Psychological and Pedagogical Substantiation of the Values of the use of Frobel’s Gifts in the Context of the Modern Socialization of a Child: a Cross-Cultural Experience

Abstract

The article reveals the value of F. Frebel’s concept in the process of child socialization and its relevance for today. This is due to the fact that the process of socialization of the child in the family is different in individual social groups as a result of the influence of social, economic and cultural processes in a transforming society and has a close relationship with the conditions of development, styles of upbringing in the family and family values. The possibilities of developing the activity of a child concerning his individual psychological characteristics with the help of Frobel’s gifts are revealed. The author’s concept of the philosophy of upbringing according to F. Frebel is based on three main ideas: the unity of the Universe, respect for the child and his individuality, the significance of the game in the development of the child. They define the basis on which the child’s activity model rests. The experience of German and Polish teachers of educational practice in Frebel’s preschool institutions has been analyzed. Friedrich Fröbel emphasized that the upbringing and education of a child should integrate the natural forces: heads, hands, and hearts to guarantee him complete training. Teaching education is global and reveals three aspects: the cognitive-intellectual with the physical-manual, and the social and religious, that is, the discovery of human power in understanding the world. In the context of the modern socialization of the child, this approach is very relevant and has its confirmation in contemporary theories of human development, optimization of its achievements, as well as the stream of expanded creativity as a condition for the mobile search for oneself in a transforming world. The attention is focused on the fact that an essential task of a pedagogue and psychologist is to improve the development of innate instincts: work, knowledge, artistic and religious with the help of appropriate subjects or Frobel’s gifts. Modern socialization takes the value of F.Frebel’s psychological and pedagogical ideas as activating a child and motivating him to the constant accumulation of new achievements. Institutional socialization, in close cooperation with the family, can qualitatively and quantitatively change a child’s access to social, economic, and cultural means, as a result, and to other possibilities of educational capital. The psychological and pedagogical experience of teachers in Germany and Poland regarding the factors of child development, creating new opportunities for him and preparing for life in the context of his institutional socialization is presented.