Postgraduate Course: Pedagogy and Practice of Friedrich Froebel for the early years (EDUA11403)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course forms part of the MSc Education (Early Childhood Practice and Froebel) and provides an in-depth exploration of the educational philosophy and practice of Friedrich Froebel for the early years. |
| Course description |
The course runs in Semester 1 and develops students' advanced understanding of the educational philosophy and practice of Friedrich Froebel. Froebel's work has been adopted and carried forward in many early years settings and primary schools today. However, the source of the practice is not often proclaimed as Froebelian. In other words, much of current early years practice has re-created versions of Froebel's principles. This course will revisit the origins of the kindergarten, offer further explorations of Froebelian principles and enable innovative practical implementation, critically linked to current research, policy and theory in Childhood Practice, and in comparison to Scottish, European and international approaches and policies. This involves analysing the complex relationship between ideas that underpin the way educational professionals work with children and families, everyday practices and contemporary ideas concerning pedagogy, curriculum and assessment.
Students will be asked to locate themselves reflectively in their current and future practice, pose questions about their strengths (e.g. in relation to Froebelian principles), and consider the challenges of implementing Froebelian practice in a contemporary world. This requires students to take leadership roles, to work in integrated ways, and analyse the contexts of children's learning. Course participants will be asked to consider the historical context of Froebel's ideas and critically compare them to contemporary international ideas. In particular the course will investigate practical settings that have been influenced by Froebelian ideas and consider how these locations differ from other workplaces, how Froebel's ideas have been embedded/adapted to take account of contemporary social change and the implications for educational policy and practice.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2018/19, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
| Course Start Date |
17/09/2018 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
There will be 2 summative assessments:
Task 1 (40%): Interactive Timeline (submitted 6 weeks into the course).
Students create an interactive timeline, starting from a Froebelian quote and tracing its history and evolution to present-day research and policies, presenting a critical analysis of its strengths and weaknesses. They will present this timeline by creating approx. ten slides on an interactive software such as Prezi (or alternative software as agreed with the course organiser).
Task 2 (60%): Written assignment.
Students write a 3,000 word essay in which they critically discuss how they will implement the themes and arguments put forward in their interactive timeline in their current or future practice with children and families. They will locate this analysis against national and international legislation and policy developments and demonstrate how their engagement with literature from the course and beyond has influenced their development as a reflective practitioner.
Students need to achieve an overall grade of 40% across the two assessment tasks in order to pass this course. |
| Feedback |
Formative feedback opportunities will be provided throughout the course, for example through workshop group discussions in class, online group discussions facilitated on Learn, formative tasks, feedback on essay plans. Summative feedback on Task 1 will help students improve their work for Task 2. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of Froebelian principles and compare them to contemporary research and policy on pedagogy, curriculum and assessment.
- Critically discuss and analyse a variety of contrasting academic writings on childhood including Scottish, European and international ideas.
- Demonstrate extensive, detailed and critical awareness and understanding of opposing historical and topical perspectives on early childhood pedagogies.
- Confidently develop and employ an embedded/located approach to policy or practice and material provision in early childhood practice, or critically reflect on research about embedded/located approaches in early childhood practice.
- Develop and be able to apply critical awareness when considering concrete everyday settings or policies, particularly in relation to social divisions, life experiences, academic achievement and formalised approaches to child development.
|
Reading List
Essential reading:
Allen, A. T., (2017) The Transatlantic Kindergarten: Education and Womenżs movements in Germany and the United States, New York, Oxford University Press.
Brehony, K.J. (1998) Even far Distant Japan is Showing an Interest; the English Froebel Movement's turn to Sloyd, History of Education, 27 (3):279-95.
Brehony, K.J. (2000) The Kindergarten in England 1881-1918ż in R.L. Woolans (ed) Kindergartens and Cultures: The Global Diffusion of an Idea, 59-86, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Bruce, T (2012) Early Childhood Practice: Froebel Today. London: Sage.
Bruce, T., (2017) Ponderings on Play: Froebelian Assemblages' in The Routledge International Handbook of Early Childhood Play, London: Routledge.
Elfer, P (2015), Psychoanalytic Theory, Emotion and Early Years Practice, in Routledge International Handbook. in The Routledge International Handbook of Philosophies and Theories of Early Childhood Education and Care. Routledge.
Flannery Quinn, S (2017) Locating play Today in The Routledge International Handbook of Early Childhood Play, London: Routledge.
Goldschmied, E and Jackson, S (2004) People under Three. Young Children in Day Care. 2nd edition. London.
Juri and Yoneyama (2012) A critical analysis of the reception and implementation of Froebel's educational philosophy in Japan. International journal of early childhood.
Lascarides, V. C & Hinitz, B.F (2000) History of Early Childhood Education. New York: Falmer.
Lester, S. (2013). Rethinking Children's Participation in Democratic Processes: A right to play. Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, 16, 21-43.
May, H., Nawrotzki, K., and Prochner, L., (2017) Kindergarten Narratives on Froebelian Education: Transnational Investigations. London: Bloomsbury.
Moss, P. 2014. Transformative Change and Real Utopias in Early Childhood Education: A story of democracy, experimentation and potentiality, Routledge.
OżDell, L. and S. Leverett, eds. 2011. Working with Children and Young People: Co-constructing Practice, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ockleford, A., and Voyajola, A., (2017) Musical play and play through music in early childhood, in The Routledge International Handbook of Early Childhood Play, London: Routledge.
Pound, L. (2011) Influencing Early Childhood Education: Key Figures Philosophies and Ideas, Maidenhead, Open University Press.
Read, J. (2015) Working with children: an integrated approach, in Kehily, M. J. and Holford, N. (eds) An introduction to Childhood Studies, 3rd ed. London: Open University Press.
Tovey, H., (2017) Playing on the Edge: Adventure, risk and challenge in play outdoors, in The Routledge International Handbook of Early Childhood Play, London:Routledge.
Valkanova, Y., & Brehony, K. J. (2006). The gifts and contributions: Friedrich Froebel and Russian education (1850-1929). History of Education, 35(2), 189-207.
Further reading:
Blundell, D. 2012. Education and Constructions of Childhood. London: Continuum.
Bruce, T (2015) (5th edition) Early Childhood Education. London: Hodder Arnold.
Bruce, T., Findlay, A., Read, J., and Scarborough, M., (eds) Recurring Themes in Education. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Bruce, T., Louis, S., McCall G., (2015) Observing Young Children, London: Sage.
Elfer, P, Babies as musicians, artists and scientists, in Moyles, P (2014) The Excellence of Play. 4th Ed. McGraw Hill Education.
Elfer, P (2015) Mixed Feelings: Emotions play an important role in our nursery relationships, and child development. Nursery World. 1st -14th June 2015.
Elfer, P (2017) Subtle emotional process in early childhood pedagogy: evaluating the contribution of the Tavistock Observation Method. Pedagogy, Culture & Society. Published on line Jan 2017.
Elfer, P and Page, J (2015) Pedagogy with babies: Perspectives of Eight Nursery Managers. Early Child Development and Care. Published on line 27th April 2015.
Foley, P., J. Roche & S. Tucker. 2001. Children in Society: Contemporary Theory, Policy and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Gura, P ed. (1992) Exploring Learning: Young Children and Blockplay. London. Paul Chapman.
Hendrick, H. ed. 2005. Child Welfare and Social Policy: An Essential Reader. Bristol: Policy Press
Holligan, C. 2000. Discipline and normalization in the nursery: the Foucauldian gaze, Scottish Educational Review. Nov 1999, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p137-148
Malloch, S., and Trevarthen, C., (eds) (2009) Communicative Musicality Exploring the Basis of Human Companionship, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Read, J., (2010) Gutter to Garden: Historical Discourses of Risk in Interventions in Working Class Children's Street Play, in Children and Society DOI 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2010.00293x.
Robson, S. (2016) Are there differences between children's display of self-regulation and metacognition when engaged in an activity and when later reflecting on it?: The complementary roles of observation and reflective dialogue. Early Years 36(2): 179-194. DOI: 10.1080/09575146.2015.1129315
Robson, S. (2016) Self-regulation and metacognition in young children: Does it matter if adults are present or not?, British Educational Research Journal 42(2): 185-306. DOI: 10.1002/berj.3205
Robson, S. (2016) Self-regulation, metacognition and child- and adult-initiated activity: Does it matter who initiates the task? Early Child Development and Care 186(5): 764-784. DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2015.1057581
Robson, S., (2017) Play, creativity and creative thinking, in The Routledge International Handbook of Early Childhood Play, London: Routledge
Tovey, H (2008) Playing Outdoors: Spaces and Place, Risk and Challenge. London: Open University Press.
Wyness, M. 2006. Childhood and Society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
creative presentation and ICT skills, critical and analytical skills applied to reading and writing, discussion skills, critical academic writing skills |
| Keywords | Froebel,childhood practice,early years pedagogy,early years policy,kindergarten |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lynn McNair
Tel:
Email: lynn.mcnair@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Giorgi Amirkhanashvili
Tel: (0131 6)51 4241
Email: giorgi.amirkhanashvili@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage