The National Froebel Foundation

THE NATIONAL FROEBEL FOUNDATION is a registered charity (no. 314243) whose purpose is listed as the ‘promotion and support of Froebelian activity at a national and international level’. There are eight Trustees, and now also a growing affiliated network of persons working or studying in support of Froebelian principles and practice. Any person who supports Froebelian principles, for example as outlined in the Elements of a Froebelian Education for Children from Birth to Seven years, is welcome to join the network with no obligation by using the 'Contact' link on the navigation tabs above.

Timeline of the National Froebel Foundation

In 1851 the first kindergarten in Britain was established in Hampstead, north London. Others followed soon afterwards, notably in Manchester, Kensington, Croydon and Bedford. However, there was no co-ordinating national organisation through which experiences could be shared and practice enhanced.

In November 1874, the Froebel Society was formed to fulfil this role. Miss Doreck, who had started the kindergarten in Kensington, invited a group of a dozen or so kindergarten teachers to her home in Kensington Gardens Square, where they formed a ‘kindergarten association’, more formally called the ‘Froebel Society for the promotion of the Kindergarten System’.

By 1879 the Society had established a ‘Kindergarten Training College’ in Tavistock Place, but the Society had very limited resources, as it depended entirely on membership fees. However, the appointment in 1884 of an energetic young man of 26, Claude Montefiore, as Secretary led to intensive publicity and fund-raising efforts which transformed its prospects.

In 1887, the ever-present danger to the reputation and coherence of the movement from teachers inadequately trained in Froebelian principles and methods led the Society to form the National Froebel Union, which became the body responsible for approving syllabuses for Froebel training, setting examinations, and issuing Froebel Teacher’s Certificates to qualifying trainees.

In 1938, after half a century of successful educational innovation and the awarding of many thousands of Teacher’s Certificates, and with the Board of Education assuming more responsibility for education nationally, the two bodies amalgamated to form the NATIONAL FROEBEL FOUNDATION, which continued with the work of its constituent bodies.

In 1975, following the publication of the 1971 James Report on Teacher Education and the subsequent 1972 White Paper (with the consequent demise of training colleges as a separate sector in higher education) the National Froebel Foundation was required to redefine its purpose. On 20 November 1975 the object of the charity was formally defined as: the advancement of education in accordance with Froebelian principles by such means as the Trustees see fit.

The National Froebel Foundation is affiliated to the International Froebel Society [http://www.intfroebelsoc.org/index.html], and in fact was instrumental, through its Chairman Franciska Bayliss, in creating the Society in 2002, in collaboration with Froebelians in Germany, Ireland and the USA. The historical Archives of the National Froebel Foundation are now held at Roehampton University [http://tinyurl.com/345ncsg].

Claude Montefiore also became, in 1892, the Treasurer, and subsequently Chairman, of the Froebel Educational Institute [http://www.froebel.org.uk/index.html].