ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to the philosophy of early childhood and children’s play of the American philosopher and educator John Dewey (1859–1952). Although Dewey busied himself with much more than early childhood and play, these occupy a central place in his pedagogical work. Around 1900, Dewey ‘translated’ his philosophical ideas into educational practices in his ‘laboratory’ (or ‘lab’) school in Chicago, participating in the debates about the education of young children. In these debates the American followers of two European pedagogues, Friedrich Froebel and Johann Herbart, stood firm, their ideas elaborated into widespread practices. Froebel’s followers put his ‘symbolism’ at the heart of the educational process. For this the Froebelian materials or ‘Gifts’ provided the physical, and spiritual means (see Chapter 3). The kindergarten, in the toddler period, was designed to afford possibilities for children to play. Its methodology was dictated in minute detail – the prescribed way of dealing with the materials – the materials ‘led’ the way, the children were to follow. A similar dictation of a prescribed method occurred in the subsequent stages of primary education. There the methodical thinking of the followers of Herbart, the so-called Herbartians, dominated in theory and in practice. In their view, the development of the child followed a fixed sequence of phases. Education, both in literacy and numeracy skills and other school subjects, proceeded according to standard models that were entirely controlled by the teacher. The pupils were seen as passive recipients of knowledge.
