Editor’s introduction: Disconnections and Transitology - The Transfer, translation and transformation of Froebelian Study and practice

‘How far can we learn anything of practical value from the study of foreign systems of education?’ This question was addressed to an audience at the Guildford Educational Conference by Sir Michael Sadler on October 20 in 1900, and it has since become an often-quoted question in the field of comparative education. Many Froebelians across the world have also answered it positively in the last century or so, having had a moment of true connection with Froebel’s theory of kindergarten education. During the nineteenth century, Froebel’s ideas and system of kindergarten education travelled from Germany, across Western Europe to Nordic countries, and Russia, across the Atlantic to North America, to East Asia, and even further, to Australia and New Zealand, eventually stretching around the globe, German-born Froebel’s ideas and system of kindergarten attracted many ambassadors, the ‘Froebelians’, who considered themselves Froebel’s ideological and intellectual heirs. As Froebelians embraced these forms of kindergarten education, their resulting work also laid the foundations for the current practice of early childhood education across multiple countries and locations to a significant extent. This raises the more focused questions: ‘What did Froebelians learn of practical value from Froebel?’; ‘How did Froebelians develop kindergarten education within different social, cultural, political and educational contexts?’ and ‘Why did Froebelians wish to develop kindergarten systems in their various locations?’