Agnes Niegl

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Agnes Niegl (born September 2, 1913 in Brunn am Gebirge ; † March 2, 2008 ibid.) Was an Austrian teacher and ministerial official .

Live and act

Niegl grew up in extremely modest circumstances. Her father, a restaurant owner, died of tuberculosis at a young age . She had a bad relationship with her stepfather. That's why she left her parents' home at the age of 15 and completed a housekeeping course with the sisters of the poor child Jesus in Maria Enzersdorf . On the recommendation of the sisters, she completed the teacher training institute in Döbling (with a qualification test for kindergarten teachers and teachers ) and then taught as an unpaid trial teacher in Mödling and Brunn am Gebirge:

"As a secondary school teacher, she did not want to teach history under Hitler and switched to gymnastics ... Since she belonged to a secret Catholic theater group and was betrayed by her friend's brother, she was sent to Poland to save her the concentration camp."

In 1945 Niegl returned to Austria and worked as a teacher in Favoriten . In 1948 she was appointed to the Federal Ministry of Education. In addition, she studied German, psychology and pedagogy at the University of Vienna . She completed her studies in 1948 with a doctorate under Sylvia Bayr-Klimpfinger . Her dissertation topic: "The problem of school failure in the first year of teaching". In her longstanding activity as a ministerial official, she was responsible for the kindergarten system, ie for kindergarten laws, training regulations (e.g. extension of kindergarten teacher training from two to three years), international relations, advanced training events, training of special kindergarten teachers, etc. like. more. As early as June 1948, the “Austrian Conference for Kindergarten Pedagogy” took place “in recognition of the crucial importance of education in early childhood”. Two years later the “advanced training weeks for kindergarten teachers” took place at the Pedagogical Institute of the City of Vienna. For the latter conference she invited two Montessori teachers to give the following lectures: Maria Josefa Retter (Innsbruck): “Maria Montessori and her work. From misunderstanding to right view, from partial external adoption to internalization of spiritual values ​​"and Margarete Schmaus (Vienna):" Montessori pedagogy. Who is Maria Montessori and what does her pedagogy want? ('Freedom, work, order') - what does Maria Montessori's work mean for us? ”. It is thanks to Niegl that Montessori education was soon able to gain a foothold in Austria after 1945. With their participation and support, a three-month "course for Montessori pedagogy" took place in Innsbruck in 1951 . Concerning the kindergarten, she supported the introduction of the spatial division method , which was developed by Margarete Schörl and Margarete Schmaus :

"For example, real-life play is cultivated in small groups: the 'sewing room', the 'building site', the 'market stall', the 'kitchen', the 'laundry room', the 'doll's room' and others are updated every day improvises and gives ample opportunity to gain experience ".

Niegl was a founding member of the "Katholische Aktion", co-founder of the "Katholischen Akademikerverband" and the "Institut für Jugendkunde", president of the Austrian "Commission for Education", and she also worked at UNESCO conferences . She also launched the magazine "Roter Faden". In addition, she was still active as a journalist, including for the specialist magazine Our Children . Part of her estate is in the Ida-Seele archive .

Honors

Niegl was honored with "the papal New Year's Eve Order, the Order of St. Stephen and the Great Decoration of Honor of the Republic of Austria".

Works (selection)

  • Current questions of kindergarten education. Vienna 1950.
  • Home economics curriculum. Vienna 1950.
  • Contributions to the education of small children in the family and kindergarten. Hamburg 1954.
  • Tell us something! Stories for toddlers. Vienna 1966.
  • Come on tell me something! Vienna 1989.
  • I know who will help me. Eisenstadt 1971.
  • Craft education for girls. Vienna 1976.
  • Encouraging children to deal with the environment. Vienna 1976.
  • Early childhood. Foundation of human life. St. Pölten 1985.
  • The kindergarten system in Carinthia. Klagenfurt 1997.

literature

  • E. Rafferzeder: Thanks to Doctor Agnes Niegl on her 70th birthday. In: Our children. H. 5, 1983, p. 96.
  • G. Svarovsky: Dr. Agnes Niegl, founder of the graduate association. In: Red thread. Special edition, 2008, p. 19.
  • H. Schirg-Posset: Ms. Section Head Dr. Agnes Niegl as a role model for young and old. In: Red thread. No. 31, 2013, p. 6.
  • S. Blumesberger: Handbook of Austrian children's and youth literature. Volume 2: M-Z. Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2014, pp. 814–816: https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/pdf/10.7767/boehlau.9783205793007.797 (page 1814 with picture).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Schirg-Posset 2013, p. 6.
  2. Niegel 1950, p. 5 f.
  3. Niegl 1954, p. 72.
  4. Red thread. No. 12, 2004. ( www.av-d.at ( Memento from February 28, 2018 in the Internet Archive ))
  5. Blumesberger 2014, p. 214 f.