THE FRIEDRICH FROEBEL SOCIETY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN BULGARIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to research the role of the ‘Friedrich Froebel’ association in the development of preschool education in Bulgaria. The association was founded by kindergarten teachers and students from the Pedagogy course at the American kindergarten in 1928 as a means to recognize their professional qualifications and launch their careers in the state kindergartens. The Ministry of Public Education recognized the diplomas of kindergarten teachers in 1921 but the municipalities had no clear instructions regarding their appointment until the second half of the 1930s. Throughout its existence, the association had a consistent policy of actions to consolidate the stability of its members as professionals in preschool pedagogy. The archive of the association testifies to the wide-ranging pedagogical activity geared toward broadening the education culture of the family and popularising preschool education in society. They held lectures on pedagogical and social issues and disseminated the ideas of the new education for children through the books of E. Harrison and S. Hall. The charity work and participation in the celebrations for Children’s Day, which is a holiday for the association, served to present the association’s ideas of freedom in the development of children’s nature and education adjusted accordingly to it. The study pays special attention to the magazine ‘First steps’ published by the association. With its sections for teachers, parents, and children, it disseminated pedagogical practices among the adults and offered activities, songs, poems, and fairytales to the children. Common characteristics with Froebel associations in other countries, Russia and the UK, were sought. Compared to Froebel associations in other countries, the Bulgarian association was smaller and had a shorter history. The study found however that it had developed various types of work and had common ideas with the other Froebel associations, the idea of freedom applyed in the education of the child, the role of the kindergartens for engaging the parents, the place of the pre-school facilities in the educational system. The analysis of the activity of the ‘Friedrich Froebel’ association, which existed for a little less than two decades, recognized its significant contribution to the development of preschool education in Bulgaria.