ABSTRACT
Compared to other aspects of British colonial policy and practice in India, little attention has been paid to evaluating the 'primary' sector of educational provision. This chapter provides a case study of an alternative pedagogy that was introduced in late 19th-century India for some new classes of 'infant' and 'lower primary' pupils. It focuses on a period of Froebelian experimentation carried out in Madras between 1870 and the early 1900s though comparative reference will also be made to some other regions, notably Calcutta and Bombay. Friedrich Froebel, a German educationist influenced by Swiss educator, Froebel had criticized the educational practices in early 19th-century Europe. Froebel's main advocate in Madras was a Mrs Isabel Brander, India's first inspectress of female education, who has received no recognition hitherto in either 'memsahib' or education studies. Brander's plans to 'Hinduise' the kindergarten curriculum she first articulated in 1878 in advice on the Froebelian categories of 'occupations', 'games' and 'action songs'.
