Elisabeth Alander, Aukusti Salo and the idea of Finnish kindergarten

Authors

• Jorma Virtanen Tampereen yliopisto

Abstract

In the 1920´ the question of kindergartens was lively discussed in the Finnish teachers' journals. It was treated from social and educational viewpoints demanding that the kindergartens should be included in the public educational system. The demand of director Aukusti Salo was justified with the claim that the kindergarten and school belonged to the same educational category. Elisabeth Alander (1859–1940), one of the grand pioneers of the Finnish kindergarten pedagogy resisted the demand. In her writings she presented on interpretation from different trends of the Froebelian tradition. She did not understand the unifying of schools and kindergartens. In this article the above mentioned education political situation is investigated in the light of the journal Alkuopetus. An attempt was made to establish the journal Alkuopetus as a common discussion forum to the lower elementary school teachers and kindergarten teachers. In the analysis of the texts the subject of interest is particularly the education political articles which Elisabeth Alander has written as the pioneer of kindergarten work and the director of the kindergarten teacher education.