The presentation is based on a current doctoral project conducted and approved by Karlstad University in Sweden. The study covers the conceptualization of creativity in Swedish preschools. 

Though widely accepted, the notion of creativity is often misinterpreted and, regarding the educational context, unreflected by the practitioners, which potentially restrains pedagogical practice. The aim of this study is to explore teachers’ perspectives on children’s creativity in Swedish preschools as well as to contribute to the broader understanding of creativity as a social constructed notion.

Csikszentmihalyi’s (2006) system model for creativity is used as the theoretical framework for the study with some adjustments made to be applicable to the preschool context. According to the model, creativity occurs in a community of people when a person makes a change in a domain. This change needs to be accepted by the experts within the domain, so called gatekeepers. Based on the model the preschool is seen as a domain with specific norms, values, tools and practices, children are regarded as creative individuals who produce potential innovations. Practitioners form the social system, the community of practice who evaluates innovations and retain the selected ones. 

Four preschools in the middle of Sweden are participating in the study. The field work has three stages. The first stage involves semi-structured focus-group interviews with 4-6 participants from the same preschool in each group. The topic of conversation is the practitioners’ general thoughts on the notion of creativity in early childhood education settings. During stage two the practitioners in each focus-group use digital blog to provide examples on children’s creativity in preschool and to reflect on whether children’s creative actions are seen as something positive and therefore accepted and encouraged or challenging and therefore restricted or dismissed. Stage three includes stimulated recall focus-group interviews based on the practitioners’ observations.

Relationships and tensions between the preschool as a domain, practitioners as experts and children as creative individuals are analyzed in the study. The findings are expected to contribute to a broader understanding of children’s creativity in Swedish preschools and therefore to provide some guidance on the development of pedagogical practice.

Despite the importance of early childhood education, the research on creativity both nationally and internationally has mostly been focusing on schools and elder children. Moreover, the research covers mostly the aspects teaching and creativity but not the understanding of the concept by the practitioners (Leggett, 2017; Linge, 2012). The study has relevance to Nordic educational research since it is expected to contribute to more knowledge on the understanding of the concept of creativity and its place in early childhood education.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2006). A Systems Perspective on Creativity. I J. Henry (Red.), Creative Management and Development (3 uppl.). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446213704 

Leggett, N. (2017). Early childhood creativity: Challenging educators in their role to intentionally develop creative thinking in children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(6), 845-853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0836-4 

Linge, A. (2012). Att undervisa för kreativitet: En litteraturöversikt. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 17(3-4), 253-263.