Creativity, curiosity and catharsis: positive emotions in climate change education through picturebooks

Abstract

Climate change education is associated with negative emotions. Picturebooks are considered powerful resources for teaching complex issues like climate change, partly for their capacity to be emotionally engaging and motivate learners. This article explores the positive emotional experiences supported by picturebook use in climate change education. It draws on data collected in a design-based study involving the progressive refinement of a programme delivered in three primary schools with students aged 10 to 12 years. Data included child focus groups, audio recordings of whole-class discussion, teacher interviews and concept maps. Data analysis included coding expressions of emotions in the data by: the emotion, the object of the emotion and the subject expressed as experiencing the emotion. Findings suggest that picturebooks with unhappy endings and difficult thematic content can nonetheless give rise to positive emotions by providing surprising, cathartic and creative experiences, which in turn, support students’ critical, complex and creative thinking.

Keywords:

• Climate change education
• picturebooks
• emotions
• catharsis
• climate action

Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the support of Professor Dympna Devine and Dr. Aine Mahon.

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare and that no funding was received for this research.

Image 5. Page 12 of class picturebook Agent C07, iteration 3.

Image 6. Page 28 of class picturebook Agent C07, iteration 3.

Image 7. Caitlin’s response to Sleeping Beauty story task, one day after, iteration 3.

Image 8. Tess’s response to Sleeping Beauty story task, 10 years after, iteration 3.

Image 9. Imogen’s pre-programme concept map, iteration 3.

Image 10. Imogen’s post-programme concept map, iteration 3.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rowan Oberman

Rowan Oberman is Assistant Professor of Global Citizenship Education at the IOE, Dublin City University. She is Co-Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education, DCU. Her research interests are in the areas of: climate change education, picturebooks and children rights. She has developed numerous curriculum resources, including Creating Futures, an inquiry-based climate change education programme, and has written two picturebooks. She is a qualified barrister. She lectures on DCU’s BECE and BEd programmes as well as the DCU MEd in Literacy Professional Practice and MSc in Climate Change.