Following a first successful online gathering, Froebelian
teachers are eagerly anticipating the next steps in their journey towards
collaborative learning and innovation sharing Froebelian pedagogy. Attendees of
the meeting, hosted by Simon Bateson of Froebelian Futures, came from a wide
range of schools and settings across the nations of the UK and this enabled an
interesting exchange of ideas and cross-pollination of experiences.
The inaugural meeting was a chance to get to know other teachers in small break-out groups, and to talk together about what a network of teachers might look like.
Teachers discussed implementing Froebelian practices with children over 5, drawing insights from Annan The Froebel School and other educators aiming to develop Froebelian practice in their primary schools.
The online platform, Padlet was an invaluable way to share ideas, in particular for planning a possible structure of future meetings. The group felt a roughly 6-8 weekly interval between online meetings was about right. Despite the virtual meetup format the desire to facilitate visits between different educational settings was also strong.
It was agreed a thematic approach to future meetings would be helpful to give depth and focus to discussions and facilitate the exchange of practical strategies for implementing Froebelian principles beyond Early Years.
The next meeting of Froebelian teachers will be held on Wednesday 24 April, 4-5pm (UK time) - and thereafter roughly every 6-8 weeks.
Please feel free to share the new member registration link with other colleagues/contacts here.