This essay discusses the life and work of Elise van Calcar (1822-1904), a writer and maternal feminist who introduced Froebel's kindergarten in the Netherlands. Van Calcar also was the leader of a Christian branch of spiritualism. The focus is pointed at parallels between her reading of Froebel and of "messages" from spirits in the…

This article explores teacher educator Lillian de Lissa's working life in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1944 the McNair report criticised residential colleges and their female staff as isolated and intellectually impoverished. However, in Australia and then as the foundation Principal of Gipsy Hill Training College, de Lissa was not…

Alice Buckton was a Froebelian educator who was involved in early childhood education and the training of teachers. She was a prolific writer, at first writing articles for the Froebelian journal "Child Life" and later writing poetry and plays, which were read and performed in London and elsewhere. Alice Buckton became interested in the…