Froebel as a pioneer in modern psychologyMurray, E. R. (Elsie Riach)
Science
Froebel as a pioneer in modern psychology
Murray, E. R. (Elsie Riach)
Fröbel, Friedrich, 1782-1852; Psychology
Next comes Playful Movement of Foreign Bodies, and under this heading
Groos gives “Hustling things about, pushing, pulling, shaking, seizing
and pushing away, dabbling in water, handling sand and clay, kite-flying,
and capture of insects.” Of these Froebel mentions pushing of carriages,
kite-flying, hobby-horse riding; he makes much of play with water, sand
and clay, and he speaks of the catching of insects, etc., desiring that
it should be wisely checked by directing the activity into other channels.
As to Destructive or Analytic Movement Play, Froebel notes that: “The
child wishes to know all the properties of the thing, for this reason he
examines it on all sides; for this reason he tears and breaks it; for
this reason he puts it in his mouth and bites it.”--_E., p. 73._ “The
cruel treatment of insects and other animals originates in the little
boy’s desire to obtain an insight into the life of the animal.”--_E., p.
164._
Of Constructive or Synthetic Movement Play, so much has been said
already, that it is not necessary to dwell on it. Froebel, in fact, gives
a far more inclusive account of this than Groos himself, not omitting
his “simplest form,” viz. moulding new forms with sand, etc., nor the
collecting and arranging in rows which to Groos and to Froebel is a more
primitive form of construction. Of Exercise of Endurance, too, we have
spoken, in quoting passages where Froebel shows the boyish desire to
measure and to increase strength. Throwing and Catching Plays have their
place in the “Apprentice and Master Workman” game.
The important third class, the Playful Use of the Higher Mental Powers,
includes according to Groos a good deal that he has dealt with under
other heads, e.g. Memory Play includes (_a_) Recognition and (_b_)
Reflective Memory. Under the former comes that pleasure in recognition
of form which has already been dealt with, the pleasure given by
pictures, often, says Groos, greater than is given by the reality.
Froebel, too, says that if the father makes a sketch, “this man of lines,
this horse of lines, will give the child more joy than an actual man, an
actual horse will do.”--_E., p. 77._ Froebel, too, notes the pleasure it
will give a child to name flowers through recognition of a form: “Spurred
like a rider, circled like a snail, umbrellas, wheels, he’ll find the
names.”--_M., p. 181._ There is also the recognition of animal and other
noises, as in Froebel’s Yard Gate. Rote learning as a play Froebel hardly
mentions.
As to the two groups which Groos brings under the heading of Imagination,
viz. “Illusion either playful or serious,” and “the voluntary or
involuntary transformation of our mental content,” these receive full
recognition. Froebel notes how the stick becomes a horse or the knotted
handkerchief the baby, as well as the play of listening to and inventing
stories.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account