Froebel as a pioneer in modern psychology

by E. R. Murray

In America at least the authorities are beginning to realize the truth of Froebel’s words as to the importance of playgrounds, and actual experiment has shown that he was right in saying that “even the plays should be under right guidance,” not for purposes of repression, but for the encouragement of real play which “must necessarily break forth in joy from within.”

“Justice, moderation, self-control, truthfulness, loyalty, brotherly feeling and again, strict impartiality—who, when he approaches a group of boys engaged in such games, could fail to catch the fragrance of these delicious blossomings of the heart and mind and of a firm will; not to mention the beautiful, though perhaps less fragrant, blossoms of courage, perseverance, resolution, prudence, together with the severe elimination of indolent indulgence? Flowers of still more delicate fragrance bloom … forbearance, consideration, sympathy and encouragement for the weaker, younger and more delicate; fairness to those who are as yet unfamiliar with the game.

“Would that all who, in the education of boys, barely tolerate playgrounds might consider these things! There are, indeed, many harsh words and many rude deeds, but the sense of power must needs precede its cultivation. Keen, clear and penetrating are the boy’s eyes; keen and decided therefore, even harsh and severe is his judgment of those who are his equals, or who claim equality with him in judgment and power.

“Every place should have its own common playground for the boys. Glorious results would come from this for the entire community. For at this period, games, whenever it is feasible, are common, and thus develop the feeling and desire for community and the laws and requirements of community.

“The boy tries to see himself in his companions, to feel himself in them, to weigh and measure himself by them, to know and find himself with their help. Thus the games directly influence and educate the boy for life, awaken and cultivate many civil and moral virtues.”—E., p. 113.

It was in watching boys one day—“boys,” he says, “of the right age for these plays, but whose life is not awakened, or has been dulled, and who now idly lounge around, getting in their own way, as it were”—that a friend said to him, “I do not understand how these boys cannot play, how many plays we had at their age!” And it is here that Froebel gives his version of the “surplus energy” theory when he writes:

“In every case the plays of this age are or should be pure manifestations of strength and vitality, they are the product of fullness of life, and of pleasure in life. They presuppose actual vigour of life, both inner and outer. Where these are lacking, there cannot be true play, which, bearing life in itself, awakens, nourishes and heightens life.… This shows clearly that even the plays at this age should be under guidance[40], and the boy made ready for them, i.e. his life, his experience both in school and out of it, must be made so rich that it must necessarily break forth in joy from within, like the blossom from the swelling bud. Joy is the soul of every activity of boyhood at this period.”—E., p. 303.

It is here, too, in the section entitled, “Play or Spontaneous Expression and Practice of Every Kind” that Froebel begins a general classification of boy’s play:

“The plays, or spontaneous occupations, of this age are of three kinds, they are either (a) imitations of life, or (b) spontaneous applications of what has been learned, or they are (c) perfectly spontaneous expression with all kinds of material. These last are either governed by the material, or by the thought and feeling of the human being.… They may be and are either Physical plays, exercising strength and dexterity, or else mere buoyancy of life; or Sense plays exercising the hearing, e.g. in hiding games, etc., or the sight, as in shooting plays or colour plays, etc.; or Intellectual plays, games of reflection and judgment, e.g. draughts, etc. As such they are already arranged, but the true aim and spirit of the play is rarely understood and the games are seldom managed according to the needs of the boy.”—E., p. 304.

This general classification is very much the same as that of Groos, who divides Play first into two main classes, viz. Playful Experimentation and Playful Exercise of the Second or Socionomic Order. Under the first heading come I. Playful Activity of the Sensory Apparatus; II. Playful Use of the Motor Apparatus; and III. Playful Exercise of the Higher Mental Powers. The first two correspond to Froebel’s Sense Plays and Physical Plays, and the third to his Intellectual Plays. Under the second heading, Groos brings Fighting Plays, which as we have seen Froebel attributes to the unconscious desire to measure and increase strength; Imitative Play, which to Froebel is the child’s way of learning by action; Love Plays of which Froebel takes no notice at all, and Social Play. Under this comes what has been given as to the importance of Playgrounds, and much of what Froebel wrote as to the Kindergarten Games. For instance, as part of the work of the students in his Training Course comes: