ABSTRACT
Friedrich Froebel wrote about principled practice rather than prescribing lists of what to do. The early Froebelians tried to develop his philosophy and principles, but focused on the tangible Gifts and Occupations. This eventually made practice rigid and uncreative. By 1911 the ‘revisionist’ Froebelians had successfully addressed the problem, and principled practice meant that a more reflective approach developed. Froebel’s ideas have entered mainstream educational practice, but at the time he put them forward, they were revolutionary. Free Froebelian schools were set up by the voluntary sector in the early nineteenth century in order to influence practice in the maintained sector, but also in order to offer a Froebelian education to children living in urban poverty. The starting point is mulling over the practice, to see whether it should continue as it has been, or whether it needs to change, in the light of keeping the integrity of Froebelian philosophy and principles.
