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Beyond that familiar emphasis, this article examines a less visible spiritual orientation: Froebel’s relational binding of human beings, nature, and the divine, grounded in a non-dogmatic Christian faith. Using a narrative literature review of Froebel’s writings and scholars’ interpretations, it explains how spirituality undergirds unity, play, nature reverence, and human dignity, culminating in a relationship with the Divine.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":45,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/an-exploration-into-the-spiritual-dimension-of-froebelian-philosophy-and-pedagogy-narrative-literature-review/577922/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/an-exploration-into-the-spiritual-dimension-of-froebelian-philosophy-and-pedagogy-narrative-literature-review/577922.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Emma Wilson","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"What is the central focus of the article?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"The article explores the spiritual dimension of Friedrich Froebel’s educational philosophy and pedagogy, emphasizing how spirituality underpins his broader pedagogical vision.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"How does the article relate Froebel’s ideas to modern early childhood education?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"It acknowledges that Froebel is not the sole foundation of modern approaches, while arguing that his “children’s garden” metaphor remains particularly influential in positioning education as careful cultivation for children’s growth.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"What method does the article use to examine spirituality in Froebel’s work?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"It employs a narrative literature review, examining Froebel’s original writings alongside interpretations from key scholars to clarify the nature and role of spirituality in his thinking.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},577922,1792032682,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":44,"category_name":45,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":46,"language":138,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":128,"read_time":31},3848291630094,"https://eur-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","An Exploration into the Spiritual Dimension ofFroebelian  \nPhilosophy and Pedagogy  \nLynn. J. McNair  \nCostica Darie  \nAbstract  \nThere is little doubt that the ideas of Friedrich Froebel have transformed the way society views early childhood education (Bruce, 2019; Brehony, 2024). Although Froebel’s perspective is not the only foundation of modern early childhood education, Montessori, for example, pursued a distinct pedagogical path, and traditions such as Reggio Emilia and Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) emerge from broader constellations of influence (Lilley, 1967; Hinitz & Lascarides, 2000; National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2025), his “children’s garden”metaphor remains particularly influential, positioning education as the careful cultivation of conditions in which children can flourish (Herrington, 1998; Tovey, 2018). Yet, beyond this well-recognised aspect of his work, there is a dimension that underpins and coheres his entire pedagogical vision, often less visible in current readings, namely the spiritual orientation through which Froebel understood education as relationally binding human beings, nature, and the divine (White, 1907; Lee & Evans, 1996). Aslanian (2023) describes spirituality as Froebel’s “invisible” foundation, which knits together the more readily discussed elements of his approach (Wasmuth, 2024) and reflects Froebel’s conviction that spirituality is intrinsically implicated in human life and meaning making (Eliade, 1959; Giesenberg, 2000) . This characteristic remains one of the least explored within Froebelian philosophy (Lee, 1993; Lee & Evans, 1996; Wasmuth, 2020; Best, 2016; Aslanian, 2023) . This article explores the spiritual dimension of Friedrich Froebel’s educational philosophy. Employing a narrative literature review, it examines Froebel’s original writings alongside interpretations of key scholars, addressing the nature and role of spirituality in his thinking. Extensive research reveals that Froebel’s spiritual philosophy, while non-dogmatic, was firmly grounded in his Christian faith and was central to his pedagogical approach. Nearly all aspects of Froebel’s vision, including his concept of Unity, his elevation of play, his reverence for nature, and his high view of humanity, hold a spiritual characteristic, ultimately pointing to a relationship with the Divine.  \nKeywords  \nFroebel, Spirituality, Unity, Divine, God  \nIntroduction  \n\"Education should lead and guide man to clearness concerning himself and in himself, to peace with nature, and to unity with God; hence, it should lift him to a knowledge of himself, and of mankind, to a knowledge of God, and of nature, and to the pure  \nand holy life to which such knowledge leads\" (Froebel, 1887, p.5) .  \nThere is little doubt that Friedrich Froebel is a key figure in early education (Franks, 1897; Liebschner, 1992; McNair & Powell, 2021; Wasmuth, 2022) . His groundbreaking ideas have transformed the way society views early childhood education (Bruce, 2019; Brehony, 2024) . Froebel’s “children’s garden” metaphor positions early education as a process of cultivating the conditions for growth  \nGlobal Education Review is a publication of The School of Education at Mercy University, New York. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.  \nCitation: McNair, Lynn J. & Darie, Costica (2025). An Exploration into the Spiritual Dimension ofFroebelian Philosophy and Pedagogy.Global Education Review, 12 (4), 1-20.  \nthrough care and attention (Herrington, 1998; Tovey, 2018), while also acknowledging children’s dependence on adults in the early years (Wasmuth, 2024) . Although his influence should not be overstated as the sole origin of contemporary early childhood approaches, the Kindergarten is widely regarded as a","cbCaiprm2CegiJam","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiprm2CegiJam","pdf",123170,"English","# Introduction\n## The children’s garden and early childhood foundations\n## The “invisible” spiritual dimension in Froebelian philosophy\n# Spiritual orientation, unity, and pedagogical implications\n## Spiritual development and the divine essence in children","[{\"question\":\"What is the central focus of the article?\",\"answer\":\"The article explores the spiritual dimension of Friedrich Froebel’s educational philosophy and pedagogy, emphasizing how spirituality underpins his broader pedagogical vision.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article relate Froebel’s ideas to modern early childhood education?\",\"answer\":\"It acknowledges that Froebel is not the sole foundation of modern approaches, while arguing that his “children’s garden” metaphor remains particularly influential in positioning education as careful cultivation for children’s growth.\"},{\"question\":\"What method does the article use to examine spirituality in Froebel’s work?\",\"answer\":\"It employs a narrative literature review, examining Froebel’s original writings alongside interpretations from key scholars to clarify the nature and role of spirituality in his thinking.\"}]","An Exploration into the Spiritual Dimension of Froebelian Philosophy and Pedagogy - narrative literature review | PDF"]