Role of Nursery Teachers in Fostering Young Children’s Creative Movement : A case study of forest kindergarten in Bavaria, Germany

• Published in: Research Journal of JAPEW Vol. 39; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Author: TAKANO, Makiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan Association of Physical Education for Women 2023; 公益社団法人 日本女子体育連盟
• Subjects: creative movement; the role of nursery teachers; young children; 保育者の役割; 創造的身体表現; 幼児
• ISSN: 1882-0980; 2185-3401
• DOI: 10.11206/japew.39.1

This study aims to explain how childcare workers help young children foster creative movement. We examined the case of a forest kindergarten in Bavaria, Germany, by adopting three research methods: literature research on state-established early childhood education plans, participant observation surveys, and interview surveys administered to teachers. According to the Bavarian Early Childhood Education Plan, the teacher’s role in dance education is to “support the development of ideas” and involves “putting ideas together”. In the interviews, a teacher said, “If the kindergarten teacher is imaginative, the children will be stimulated by it, and they will be able to imagine their own movements and create their own movements.” Meanwhile, the observational study demonstrated how the expression of children’s movements was elicited by their teacher’s improvised expression. We conclude that the childcare workers themselves became expressive and that their very existence stimulates the children, draws out their ideas, and nurtures their creativity.