The Executive Committee of the International Froebel Society hereby announces the appointment of Prof. Dr. Andrea C. Schmid as the Society’s new president. The new chair is Grace Choi, who is supported by Dr Nikolas A. Rathert, who has assumed the position of vice chair. Dr Laoise Ní Cléirigh is the Secretary of the Leadership Team.
Andrea C. Schmid came to Froebelian education via her work as an educator and researcher in inclusive education. Having initially trained as a teacher for children with special educational needs, she returned to university to earn a PhD in Special Needs Education at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. She is currently Professor of Inclusive Education Research with a Focus on Learning at the University of Erfurt in Germany. She is head of the Department of Special and Social Education and will leada a new Froebel Research Lab. She also chairs the Germany affiliate of the International Froebel Society.
Grace Choi, a longstanding member of the International Froebel Society’s Executive Committee, has been appointed as the new IFS Chair. Choi brings to the role a wealth of experience in leadership and Froebelian educational practice, having accumulated over a decade of professional expertise in these fields. She founded several institutions in China that were based on Froebel’s educational principles, including the IFS’s China affiliate (IFS China), as well as Beijing’s Rainbow Kids International Preschool and Rainbow Training School, which were among the first of their kind in the country. Her efforts have resulted in the training of over 80 principals and supervising teachers, as well as more than 600 teachers, in the use of Froebel’s Gifts and Froebel’s pedagogy.
Dr Nikolas A. Rathert has been a member of the German section of the International Froebel Society for many years, serving on its board. His research interests include Froebel’s gifts and their application in mathematics education. He currently works at the University of Munich, providing career guidance to prospective secondary school and special educational needs teachers.
Dr Laoise Ní Cléirigh is currently employed as an Assistant Professor in the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education at Maynooth University. The areas of teaching and research to which she has dedicated her expertise include: The following subjects are to be addressed: environmental sustainable development education, science methods and STEM education, bioeconomy and circular bioeconomy education, children’s literature in the Irish language, and education for the science-society nexus.