Growhampton with current students working in the allotment and gardens of campus

This was an informative week, especially as we were inside an archive and could see the types of resources available for us to use and how to access them. The online database seems an important resource for searching for sources that will be useful for the final project, although this is only relevant when looking in Froebel’s archive as the other archives are yet to have full online access.

Children playing outside in the Froebel College

In terms of project ideas, I really enjoyed reading about the daily routine of the girls of Froebel college, and how they woke at 6am and then had to clean their rooms before breakfast. This was especially interesting when you compare the daily routines of current students with the routines of past students, with many students refusing to get up for 10am lectures let alone tidying up before heading to lecture.

The Roehampton Hockey team in a recent Facebook post

The archives allow for the presence of an individual to be seen within a larger institution. This is what interests me in terms of drawing parallels between the work of an individual within the University and the effect one person can have on a larger institution. Or reversing this and looking at the effect the institution could have on an individual.

While in the archive today I thought about the parallels between the outdoor and gardening education happening under the Froebelian framework of the 1900’s with the ongoing work of the hive and GrowHampton. Also looking at the difference in the sporting activities between the Froebelian college

The Froebel College Hockey Team

and Sport Roehampton today. All these differences and similarities have given me an idea in doing a comparative study of extra-curricular activities in the 1900’s with those of today’s university.