions. Our social services are provided by well-educated and experienced
professionals. The staff development strategy for FRÖBEL Group assures that
the services rendered are to a high and modern professional standard. Independent of party politics and religious confession, obliged to social engagement, our facilities and offerings are open to all children and their families.
Our Operation is aimed at the following fields:
education, learning, and childcare of children in Kindergartens,
work and social-oriented work with youths
consultation concerning questions of compatibility between family
and career as well as implementing solutions for companies and
their employees
help concerning education and care of children with medical
problems
consultation and attending to the needs of families concerning
education/childcare questions and conflict situations (i.e., divorce)
demand-oriented and career-assisting vocational training in the
fields of youth care, social work, and social management
FRÖBEL The Scope of our Duties
11
The FRÖBEL Group as a learning organisation
FRÖBEL
Education & Childcare
The FRÖBEL Group carries the name of an educator, who founded the
kindergarten as well as an anthropological educational science of early
childhood.
Fröbel’s science of early childhood education; a child-centric, play-based
education with an emphasis on the holistic nature of children, is in the opinion
of many modern educators the starting point of a modern scientific area of
research. Through this science, a new conceptualization of education and
childcare in early childhood has arisen, underlining the up-to-date nature of
the Fröbel approach.
Education is a
life-long process
12
We understand education as a participatory activity, through which an individual acquires a perception of the world. Education is a life-long process,
which is prompted through initiative and self-activity. The educational process is really a self-education process, in which individual, social, and professional competencies are acquired. The holistic approach towards education,
as well as the cultivation of the senses, body, spirit and feelings, help the child
towards an aesthetic and cognitive educational foundation. This is necessary
for a sensible feel for the environment and for living together within society.
FRÖBEL Education and Childcare
Our self-conception as an educational organisation goes even further: Together with parents and children, we are constantly developing our educational and childcare concepts
further. To guarantee the best professional
standards in education and childcare, we
are constantly engaged in dialog with professional educational facilities and colleges,
where an ever-increasing portion of our staff
are educated. We are able to and want to
offer more than the legal minimum standard
requires. The high level of commitment is
an essential prerequisite to achieve this. We
support this through vocational training, staff
development, and support our staff in their
pursuit of higher degrees.
Learning with heart, head, and hand
Our duty is to offer
high-quality child care
The child as researcher,
artist, and builder
Learning with heart, head and hand: Connecting social and practical, cognitive and artistic education is an exercise which can be accomplished in the
kindergarten.
Children are open and
curious – they learn to
learn, which means they
grasp independent knowledge selected out of the
multiplicity of knowledge,
which they filter and review for themselves.
We understand the role adults have to play in education, whose activities
motivate, support, and appreciate the self-education process of children.
The formation of surroundings and environment, interaction, and communicating the cultural richness of the world are a large part of this role.
The younger generation will increasingly need to be able to meet social and
intellectual challenges with flexibility and creativity. To do this, they need the
courage and self-assuredness to be able to grapple with new learning situations, as well as self-confident enough to be in the position to work within
groups as well as alone.
We support the development of through responsibility-conscious educational
work. FRÖBEL kindergartens are educational facilities with a duty to provide
high-quality child care.
“Children should not be housed and told what to do, but rather happily
grow, strengthen and develop in the sunlight, opening up like a flower under
the careful hand of an attendant gardener.”
(Friedrich Fröbel’s definition for the duties of a kindergarten)
14
FRÖBEL Education and Childcare
Children want to move
and be active – they get
to know the world, which
they take over piece by
piece with all their senses
and in all spaces.
In a FRÖBEL kindergarten children will be treated as distinct individuals with all their potential. Their strengths lie in special individual qualities, which we enthusiastically support.
Children are able to make
decisions and judgements
– they discover their own
strengths and learn how
to care for themselves.
Children want to be together with other children
and adults – they learn
how to listen to others,
how to perceive as well
as to solve conflicts actively and peacefully.
Children get to know the
world through their own
activities. Children acquire
and concretize self, social,
objective and learning
competencies, which they
try out in playing with other
children.
FRÖBEL Education and Childcare
15
The basis of our educational workings
Our work and our social-educational workings are directed towards the wellbeing of children and their families. Our basic principles to accomplish this
are:
Principle of Bonding
Principle of Holistic Existence
“Body, Spirit and Soul” (Friedrich Fröbel)
Education as a
social process
We view early childhood educational processes as active, social, physical,
and emotional processes to acquaint oneself with the world. Therefore, we
form the childrens’ daily activities so that they can develop their various abilities evenly. The education and care of the children entrusted to us is not
limited o the day-to-day life in the kindergarten; we are an active part of the
child-raising relationship with the parents.
Principle of Being Active
Social orientation
and bonding
We ensure that in our kindergartens that an open and trusting communication between child and teacher is built. This way every child has the security
that in every situation an understanding, close partner is available. Through
this “bonding” person we make it possible for the child to have the sense of
security necessary for social orientation.
Principle of Mutual Appreciation
This principle expresses our basic attitude to respect every person and their
individual personality. This applies in our relationships with the children and
parents, as well as between our colleagues.
“Thinking made active” (Friedrich Fröbel)
Self-activity for a
successful education
We make it a requirement, that self-education of the children is enabled
through self-activity and that they can acquire knowledge of the world under their own terms. In our daily practice, we pay special attention to the
importance of playtime in early childhood as their primary activity in which
children can express themselves, and to make their lives “their own.”
Principle of Participation
We put a high value on the child taking part in the decision making for life in
the kindergarten as well as an active age-appropriate democratic role.
“The game at this time is not just playing, it is the highest level of child development; it is very serious and has deep meaning; cultivate and nourish it,
mother, protect and look after it, father!” (Friedrich Fröbel, 1821)
16
FRÖBEL Education and Childcare
FRÖBEL Education and Childcare
17
Our Educational Understanding
In our view the child determines the role and tasks of the educators in our
kindergartens. Educators in a FRÖBEL kindergarten are partners, observers,
companions, organizers, and trainers, who view themselves as the child’s advocate.
Our teachers:
This includes:
18
recognize meaningful subjects for children
direct the child in the process of learning
connect cognitive learning with subjective experience and knowledge
work together actively with the parents
taking seriously every child as an individual personality
to provide the child with space for formative experiences
pre-conditions to create self-esteem, individual experience
and activities
to facilitate learning within a group
to provide learning situations through trial-and-error
to facilitate learning in “real-world” situations and direct practice
to provide a wide variety of general knowledge that children
can acquire
to provide hands-on content with respect to everyday life
systematic observation
to lead regular conversations concerning development
within the team and with the parents
FRÖBEL Education and Childcare
To bring our framework to life, our
professionals are encouraged to form
the daily educational process with
richness of ideas, educational competence and appropriate action.
Teachers constantly review their understanding and further develop their
competencies. Important instruments
for this are the updating of their professional knowledge, self-reflection,
professional exchanges, and teamwork: career-applicable vocational
training and qualification are integral
and a necessary precondition for
quality development.
Space and Time for Development
FRÖBEL
KINdergarten
The offerings of FRÖBEL
is oriented around the
needs of the children
Children need various stimulating challenges so that they can learn with joy,
keep their curiosity up, and feel a sense of pride about what they have learned. Therefore we ensure every child time, space, and competent support
through qualified professional personnel.
The offerings and equipment of our kindergartens are oriented around the
needs of the children. The development takes place differently with each
child. The observation of each individual child and the estimation of their individual developmental standpoint are regarded by the teacher as a necessary precondition. These allow the teacher to support each child’s individual
inner and outer interaction requirements. The results of their goal-oriented
observations are carefully documented and are the basis for intensive parental and developmental conversations.
In Paragraph 22 of the Child and Youth Care Laws (KJHG) the following
assignment is formulated: to support “the development of a child into a selfreliant and socially capable individual.”
FRÖBEL kindergartens ensure that they are locations of education, which include the care of children during the stay in the facility. A FRÖBEL kindergarten is a family-complementing educational facility and realises all three
basic activities of a human being (playing, learning, and working) taking into
account developmental psychological findings.
Social sphere and the place for communication
Our kindergartens offer children of different backgrounds a place and time to
learn a peaceful coexistence. Each child experiences appreciation in group
planning of daily activities, in dealing with different interests and resolution of
conflicts and learns to take responsibility.
FRÖBEL kindergartens provide:
orientation based upon individual traits and the needs
of the children and their families
creating of multiple and interesting developments in the educational
areas of body, movement, health, language, music, creativity,
mathematics, natural science, and social life
expansion of the experiential sphere of children beyond the
familial framework
For the development of their educational processes, we create various possibilities to be able to interact, shape, experiment, cooperate, and review on
a play level as well as individually.
Diversity as a chance
In encountering different familial backgrounds and religions, the development of curiosity, openness, understanding, and tolerance is strived for, because this builds the foundation of a peaceful coexistence between different
cultures. For us, this coexistence and the communal education of German
and non-German backgrounds, of children with and without handicaps is a
matter of course.
guarantee of self-motivated educational processes
20
FRÖBEL KindergArten
FRÖBEL KindergArten
21
Language as a key
to education
During the process of examination, the teachers reflect on their own viewpoints and attitudes, views of the world and educational goals. They develop conceptual notions about community life and support the social relationships between children and their families, which promotes integration outside
of the kindergarten. Language is our most important method of understanding. It enables us to communicate with others and to participate in social
life. Language gives us our voice. FRÖBEL meets the demands of the multilingual society and the necessary linguistic advancement of children with language development programs, which enable children to make themselves
understood.
For every child we
enable an intensive
examination of their
environment through:
offering various activities designed to
promote advancement and support
artistic competencies
creating a space that
encourages activity
through furnishings
and interior design
enabling interaction
with various instruments and materials
Place for development of the senses and creativity
Music, depiction, and construction are important artistic methods of human
expression. They help us to creatively process the various external impressions in order to achieve an inner balance. All creative abilities of children,
including their deep sense of perception to detailed discovery through their
senses are closely connected to their understanding of the world through the
development of feelings and physical sensitivities.
Music activates
thinking, feeling
and interaction in
equal measure
22
FRÖBEL KindergArten
Music activates thinking, feeling and interaction in equal measure. It is a
central component of human culture and a integral experience for human
beings. As „the language of the world“, music is an important communicative element of integration. Music and musical practice have a positive
influence on the mental, spiritual and emotional development of children.
Children take music and use it for their own needs and purposes. Depicting
and construction belong to the foundational needs of people and to the
early individual activities of a child. Constructive processes are recognitive
processes. They are a part of the mutual relationship of the mental and physical development of a child.
FRÖBEL KindergArten
23
A place for movement and promotion of good health
Children naturally want to move and be active. They take their bodies ever
more seriously through movement. Human thinking and understanding begin
with the motor-sensory acts of a newborn. Movement and the pertaining
sensory perceptions are both a basis and a catalyst for life experience and
learning processes. The cornerstone for a healthy and self-rewarding life is
laid during childhood.
We offer a variety
of activities
A place for discovery, science, and nature
Children are by nature curious. Understanding mathematical measurements
and scientific interactions is a process of active sensory development based
on real-life behaviors in everday life and the environment.
Our kindergartens support the process of developmen and the formation of
mathematic and natural scientific competencies through:
24
FRÖBEL Kindergarten
giving every child time and space to discover, research, construct,
and test out on their own
consciously introducing Friedrich Fröbels acclaimed „Spielgaben“
and his playtime instrument system
provide multiple everyday materials to be used
discover nature together with the children
Movement is for us a central component of the everyday kindergarten structure. Regular sport and movement activities are systematically integrated
into the daily operations of the kindergarten. Our kindergartens offer many
possibilities for physical activity. FRÖBEL teachers support the children through
allowing them to assess their own needs and to address those needs through
activity or relaxation.
Health and nutrition are elementary for the physical and mental well-being
and growth of a child. We offer healthy and child-suitable nourishment within
the parameters of the child‘s individual needs. The interrelationship between
medicine and nutrition are conveyed to children in an age-appropriate way
through menu planning and projects.
FRÖBEL KindergArten
25
Democratic principles through participation
and cooperation
Our kindergartens view themselves as an integral part of the regional social
infrastructure and as an social crossroads for addressing life and everday
subjects pertaining to children and their families.
we regard parent participation and cooperation with the parents
as basic elements of our educational and we create a dialog based
on partnership
support mutual acceptance through open interaction with the children,
parents, schools, and institutions and through using various methods of
participation
our professionals work in various social and professional organizations
and remain in close contact with schools
incorporating the children into the everyday decisions of the
kindergarten
Each facility has its own conceptual framework
We view the orientation of our teams towards the described educational
approach as a precondition for constant quality development. It challenges
the team to make decisions concerning value, principle, and action, lends
the facility its educational identity and promotes a continual communication
within the team.
Individual concepts for
individual demands
26
FRÖBEL KindergArten
Every FRÖBEL kindergarten describes in its conceptual framework the basic
educational direction and goals and addresses its key processes. The team
decides what the content and the focus of the kindergarten will be (for example, ecological, or musical) so that all the educational areas as well as the
needs are addressed.
FRÖBEL KindergArten
27
FRÖBEL
TRADTION & INNOVATION
Compatibility of Family and Career
Many parents want to and must attend to their careers while at the same
time knowing that their children are optimally cared for. To fulfil these demands, there need to be facilities that are flexible and engaged enough
to meet these high requirements.
With this background many of our kindergartens have developed partnerships with large and small firms. By developing optimal childcare solutions,
we can satisfy the common wishes and needs of companies and parents.
Together we develop a fitting model, which allow companies to factor in the
issue of employee childcare. Family and career are not opposites, but rather
meaningful and satisfying parts of life.
Family and career
are not opposites
28
FRÖBEL kindergartens make sure their opening hours and services fit to meet
these challenges. Due to the multitude of locations and wide array of services the FRÖBEL Group has the possibility and the experience to offer needoriented educational and childcare options. As part of the services of the
FRÖBEL Group we can offer consultancy and solution-finding approaches
about questions of compatibility of family and career.
FRÖBEL TRADTION AND INNOVATION
Central to this subject:
appraisal of regional, parental
or company-specific needs
formulation and implementation of unifying strategies
and concepts
clarification of legal as well as
financial fundamentals and
preconditions
Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel (1782–1852)
April 21st, 1782 Friedrich Fröbel was born as the sixth son of a pastor,
shortly after his birth his mother dies
1800 – 1801
Natural Science studies at the University of Jena
1801 – 1805Activities in forest and agricultural sciences
1805
Decision to become an educator; teacher at correspondence school, Frankfurt a.M
1808 – 1810
Stay in Yverdon(Switzerland) as a student of Pestalozzi and court master of the
three children of the Holzhausen family
1816
Founding of the “Allgemeinen deutschen Erziehungsanstalt”
(General German Educational Institute) in Griesheim, Thuringia
1817
Moving of the institute to Keilhau bei Blankenburg
1826
Release of his main literary work, “Die Menschenerziehung”
(The Education of People)
30
FRÖBEL TRADTION & INNOVATION
1837
Emigration of Fröbel to Bad Blankenburg; in August the “Anstalt zur Pflege des
Beschäftigungstriebes der Kindheit und Jugend,“ manufacture of play materials in
Bad Blankenburg, creation of the Fröbel’s “Spielgaben” and the “Spielmethode.”
June 1839
Opening of the “Bildungsanstalt für Kinderführer” (Institute for Child-Leaders)
together with the “Spiel- und Beschäftigungsanstalt” (Play and Activity Institute)
June 1840
Fröbel opens the first kindergarten in Bad Blankenburg
1850
Founding of the first school for the education of “Kindergärtnerinnen”
(kindergarten teachers)
June 21st, 1852 Friedrich Fröbel dies in Marienthal, his burial takes place at the cemetary of Schweina.
His educational concepts, especially his theories concerning playtime, are applied in
many parts of the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. He is known worldwide as the
founder of the kindergarten.
FRÖBEL TRADTION & INNOVATION
31
Basic concepts of early-childhood education
According to his views that every development is fulfilled through action,
Friedrich Fröbel dedicated his special attention to the play activities and
toys of children.
Most famous was his
“Spielgaben,” consisting
of a ball, cylinder,
cube and cone
32
FRÖBEL TRADITION & INNOVATION
He recognized that playing is the predominant activity for the preschoolaged child and he understood it as the appropriate form for children to recognize, acquire knowledge of, and differentiate themselves from the world.
To address the age-specific qualities of children, he developed toys for simple and complicated play. He created and entire system of multi-tiered play
and activity instruments, which motivate children to be active and lead to
discoveries. Most famous was his “Spielgaben,” consisting of a ball, cylinder,
cube and cone. Fröbel’s pre-educational goal was to regard the child as a
calculating, sensitive and cognitive being. This basic concern is reflected in
his interest to create cognitive, living and beautiful forms for all of his play and
activity instruments. Fröbel masterfully translates his basic concepts through
his toys and activity instruments into a subject matter which, in the truest sense of the word, means “to grasp.” Fröbel highlights the necessity of a harmonious upbringing in the family for the adolescent and wanted a complementary extension of family life and kindergarten.
FRÖBEL TRADTION & INNOVATION
33
Editorial
Publisher
FRÖBEL e.V.
Stefan Spieker (Executive Officer)
Haus des Lehrers
Alexanderstr. 9
10178 Berlin
Writers
Stefan Spieker and Timo Stampe,
translated by Jason Vaughan
Fotos
Type and Production
Mike Auerbach
(all photos were taking in FRÖBEL Group
kindergartens)
inflame live communication
Printing
druckpunkt Druckerei & Repro GmbH
Released
Dezember 2007
With his theoretical and
practical achievements,
especially those in the area
of early-childhood education, Friedrich Fröbel received world-recognition. His
educational approach is of
great importance to scientific
practice even today.
IMPRESSUM
35
FRÖBEL
FRÖBEL Gruppe Alexanderstr. 9 10178 Berlin [email protected] www.froebel-gruppe.de
All photos were taking in FRÖBEL Group kindergartens.