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Cultivating Eco-creativity: The Seeds of Ecological Responsibility in the Hands of Norwegian Early Childhood Teachers

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Youth as Architects of Social Change

Abstract

Emerging necessity to empower new generations for dealing with environmental problems and finding creative solutions requires teachers who are able to support the development of ecological responsibility. This chapter builds on the understanding that young children possess embodied capacities needed for creativity, but that they need to cultivate their creativity in line with requirements of sustainable development: with care and responsibility for the present and future life on the planet. Young children are seen as competent agents of their own learning, simultaneously vulnerable when entrusted to their teachers’ use of power. An example from an interpretative self-study of child–teacher interaction in Norway demonstrates how power, values, and emotional engagement embedded in the child–teacher interactions influence the child’s possibilities to be empowered to address future environmental challenges.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Nobel Prize winners, famous artists, and other well-known people Csikszentmihalyi defined as creative in his study of creativity.

  2. 2.

    The term “kindergarten” in the title of the document is the official translation of Norwegian term “barnehage.” Norwegian “kindergartens” are educational institutions for children age 1−5 (before they start school at age of 6), includes nursery, early childhood education, and what is called kindergarten in other countries in the world.

  3. 3.

    They thought that I would think that they were good teachers if the children made nice products, so they stressed that the children should do what they told them.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College of Southeast Norway, Notodden, Norway

    Biljana C. Fredriksen

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  1. Biljana C. Fredriksen
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  1. Department of Public Health Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Sheri Bastien

  2. Oslo and Akershus University College, Oslo, Norway

    Halla B. Holmarsdottir

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Fredriksen, B.C. (2017). Cultivating Eco-creativity: The Seeds of Ecological Responsibility in the Hands of Norwegian Early Childhood Teachers. In: Bastien, S., Holmarsdottir, H. (eds) Youth as Architects of Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66275-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66275-6_10

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