Friedrich Froebel, or Friedrich Wilhelm Fröbel, (born April 21, 1782, Oberweissbach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxony—died June 21, 1852, Marienthal, near Bad Liebenstein, Thuringia), German educator and founder of the kindergarten. Influenced by the theories of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, he founded an infant school in 1837 that he later called the Kindergarten, or “garden of children.” He believed in “self-activity” and play as essential factors in child education, the teacher’s role being not to drill or indoctrinate but rather to encourage self-expression through play. He greatly influenced modern techniques in preschool education, including the ideas of John Dewey.
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preschool education Summary
Preschool education, education during the earliest phases of childhood, beginning in infancy and ending upon entry into primary school at about five, six, or seven years of age (the age varying from country to country). (Read Arne Duncan’s Britannica essay on “Education: The Great Equalizer.”) The